Fourth Day of Christmas

1 PETER 1:10-12

¹⁰Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,¹¹searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. ¹²To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT

Imagine yourself reading through a great story, and you sense that the climax is approaching. But before you have a chance to finish it you lose the book, or your dog uses it as a chew toy. Old Testament prophets didn’t know the whole story they were writing either. The Spirit had given them much, but there were still many unanswered questions. They did know that the Christ would come and that He would suffer. And Peter tells us that this is because Christ Himself (“the Spirit of Christ”) was in them, predicting His own sufferings through them. But there were many unanswered questions. How would the Christ come and accomplish all these things. How will he defeat sin and death? And what about the glories which would follow? What would that be like? And when will all this happen? When they weren’t writing down or delivering God’s message, Peter tells us that they were searching and sifting it…looking for clues or unnoticed details that might tell them more about the Christ. But we have the completed story. That which prophets and angels longed for has been delivered to us. And what is better, we are included in it. It is the story of what our Savior did for us in His sufferings and the glories we now share with him. That which prophets and angels long for is ours. It is the good news that we have believed and that the nations now must hear.

—Pastor Eric Sauder, Christ the Kings Church, Springfield, Missouri

PRAYER

Gracious and Merciful Father, we give you thanks that the prophetic Word is now fulfilled in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We give you thanks for the good news we have heard and believed. We ask that it would continue to grip us and to change us. Through Jesus Christ we pray, AMEN.

CHRISTMAS APPLICATION

The prophets of old looked intently into the Word of God expecting to find Christ there. How does this challenge us to read and hear the message of the prophets today?