“This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. They were told that their messages were not for themselves but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.” — 1 Peter 1:10-12 (NLT)
In these verses Peter discusses the Old Testament prophets and the angels unique perspectives on the salvation we enjoy. The prophets spoke no nearer than four centuries prior to the life and work of Christ. Yet they did so with great confidence that one day the Messiah would come and provide the final sacrifice for sin. They were intrigued by the promise and investigated those promises with great interest knowing that what would happen in the future would someday impact even them.
Though they didn’t fully comprehend all of the promises, they spoke nonetheless with great confidence. They didn’t know when or how the promise would be fulfilled, but that didn’t diminish their bold enthusiasm. The words of the prophets remind us that it is possible to live a life of conviction regarding something in the future, even though we may not fully understand it. This principle is true of all things including our response to suffering.
While the prophets were seperated from salvation by time, the angels were seperated from salvation by distance. From heaven they eagerly watched the drama of salvation unfold. The angels live in the continual presence of God, yet have not experienced the fullness of grace that we enjoy (cf. Hebrews 1:5-14).
These two examples are given to us to remind us of the reasons we have hae to celebrate our marvellous salvation. While we look to history to see the fulfillment of the promise in Christ, we are reminded that we have much more to anticipate that is still to come.