Head Scratching In Prophet Land Series

200232.ser

The Search for Our Salvation:

“HEAD SCRATCHING IN PROPHET LAND”

BREBC August 17, 2002 a.m.

Subject: Salvation

Theme: The Search for Salvation

Passage: 1 Peter 1: 10 - 12

It’s funny, this term - head scratching - it has nothing to do with having an itchy head. It is simply a figure of speech that speaks about questioning, wondering, puzzling over something. I suspect that like myself you scratch your head over many things that you see around you in life And I suspect that, like myself, there are many things in the Bible that make you scratch your head as you try to understand the ways of God. We haven’t got all the answers yet. One day when we are at home in glory, I suspect that we shall see clearly many things that are quite obscure to us now.

But do you realize that, when it comes to your salvation, you understand a lot of things that were very unclear to the people who lived in Old Testament times, before Jesus came to earth, before He died on the cross and rose again from the dead? For you live on this side of the cross; you know that God sent His Son from heaven and that He purchased your salvation with His own blood. You know that He rose again from the dead and that He is on the throne of heaven today. You know that He is coming back to receive us to Himself and to judge the world in righteousness. But do you realize how extremely fortunate you are? You have privileges greater than the greatest spiritual leaders, the prophets who were moved by God to write the Bible. You have privileges greater than even the angels in heaven.

This section of 1 Peter is “All about our Salvation”. Last week we saw “The Glory of our Salvation;” Today we want to look back to see “the Search for our Salvation”. In coming weeks we want to grasp “The Goal of our Salvation; The Cost of our Salvation and the Growth of our Salvation.”

1. The Prophets Searched for Salvation. 1 Peter 1:10 “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace [that would come] to you,”

From the very beginning of time, God has revealed to mankind the fact that sin and rebellion separated us from Himself, but that He was going to provide a full and complete salvation for all who trust Him.

To do this God called chosen men to be prophets. A prophet is one who is divinely inspired to communicate God’s will to His people. They served as Pastors to their generation, teaching them the law of God, admonishing and reproving them for their sin, showing the people their transgression, and calling them to repentance. They were watchmen on the walls, declaring God’s will, pronouncing judgement, defending truth, and promoting righteousness. They not only did this orally, but they also wrote down what God revealed to them, and thus they provided for us the Bible, as the inspired Word of God.

You have heard people dismiss the Word of God as just written by men. It is true - it was written by men, 40 different men, over a span of 1600 years, but the proof that it is inspired by God and not just human opinion is its unity. It all ties together. It is a progressive revelation, each part building on what has gone before, and with no part contradicting anything that has already been written. No other collection of human writings can make this claim.

But in addition to addressing the condition of their own day, the prophets also were given a predictive element. They foresaw the future, sometimes so clearly that, as in the case of Isaiah, they wrote in the past tense, as though what they wrote had already happened, even though it would not be fulfilled for hundreds of years.

Think of some of these prophecies:

Gen. 3: 15 To Satan God foretold the coming of His Son: “ And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, but you shall bruise His heel.”

Genesis 49:10 He was to be a ruler. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”

Acts 3:22 "For Moses truly said to the fathers, The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. Acts 3:24"Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.”