The Bible’s Inspiration, Relevance, and Message
The first time I ever heard the word “fika” was the summer going into my junior year of college. As it turned out, the apartment on campus that my buddies and I were moving into was previously occupied by a seminary student who had spent some time in Sweden, and as he was moving his stuff out and we were moving our stuff in, he invited us to a fika, which, if you don’t know, is a Swedish coffee break.
The idea is that you sit down with others, drink a cup of coffee, eat some kind of baked good, and just hang out — and this became my favorite thing to do. My roommates and I would have fika breaks everyday, and we invited anybody to join us. Our apartment became this revolving door for people to stop by for coffee and pastries. We even set up a little fika donation box. This really became our thing! And we made all kinds of friendships over fika — including friendships with a few PhD students who had moved to our school to study under a certain Old Testament professor.
When these guys came by, we would just pepper them with questions about the Old Testament, and they were so gracious with us — so gracious with me! — and I thank God for them because they had a big influence on me, and I remember one night in particular — drinking coffee, talking with my friend Ryan, and he had opened his Bible to the Book of Job. That was Ryan’s academic focus, and he read to us Job 19, verse 25. These are the words of Job when he says:
For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. …
The book of Job is an ancient book and when Job says these words he is describing his hope in the resurrection, and not only that, Job is describing his hope in a resurrected Redeemer who will stand on the earth. And I don’t remember everything that Ryan said that night, but he flipped to other places in the book of Job, and then to other passages in the Old Testament, and he made the case that Job, this ancient prophet, was writing about Jesus, and that when Job wrote what he wrote, he wrote it for me.
This was a burning-bush type of moment in my life. In fact, when I look back and remember the power of that experience, I’m ashamed by how little of the Bible I know today — because all I wanted was to see more of God’s glory in this Book. I wanted my heart to burn and to keep burning because of the wonder in this Book — and that’s what brings us now to 1 Peter Chapter 1, verses 10–12, because in this passage, Peter tells us about that wonder.
Inspiration, Relevance, Message
In the context of Chapter 1, these three verses are like a side-note. Peter’s main point is to help suffering Christians endure in hope. There’s a future-orientation. That’s his focus. But in verses 10–12, Peter talks about present reality in light of the past, and his purpose here is that he knows the more we understand the greatness of our salvation, the more equipped we will be to endure. Our salvation is a salvation worth holding onto. When it comes to this salvation, did you know … — that’s what Peter is doing.
And in the course of what he says about our salvation, we learn some amazing things about the Bible. And that’s the part I want to highlight this morning. This morning we’re going to look at three truths about the Bible that have a direct impact on the way we live. Here they are:
The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The Bible is for Christians.
The Bible is about Jesus.
In short, we can call this the Bible’s I-R-M — Inspiration, Relevance, Message — and the implications of these truths are glorious.
Let’s pray and get started:
Father in heaven, you tell us that the unfolding of your word gives light and imparts understanding (Psalm 119:130), and we know that only happens by your power. So we ask, in this moment, please send your Spirit to accomplish your will through your word in Jesus’s name, amen.
#1. The Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Start at verse 10. When Peter says “concerning this salvation” that is his signal that he’s about make this side-note. He’s going to pause his main argument and he’s going to pursue this holy tangent. He wants to tell us a little bit more about our salvation that he mentioned in verse 9, which is the outcome of our faith, which is what he’s been talking about in verses 3–9.
So when it comes to this salvation, verse 10:
the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
Okay, that is a loaded sentence! There’a a lot going on here.
But the first thing to notice is that there were these prophets who prophesied. This is referring to the Old Testament prophets, which includes the Old Testament authors, and they prophesied (or wrote about) “the grace that was to be yours.” This grace is another way to say “salvation.”
The Old Testament prophets prophesied about grace for us — they prophesied about our salvation — and that raised questions for the prophets about the details.
They knew what they were saying;
they knew what they had said;
they knew what other prophets had said, but they wanted to know more.
So they “searched and inquired carefully” — that’s how the ESV translates those two words, and that’s good. But also notice the beginning of verse 11, it’s the word “inquiring.” That’s the same idea we see in the previous two words of verse 10, but this is actually a different Greek word, which means Peter is using three different words to communicate the same thing.And that adds emphasis!
