TUESDAY
Yesterday we began looking at Peter’s opening doxology to the content of his letter. He praises God for causing us to be born again according to his mercy. Today, let’s examine the results of being born again:
1 Peter 1:3–12 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Peter is utilizing the family metaphor here. He again emphasizes that God is our Father and we are born again. So what does that mean?
According to this passage believers are born into two things:
- A living hope
- An inheritance
Remember, the audience Peter is writing to has been exiled and are now facing persecution in their new home. They are likely hopeless, not seeing an end to their predicament. This hope that we are born again into is living. It is living in that it is not dead and empty. That may seem obvious but living could also be used to refer to something that is growing. The hope that the world has is a dead hope. Apart from Christ, whatever hope we find ends at death, so it isn’t much of a hope at all. Our hope for a better job ends at death. Our hope for a nice car ends at death. Our hope to buy a house ends at death. Our hope for a spouse ends at death. Our hope for reconciliation ends at death. The Christian hope however is rooted in the resurrection of Jesus. Our hope is living because Jesus is living. The resurrection proves that Jesus has power over the curse of death. The resurrection proves that there is life eternal. The resurrection proves that this path to life is through Jesus. Our hope then is eternal. As Paul talks about in Romans 8, this hope will be fully realized in the new creation when all of creation is liberated from the curse of sin. We assured of this hope because Jesus has risen from the dead. As Tim Keller has said on this, “If Jesus rose from the dead that means that in the end everything is going to be ok.”
We are also born again into an inheritance. For Peter’s audience, exile meant a loss of their inheritance as their inheritance was connected to the land their father owned. This would leave them impoverished and hopeless for sustained financial stability. The Christians there were likely being disowned by their fathers for converting to Christianity as well. This also came with a loss of inheritance and financial stability. So Peter emphasizes that their Father God has given them an inheritance. This inheritance he describes in a few different ways:
- Imperishable - it is free from death and destruction
- Undefiled - it is free from evil and moral decay
- Unfading - it is free from decay and the inevitable degradation of time.
For the Israelites in the Old Testament their inheritance was associated with the land. The land was taken from them in the conquest of Assyria, Babylon and later Rome. The land was defiled because of the failure of the people to live up to the standards of the Law. The natural fruit of the land decayed over time. This new inheritance that Christians have been born again into is far superior. In fact, it is so secure that it is kept in heaven where these factors cannot touch it. It is kept for his audience (”for you” at the end of v. 4).
Peter even says that the believers are “being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation to be revealed in the last time.” What a comfort to those Christians who are feeling so unsettled. They are guarded by God’s power! Talk about security. The means by which they participate in this is through faith—believing and trusting in the gospel.
They are being guarded for a salvation that will be revealed in the end. Here Peter has in mind the return of Christ. When Christ returns to make all things new and bring the kingdom of God in full, the salvation of believers will be fully realized. We experience it now in part, but then we will experience the fullness of it. We will talk about this more on Thursday.
Here Peter is reminding those who are hopeless and without an inheritance that they have been born into a living hope in Christ and an eternal inheritance through their heavenly Father. This is true for all Christians for all time and should comfort us the same today just as it did his first audience.
This perspective should change what we ultimately hope for. Are your ultimate hopes temporal or eternal? Can you honestly say that being with God in the new creation your ultimate hope and longing?
This perspective should change where we invest our treasure. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:19 not to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth, but to instead lay up treasures in heaven. (Peter is likely reiterating Jesus’ teaching, here.) Jesus goes on to say, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Is your will directed towards the treasures of earth (status, stuff, achievement, acceptance, pleasure, luxury) or is it directed towards your inheritance in heaven? (The presence of God, worship, love, people, etc.)