Things Into Which Angels Long To Look
I talk about the gospel - a lot! And there are countless reasons why I put such a great emphasis on this central truth. I have written about this before (http://trevorbinkley.blogspot.com/2012/12/things-of-first-importance-why-i-make.html) and today I want to write about it again.
There are so many passages that could be referenced to support the centrality and importance of the gospel, but let's look at the passage referenced in the title of this post:
1 Peter 1:10-12 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (ESV)
This last phrase seems so unassuming until we really think it through. We know from Job 38:4-7 that the angels were created before the world was created because they "shouted for joy" when God "laid the foundations of the earth." The point being that the angels have seen all of history unfold. They watched the flood and the Exodus. They saw the crossing of the Red sea, the stopping of the Jordan, the rule of the Judges, the rise and fall of Israel's Kings. They saw the exile of the Northern and Southern tribes and the return of many in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Then they witnessed the incarnation of Jesus, His life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. And they have seen the world change in the nearly two thousand years since Christ ascended. They have seen all of this, they have seen everything.
But according to Peter, the one thing that they long to look into is the gospel, the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. If the angels have seen all things since creation, but long to look into the gospel and God's saving work what should our response be?
One commentator puts it well, "The point is that angels reflect with delight on God’s saving actions. More specifically, angels do not experience the gospel in the same way as human beings since they are not the recipients of redemption. Again, the privilege of enjoying and anticipating salvation comes to the forefront. Old Testament prophets saw it from afar, and angels also marvel when gazing upon what God has done in Christ."[1]
Keeping the gospel central:
I have heard many people say that the gospel is important but that it is only one part of the Bible's whole teaching. Some have said that while we need the gospel to be saved or born again, we need the rest of the Bible to grow up. While I understand the thought process here I think that there is a tendency within this line of thought that assumes we can get past the gospel. In this view the gospel becomes the door that we must pass through to get into the house of salvation, so to speak, but then we need to go into all the other rooms too.
However I think that a better way to think of the Christian life and learning the Bible is like a picture drawn with hidden ink. Without the special glasses we can't see anything that makes any real sense, but once we have the glasses on we can see the whole picture and we can study all the different parts of it. In this analogy the de-coding glasses are the gospel that helps us to see the rest of Scripture the way it should be seen.
Jesus gives us this understanding of his life and ministry in John 5:39 when he said, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me." And again in Luke 24:13-49 on the road to Emmaus when Jesus explains how the Law, Prophets and the Psalms all point to Him. "Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things"(emphasis added).
You see, Jesus saw Himself and the gospel message of His living and dying in our place as the key to understanding the Scriptures. This is Luke's point when he tells us that by showing them everything that was written about Him in the Law, Prophets and the Psalms, he "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures."
If Jesus' work in our place, which is the gospel message, is relegated to simply the front door that we walk through, then we are going to miss the true understanding of the Scriptures because according to Luke it is through the lens of the gospel that we must read the Bible to truly understand its message.
May we wisely join the angels in never tiring of looking to and through the gospel that we might understand the Bible as we should.
[1] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, vol. 37, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 75–76.
There are so many passages that could be referenced to support the centrality and importance of the gospel, but let's look at the passage referenced in the title of this post:
1 Peter 1:10-12 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (ESV)
This last phrase seems so unassuming until we really think it through. We know from Job 38:4-7 that the angels were created before the world was created because they "shouted for joy" when God "laid the foundations of the earth." The point being that the angels have seen all of history unfold. They watched the flood and the Exodus. They saw the crossing of the Red sea, the stopping of the Jordan, the rule of the Judges, the rise and fall of Israel's Kings. They saw the exile of the Northern and Southern tribes and the return of many in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Then they witnessed the incarnation of Jesus, His life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. And they have seen the world change in the nearly two thousand years since Christ ascended. They have seen all of this, they have seen everything.
But according to Peter, the one thing that they long to look into is the gospel, the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. If the angels have seen all things since creation, but long to look into the gospel and God's saving work what should our response be?
One commentator puts it well, "The point is that angels reflect with delight on God’s saving actions. More specifically, angels do not experience the gospel in the same way as human beings since they are not the recipients of redemption. Again, the privilege of enjoying and anticipating salvation comes to the forefront. Old Testament prophets saw it from afar, and angels also marvel when gazing upon what God has done in Christ."[1]
Keeping the gospel central:
I have heard many people say that the gospel is important but that it is only one part of the Bible's whole teaching. Some have said that while we need the gospel to be saved or born again, we need the rest of the Bible to grow up. While I understand the thought process here I think that there is a tendency within this line of thought that assumes we can get past the gospel. In this view the gospel becomes the door that we must pass through to get into the house of salvation, so to speak, but then we need to go into all the other rooms too.
However I think that a better way to think of the Christian life and learning the Bible is like a picture drawn with hidden ink. Without the special glasses we can't see anything that makes any real sense, but once we have the glasses on we can see the whole picture and we can study all the different parts of it. In this analogy the de-coding glasses are the gospel that helps us to see the rest of Scripture the way it should be seen.
Jesus gives us this understanding of his life and ministry in John 5:39 when he said, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me." And again in Luke 24:13-49 on the road to Emmaus when Jesus explains how the Law, Prophets and the Psalms all point to Him. "Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things"(emphasis added).
You see, Jesus saw Himself and the gospel message of His living and dying in our place as the key to understanding the Scriptures. This is Luke's point when he tells us that by showing them everything that was written about Him in the Law, Prophets and the Psalms, he "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures."
If Jesus' work in our place, which is the gospel message, is relegated to simply the front door that we walk through, then we are going to miss the true understanding of the Scriptures because according to Luke it is through the lens of the gospel that we must read the Bible to truly understand its message.
May we wisely join the angels in never tiring of looking to and through the gospel that we might understand the Bible as we should.
[1] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude, vol. 37, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2003), 75–76.
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