What Peter describes here was not an afterthought for the Old Testament prophets. This was not a hobby they got to in their spare time — but they searched intensely; they inquired carefully; they diligently investigated; they passionately examined — they wanted to know more details. What details?
Verse 12: They wanted to know who exactly these prophecies were about and when exactly these prophecies would take place.
Now that’s one way to say it in verse 11, but Peter says more! Peter takes the opportunity to tell us more about the nature of these prophecies. They were not just prophecies, but they were prophecies given to the prophets by the Spirit of Christ.
The Spirit Who Spoke
We’re going to look at the content later, but for now, let’s look at the origin of these prophecies. Peter is saying that these Old Testament prophets, in their prophesying, were led by the Spirit of Christ. And the Spirit of Christ is another title for the Holy Spirit. We know this from other places in Scripture:
Luke calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of Jesus” in Acts 16:7.
Paul calls the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of Jesus Christ” in Philippians 4:19,
or the “Spirit of [God’s] Son” in Galatians 4:6.
The Holy Spirit — the third person of the Trinity, neither made nor created nor begotten, proceeding from the Father and the Son — he is the one who spoke through the prophets, and that tells us something important about the Bible.
Remember, in this passage, we learn some amazing things about the Bible, but how do we make that connection? How do we go from what is true about the Old Testament prophets to what is true about the whole Bible?
True of the Whole Bible
Well it’s because what is true about the Old Testament prophets is true about the Old Testament, and what is true about the Old Testament is true about the New Testament, and that’s the whole Bible — let me explain:
What Peter says about the Old Testament prophets applies to the whole Old Testament because all the biblical authors served in a prophetic function. The Old Testament writers of Job, of 1–2 Chronicles, of Isaiah — although their styles are different, their writing is a kind of prophesy that claims divine authority. And one reason we know this is because of what Jesus taught.
In his teaching, Jesus confirmed the authority of the entire Old Testament. Remember, Jesus said he came not to abolish but to fulfill “the Law and the Prophets” (which is another way to say the Hebrew Scriptures, or the Old Testament). Jesus said that until heaven and earth pass way — which is never — not an iota or jot will pass away from the Scriptures; and then later Jesus makes that same claim about this own words (see Matthew 5:18; 24:35).
So on the basis of his own authority, Jesus confirmed the divine authority of the Old Testament. And the same thing goes for the New Testament. The New Testament apostles followed the teaching of Jesus.
They understood the authority of the Old Testament, and also the authority of Jesus himself. And Jesus commissioned these apostles to minister his authority.
By his appointment and his Spirit, Jesus made the apostles his messengers to authoritatively explain the Old Testament and to speak his word to the church, and they considered their own writings to be Scripture (see 2 Peter 3:16). The apostles were led by the Spirit of Christ in the same way the Old Testament prophets were led by the Spirit of Christ. So the New Testament and the Old Testament have this in common — their origin is the Holy Spirit.
The Doctrine of Inspiration
So here in 1 Peter 1:11, what is said about the Spirit’s guiding work for the Old Testament prophets is true of the entire Bible. This is called the doctrine of inspiration, and it’s why the Bible is the first and final authority in our lives.
Inspiration is what Paul describes in 2 Timothy 3:16 when he says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God…” Now that word “breathed out by God” is the literal meaning of divine inspiration. It’s the same thing Peter talks about in 2 Peter 1:21,
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
This means that in the Bible the human authors wrote nothing but what God intended. Everything said by the prophets, everything said in his Book, is breathed out by God, birthed by the Holy Spirit, so that whatever the Bible says, God says.
And that’s the game-changer. Do you want to know the mind of God? Do you wanna know what God thinks? Do you wanna know what God says? Look here. This is his word.
And it is infallible and inerrant. Which means the Bible is wholly trustworthy and wholly true. The Bible is totally reliable; completely right; absolutely authoritative. The Bible is divine revelation in God-breathed written form and it is the rule of faith and life for the church of Jesus Christ.
Because the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, what the Bible says, God says.
Implication: to ignore the Bible is to ignore the voice of God. Don’t do that.
This Book is the oracles of God. This Book is a portal into the mind and will of God. When we read we hear his voice.
And Peter tells us more. The second thing we learn about the Bible is this:
#2. The Bible is for Christians.
One way to look at this passage is as a Question and Answer. We see the question in verses 10 and 11, and then the answer in verse 12.
