The Gift Of Grace

The Gift of Grace

1 Peter 1:10-13

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

I remember when I was a small boy how much I looked forward to Christmas morning! I shared a room with one of my brothers and either myself or both of us would plan on visiting the tree while everyone else was sleeping. While thinking about the visit to the tree I would mentally go through a checklist: do I have a flashlight that worked but not too bright, what time should I venture out of my bedroom, what route should I take to the tree and how am I going to examine my presents and not leave evidence that I ever there! I would wait for what seemed like an eternity for my parents to finish wrapping and placing gifts under the tree and then the toughest decision of the night had to be made: how long will it take them to fall asleep and when would I dare go on this amazing venture? At two or three in the morning I would get out of bed and tippy toe out to my prized destination in the dark, lest my parents might be awake and see my flashlight! Once at the tree the goal was to carefully examine the gifts. When I found a gift with my name on it, I would have to hold back my glee and as I felt the package I would dream of its contents. I imagined the gifts that were light and soft were likely clothes, thin and hard likely books; but when I found a large gift that was heavy … my heart would race with great joy and anticipation! At this point I would often feel so guilty for merely touching my “special gift” and would become so consumed with the fear of being caught that I would quickly, but quietly, tippy toe back into my room. As I lay on my bed, I dreamed for the remainder of the night of all the unending possibilities of what might be contained within that beautiful box: maybe a remote-control car, the roller skates I asked for, the computer I saw in the store and figuratively drooled on, or maybe even a trainset like the one I saw on TV! As I dreamed of opening the gift my mind would race, anticipation would build and yet while I painfully knew I would be exceptionally tired on Christmas day, I felt powerless to do anything but to keep on dreaming!

“The Gift Foretold”

While the gifts I waited for on Christmas morning were spectacular they were nothing in comparison to hearing about the gift of the Messiah as given by the Old Testament prophets! From Judah and specifically the Davidic line would come a ruler of which all the nations would “bend the knee” (Genesis 49:10; 2 Samuel 7:12-13). Born in Bethlehem He would exist from the ancient times and would be born of a virgin (Micah 5:2; Isaiah 7:14). His name would be called “Emmanuel” which means “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14). Even though there will be a “voice calling in the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for God” (Isaiah 40:3) most will respond by “being ever hearing, but never understanding, seeing but not perceiving for their hearts will be too calloused to respond and be healed (Isaiah 6:9-10). This Great Light will be a stumbling block to those living in the darkness and (Isaiah 9:1-2) and to His own people (Isaiah 8:14). Even though the Spirit of the Lord will be on Him to proclaim the Good News, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release them from darkness (Isaiah 61:1), He will be despised, rejected, and held in low esteem by humanity (Isaiah 53:3). Even though His dominion is everlasting and one day all nations will worship Him (Daniel 7:13-14), He would be forsaken and betrayed for a mere 30 pieces of silver (Psalms 22:1; Zechariah 11:12-13), mocked and abused, and put to death (Isaiah 50:3-6, 53:12) but ironically in doing so will make a new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31) by being pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities so that by taking on the punishment meant for us by His wounds we might be healed (Isaiah 53:5)! Upon completing His mission, He will be declared the “Son of God” and ascend to heaven and take His rightful place at the right hand of God (Psalms 2:7, 68:18, 110:1)!

“Searching Intently”

In today’s passage Apostle Peter states these prophets were not mere stenographers, devoid of interest in their written words but instead were so taken by the Gift they described that they “searched intently and with the greatest of care, trying to find the circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing and predicting, the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow” (1 Peter 1:10-12). Even though the prophets wrote and “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21), this did not mean they were omniscient for there was much of their utterances they did not understand (Daniel 8:27, 12:8). While they certainly would have asked God to reveal the significance of their prophesy, Peter states in looking upon “God’s fullest and final revelation of Himself” and the salvation He was about to offer humanity, like me at two am Christmas morning they too were left with many unanswered but incredibly intriguing questions! For instance, how could this be the long waited for Day of the Lord if the predicted Messiah would suffer greatly, be abandoned by the world, and put to death? And what was meant by phrase He would be born of a virgin, was He not to be God Himself? With but a mere “vision of the details and timing of the Messiah” the prophets continued to search intently into Scripture hoping that they might come to understand the significance of the suffering, death, and future glory of the Messiah even partially!