CHRISTIAN HOPE AND JOY
Please read 1 PETER 1:1-21
The Apostle Peter writes this letter to those Christians that had been scattered about. This letter was written in the mid 60’s AD during the reign of the neurotic Nero ruler of the Roman Empire. Many had been scattered as a result of the persecution and suffering from various sources. Peter wrote to encourage and emphasize the hope and joy they should have as believers. However, he too mentions the positive aspects that might result from going through the trials and persecutions they were experiencing; gold is purified by fire and our faith can be made pure and strong by the trials we go through.
Peter was fulfilling the command that Christ had given him to feed His sheep (John 21:15-17). Many today are called to do the same thing.
1 Peter 1:2, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ (Trinity) all are involved in our salvation. Addressed to the Elect; God in His wisdom has chosen us to salvation through the work of the HS and is made possible by the Blood of Christ.
The Apostle Paul says in 2Th 2:13, “But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:”
It takes more that just being called by God, we have to respond in faith by believing the truth of the Gospel message and this is a work of the Holy Spirit.
God is in the process of calling out a bride for His Son and it is only as we respond to work of the Holy Spirit by faith that we can be saved. By faith we become the chosen of God, similar to the Jewish people of the OT. I believe that the bride of Christ, the true church, will soon be complete and at that time will be caught up to be with our Lord. Then God will again deal with the Jewish people here on the earth.
Because of God’s wonderful Grace we have security in salvation and we have a secure inheritance. We can praise God today and give Him thanks; because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. We now have this lively hope or a living hope—a hope that lives on the inside of us.
We have an incorruptible inheritance kept secure for us in heaven and we ourselves are kept by the power of God until that day.
We can rejoice this day in the knowledge of this and the hope of this promise. Even through we will face temptation and testing in this life, we know God is in control and we have hope. A faith that has not been tested is an unverified faith. Even through we have not seen Christ with our physical eyes, our faith has revealed Him to us and we have joy unspeakable or indescribable and we know the outcome of our faith will be salvation of our souls, the resurrection of our bodies, and life eternal with Him. Amen.
The Old Testament prophets predicted the suffering and the glory of the Messiah, without being able to see the gap or church age in between.
Wiersby’s commentary: Invv. 10-12, Peter reminds us that the OT prophets spoke of this salvation we enjoy. They did not, however, fully understand the time or circumstances in which it would appear. They saw the cross and the kingdom, but they did not anticipate the “valley”in between, this present age of the church.
1Pe 1:12GNB, “God revealed to these prophets that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to understand.”
I think it is amazing that the angels are interested in looking into and understanding the things going on here on the earth (Dan. 8:13, 12:6, 1Pet. 1:12).
1 Peter 1:21, “Who by him [Christ]do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.”
In the light of what we have looked at here and in the knowledge of God’s Grace and the security we have in Christ, how should we live?
- Guard the way we think (V13).
- Being spiritually alert (V13).
- Living as obedient children (V14).
- Living a live separated unto God (V15).
A.“Holy” does not mean sinless perfection, which is a condition impossible in this life anyway (1 John 1:8-10). It means set apart, separated unto God. If we are God’s children, then we ought to be like our Father.
- Living in the fear of God (V17).
- Living with the resurrection power of God in our lives (V21).
- Live with the faith, hope and joy God has given us, looking forward to the future (V21).
The Christian does not work for this hope; it is a part of his spiritual birthright. We are born again (John 3:5) into this living hope.Because of this we have Joy and because of the Joy we have, we have strength for the journey. AMEN