The prophets wanted to know more details about their prophecy. Who is this Messiah and when will he come? That’s what they searched diligently to understand. That was their question. And Peter says they received an answer. That’s verse 11: “It was revealed to them.”
That’s important language. These prophets didn’t discover the answer themselves, but the answer was revealed. It was given to them by the same Spirit who was leading them. And the answer was that their prophecies about the Messiah would not be fulfilled in their own day, but in the future. They were serving “not themselves, but you” — Peter says — and they knew it.
Now Peter already hinted at this in verse 9 when he says they prophesied about “the grace that was to be yours.” But the new insight in verse 12 is that the Old Testament prophets were aware of this! The main idea of what Peter is saying here is not the ignorance of the prophets, but their knowledge! When the prophets wrote, it was revealed to them that they were writing for the church. Isaiah, for example, knew he was writing a Christian book.
And the apostles teach us this:
Romans 15:4, “Whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction…”
1 Corinthians 10:11, “[Old Testament events] happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”
Romans 4:23, speaking of Abraham and the righteousness that comes by faith, Paul says the words of Genesis 15:5, “it was counted to him” were not written for Abraham’s sake alone, but for ours also.
And this was not accidental. The prophets knew it. They knew they were writing for the church, as did the New Testament authors, and the implication here is pretty simple:
Knowing that this Book was written for us should increase our appreciation of it.
Not Generic, But Fitted
It’s the same reason that when I was a kid I thought fitted hats were awesome. Now this is a little goofy, but give me a minute. When I played baseball as a kid, the hat was an important part of the uniform, and fitted hats were the primo.
In the hat world, there are two basic types of hats: there are adjustable hats and there are fitted hats — the adjustables usually have those plastic snapbacks or they’re elastic, but the fitted hats come in particular sizes (like about 12 different sizes, an eighth of an inch apart). And playing baseball throughout Little League and Middle School, our teams always had adjustable hats, because they’re cheaper and easier, and they’re one-size-fits-all.
But in high school, if you could play high school baseball, the high school team wore fitted hats, which means you gotta measure the size of your head and you gotta tell somebody so that when they’re making the hats they can make one that fits you. These hats were not generic, these hats were fitted. And that made them awesome.
And we get it, right? The same principle applies elsewhere. Tailored clothes are more precious than other clothes. A coffee drink with some stuff scribbled on the side, and your name on it, adds value to it (that’s the idea!).
In all of these cases, each of these things have features that communicate relevance. It says this is for me. We appreciate relevance.
Did you know that the Bible is relevant? It was written for you.
Look —
the Bible is not about you (we’re gonna get there in a minute),
and the Bible wasn’t written to you (we’re not the original audience),
but the Bible itself says it was written for you. This Book is for you!
Whatever you got going on right now in your life, the Bible is for you for that.
When you open these pages and read these words, you can do it with the confidence that in providence of God, and because of what he revealed to his prophets, when these words were written, we were in view — we who have heard and believed the gospel.
This Book is for us. It’s relevant.
Okay, so we’ve talked about the Bible’s Inspiration and its Relevance, but what about it’s Message?
#3. The Bible is about Jesus.
Look back at verse 11. The Old Testament prophets wanted to know more details about their prophecies, and it’s specifically about their prophecies when “the Spirit of Christ in them predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.”
And the “sufferings of Christ” here is referring to the cross of Christ. This is about the death of Jesus in the place of sinners.And the “subsequent glories” here is about the resurrection of Jesus and his victory over evil, sin, and death, and then all the fruit of that victory.
In verse 12 these are “the things” that the Old Testament prophets predicted that are now announced to us in the preaching of the gospel.
What the prophets took great pains to examine and search out, and what the angels long to look upon, we have simply heard. We hear it anytime we hear the good news of Jesus.
He’s the main message of this Book.
The Bible is an ancient, sacred collection of smaller books by human authors — it’s not less than that, but it is much more than that …
The Bible is one, single book with a single author — the Spirit of Jesus — and it’s written with a single theme — the saving work of God realized in Jesus. Everything in the Bible revolves around Jesus. He is the key to Scripture, and he is the focus. The Old Testament and the New Testament are united in their witness to him, and there’s nothing in the Bible that can be properly understood without him as the reference.† The Bible is about Jesus. Jesus is the message, and he’s the message who has been predicted and written about, come in the flesh, and now announced to us.
