In 2016, a fan at a Chicago White Sox game was talking to outfielder Melky Cabrera. He was consistently calling out to the player and cheering for him. The fan told his friends that he was doing this because Cabrera was going to throw him a ball. In the fifth inning, Cabrera caught a ball for the third out. He immediately turned and threw it straight to the fan who had been calling out to him. Everyone who witnessed it was shocked and excited, because the fan had called his shot and it came true.
The Bible is also full of predictions of future events. Throughout the old testament, God made promises of a savior whose death and resurrection would make His love known to the whole world. As believers today, we live in a privileged time because these prophecies have already been fulfilled in Jesus. We can have a personal relationship with God, because we get to witness the truth and completion of God’s promise. Based on this truth, 1 Peter 1:10-12 gives believers three more reasons to bless God.
10 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. – 1 Peter 1:10-12
- We bless God for the fulfillment of prophecy
God’s promises are good, but the fulfillment of those promises is even better. We are living in the fulfillment of everything God said He would do to bring about salvation for mankind. We get to experience the good things old testament prophets hoped for.
- We bless God for the work of Holy Spirit
The prophets did not speak their own words or give guesses about the future. They spoke the words that God spoke to them through the Holy Spirit. We can share the good news of Christ with the same authority, since the Holy Spirit now dwells within us.
- We bless God for the gracious opportunity to experience salvation
The prophets longed to experience the fulfillment of God’s promises, but they could only see salvation from afar. The experience of salvation is a great blessing that must not be taken for granted.
As believers today, we are greatly blessed to experience the salvation God promised. When we understand the enormity of this gift, it is easy to echo Peter’s statement in verse three: “Blessed be the God and Father.”