Panning for Gold

Panning for Gold

1 Peter 1:10-12

V10 “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,” To go into all the prophecies of our salvation would be an exhaustive study in which I fear I would lose many readers. I will reference to an article that mentions the importance of bible prophecy. The prophets searched diligently through the writings of those inspired by God, as they were, and saw that Messiah’s kingdom was superior to anything offered by the law. They searched through the writings as one searching for grains of gold. I watched the great care that a few men exhibited while panning for gold, and realized the great time involved for a few nuggets, or a little dust, yet the reward was worth it for them. The miners saw the riches obtained from their effort, and it spurred them to look more.

Hidden in the word of God are the nuggets that offer us hope, in the redemption of mankind, a hope that is manifested in the person of Jesus Christ.

Begin with Moses and go on through all the prophetic writings, and you will discover that Christ is the grand theme of the Bible. He said: “Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me” (John 5:46). If we deny Him of whom Moses wrote then Moses, by inspiration, becomes our accuser. To Adam and Eve Christ was promised as the Seed who would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15).To Abraham God had said that in Christ all nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:18 cf. Galatians 3:14-16).To Israel the Paschal Lamb foreshadowed the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world (Exodus 12 cf. John 1:29; I Corinthians 5:7).To Israel in the wilderness the serpent of brass lifted upon a pole (Numbers 21:8, 9) typified the lifting up of Christ upon the cross (John 3:14).Balaam’s prophecy of the Star that would come forth out of Jacob (Numbers 24:17) was none other than our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 2:2; Revelation 22:16).Christ was also the smitten Rock (Numbers 20:11 cf. I Corinthians 10:4) and the greater Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15).When Philip first met Jesus Christ he ran to Nathanael, and said: “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth . . . ” (John 1 :45). Taken from; “The Importance of Bible Prophecy” Author Unknown

We have the luxury of realizing the prophecy fulfilled in our salvation through the person of Jesus Christ, and have the benefit of a relationship with God, as well as the guidance of the Holy Spirit, this enables us to search the scripture for not only end time prophecy, but God’s will for our life.

The grace that shall come to us when our salvation is perfected at the second coming of Christ. The Old Testament saints possessed the grace of God, but it was grace linked to their lineage, they were children of God, where we enjoy the full privileges of adult sons. One of these differences is that we can now enter into the Holy of Holies and converse with our creator through Christ. This is a privilege that I fear most of us fail to exercise as we should.

V11. “searching 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.”

Searching what meant looking for the exact time of Christ coming, since they could not ascertain that they looked for what manner of time, or the season, the fit time of His coming. In other words they wanted to know the circumstances surrounding the coming of the Messiah.

We do not have to look far back in history to see many that have predicted the second coming of Christ only to see that time pass into the next day and the day after that. Many believed what was told them concerning the return of Christ, and sold all they had in order to be ready for His return. I can not imagine the fear that overcame them as they realized that they would have to start all over again with nothing, because they believed a lie. I feel that Satan has a powerful tool in this deception in that, many would fall away from the faith, when Christ does not appear on the chosen date. This time is not for us to know only the Father knows the time when our salvation will be perfected.

The disciples had posed this same question to Jesus in Matthew 24:3-31. Jesus did not give them a definite date but He did give them a list of things that must happen in order that all things shall be fulfilled. We need only to look at scripture to see what must occur in order for the return of Christ, just as there were certain things that had to occur for the birth of the Messiah. As I watch world events unfold around us, I have to think there is no method to the madness, yet all things are working towards the day of Christ return and we need only look at world events to see that they do indeed line up with scripture. Look at one prophecy that had to happen as Jesus said in Matthew 24:2 “And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be here upon another, that shall not be thrown down,” This occurred in 70AD as the Romans destroyed the temple, leaving not one stone upon another. Yet Revelation tells us that the temple must be rebuilt, on the same site, a feat that seems impossible with the dome of the rock now occupying that spot.

We can get caught up with prophecy to a fault that it becomes all time consuming, and we loose the purpose for Christ return, the redemption of mankind. Many have not accepted the salvation offered to them by God, and this is our work here on earth. We are to pray for the soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but what will He find? Will He find us busy about His work, sharing the love of God with a dying world, or will He find us wrapped up in ourselves waiting for either our death, or His return.

V12. “ To 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.”

The prophets, having received prophetic word from God, realized that these things were not to happen in their lifetime, nor, except for Daniel, did they receive a timeline when these things were to happen. Yet they were not discouraged in revealing what they had received, but preached, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to the partial benefit of their generation, and of the hope to come. This prophecies were understandable, with spiritual instruction, to the generations to which they were given, but the full knowledge of them were hidden till Jesus should come. Just as now there are prophecies that have been given to us, that we can not fully understand, still through spiritual guidance we study them, yet the full meaning of them will not be revealed till the second coming of Christ.

Our believe in these prophecies and our desire to know more about them, gives us encouragement to persist in the faith, looking forward to the day when all things will be made known to us. 1 Corinthians 13:12 says: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I am also known.” When looking in a fogged up mirror to shave I run a great risk of cutting myself, only after I clean this mirror can I see clearly to shave. Anyone looking through a dirty window gets a distorted view of the world on the other side. As we study the word of God and align it with prophecies, we begin to wipe away the dirt from the window to a better view of not only our future but a better understanding of God’s will for our life. Still there are things that are kept from us till the time of Jesus’ return, to this Paul says in verse 13, abide. Abide in faith, in hope, and in love. Prophecies teach us that Christ will return, for His church, He even tells us that. What will He find, will we be about His work, looking forward to His coming by spreading the good news of it? Or will be locked in our own little world, looking in that mirror and only seeing ourselves, waiting for the return of Christ, only to wonder why we missed it?