We Can Hear It
The magnitude of this salvation, the wonder of the gospel that we’re told in this Book, cannot be overstated. And we can just hear it. We don’t have to search diligently like the prophets did. We don’t have to long to look at it like the angels do. We just listen …
You — every “you” in here — you were created by God, in his image and likeness, intended by him to find your significance and happiness in him. You were made for fellowship with God.
But like our original parents, we have all sinned and rebelled against God. We have valued lesser things more than God and we have looked to these lesser things to satisfy us in the way that only God can, and that is a great evil. That is our sinful rebellion, and we are, therefore, deserving of God’s wrath. That’s been true of every human to ever live, except for one, and his name is Jesus, the Messiah.
And he was first prophesied to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15 as the offspring of a woman who will come and crush the head of the serpent; he would be the son to give us rest from the curse of sin (Genesis 5:28–29).
And then he was prophesied to Abraham — his offspring through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3; 22:18).
And then to Moses, he would be the prophet like Moses that God raises up from among the people of Israel who should be obeyed (Deuteronomy 18:15).
And then to David, he would be the king from his lineage whose throne would be established forever (2 Samuel 7:12–13), who David called his own Lord in Psalm 110, “Yahweh said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’”
So, he is the Lion of Judah that Jacob told us about in Genesis 49:10, the one who, like the king-priest Melchizedek in Genesis 14, has the power of an indestructible life (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:16), though he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, like Isaiah tells us, the suffering servant who would be wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5), but who will not be abandoned to the Sheol — he is the holy one who will not see corruption (Psalm 16:10).
He is the Redeemer who lives, who will at last stand upon the earth and we will see him, like Job tells us (Job 18:25).
This has been predicted, and now it is announced to you:
In the fullness of time, in accordance with the Old Testament Scriptures, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive adoption as sons (1 Corinthians 15:3–4; Galatians 4:5).
And that redemption came by his becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13),
by his bearing our sins in his body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24),
justifying us by his blood (Romans 5:9),
paying for the wages of sin which is death, which means he died and was buried (Romans 6:23) —
but then on the third day, God raised him (Acts 10:40).
Again in accordance with the Old Testament Scriptures, Jesus was raised from the dead and declared to be the Son of God in power, exalted at the right hand of the Father, from where he sent his Spirit (Romans 1:4; Acts 2:33), and the command is clear:
through Jesus Christ forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses or anything else (Acts 13:38–39).
So repent and believe (Acts 2:38).
Call upon the name of the Lord Jesus and be saved (Romans 10:5–13).
That’s the announcement!
Like a Flame of Fire
And the same Spirit who guided the prophets in their prophecy of Jesus accompanies the preaching of the gospel of Jesus, which I just told you, which I read in this Book!
Everything that I’ve just said to you is straight from the Bible. The wonder of this Book makes our hearts burn.
And every morning when I wake up, I come downstairs, and I pour my coffee, and over to the right, in my study just beside the kitchen, I leave my Bible waiting on my desk. And as I pour my coffee — almost like fika — from over in my study, this Book blazes like a flame of fire. This Book inspired by the Holy Spirit; this Book written for me; this Book about Jesus — church, let us know him in his Book. Let us live in fellowship with him.
And that’s what brings now us to the Table.
The Table
In God’s economy, revelation is for relationship. He reveals himself to us in his word to redeem us, and to draw us into his fellowship with him, which is what we remember at this Table. The bread represents the broken body of Jesus; the cup represents the shed blood, and when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we reenact our spiritual union with Jesus and give him thanks.
That’s why this Table is for those who trust Jesus and have fellowship with him. So if you’re here this morning and you have put your faith in Jesus, if you are united to him by faith, we invite you to eat and drink with us.
His body is the true bread.
His blood is the true drink.
Let us serve you.
† See Chapter IV, “Scripture” in the classic book by J.I. Packer, “Fundamentalism“ and the Word of God (1958).
Other Resources on the bible
Kevin DeYoung, Taking God At His Word: Why the Bible Is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, and What That Means for You and Me
John Frame, The Doctrine of the Word of God
Wayne Grudem and others, Understanding Scripture: An Overview of the Bible's Origin, Reliability, and Meaning
John Piper, A Peculiar Glory: How the Christian Scriptures Reveal Their Complete Truthfulness
Timothy Ward, Words of Life: Scripture as the Living and Active Word of God
