“We don’t believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true.”
Dallas Willard
Prayer
Hope for past, present & future
1 Peter 1:3-4
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,
Many popular writers have called Paul the apostle of faith, John the apostle of love, and Peter the apostle of hope. They have done so because of the emphasis each of these writers made in the New Testament. Peter had much to say about hope in this epistle and that’s where we will be for the next few weeks.
So let’s set the scene:
Who/Characters
Peter (wife)
Nero
Christians under persecution
Where
Rome
“Babylon”
What is happening?
Fire
Persecution
A long list of blessings
A catalog of suffering
1 Peter 1:1-12
[1] Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, [2] according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
[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.
[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.
—————
Viktor Frankl has written on the importance of maintaining hope. After enduring an awful suffering (exilic) existence in a German concentration camp during the Second World War, Frankl, in his book Man’s Search for Meaning, told the tragic tale of a fellow prisoner who lost all hope:
A fairly well-known composer confided in me one day: . . .
“Doctor, I have had a strange dream. A voice told me that I could wish for something, that I should only say what I wanted to know, and all my questions would be answered. What do you think I asked? That I would like to know when the war would be over for me. You know what I mean, Doctor — for me! I wanted to know when we, when our camp, would be liberated and our sufferings come to an end.” . . .
“What did your dream voice answer?”
he whispered to me, “March thirtieth.”
When [he] told me about his dream, he was still full of hope . . . but as the promised day drew nearer, the war news which reached our camp made it appear very unlikely that we would be free on the promised day. On March twenty-ninth, [he] suddenly became ill. . . . On March thirtieth . . . he became delirious and lost consciousness. On March thirty-first, he was dead. To all outward appearances, he had died of typhus.
[But] those who know how close the connection is between the state of mind of a man . . . and the state of immunity of his body will understand that the sudden loss of hope . . . can have a deadly effect. . . . Any attempt to restore a man’s inner strength . . . had first to succeed in showing him some future goal.
Peter’s hope was “a living hope” (1:3), and it was “living” because it was grounded in the resurrection of Christ. Peter spoke of nothing less than the hope of a real Heaven. And for his early readers this message could not have come at a better time.
You see, the spiritual “exiles” of verse 1 had come to a faith in Christ that believed his return was very near. But now much time had passed. Those early Christians were now adrift in difficult days. They were confined to the hull of an out-of-the-way existence. Their promised port of freedom was nowhere in sight. So hope sagged, and the winds of spiritual vigor had died down.”
Peter is encouraging early believers to have hope….a living hope….. Us too
A foundation
Past, Present, Future
Future
1 Peter 1:3-5
[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.
The future of the believer is one of a living hope. Not a dead hope. It’s not dependent upon us or our performance. It is guaranteed by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This hope is our inheritance….this inheritance is unlike anything you could ever inherit here. Regardless of how nice of a thing we inherit here, it will rust or decay or we will rust or decay…it doesn’t last…..This inheritance though…. Is imperishable, undefiled, unfading and kept in heaven. You cannot get any better than that! Then as if that’s not enough. Notice it says kept in heaven for you! Who by God’s power are being guarded!!! Our inheritance is guarded by God himself, guaranteed by Jesus himself. That is the best future ever!
Present
1 Peter 1:6-9
[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.
We might not like it, but it’s very clear in scripture that we learn through trials and tribulations. We are being conformed to His likeness. Humans are hardheaded, we do not naturally drift towards God…we drift away.
Past
1 Peter 1:10-12
[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.
This passage is indeed the past. Peter is clarifying to them that scripture and the words of the prophets from the past all pointed towards Jesus. That he indeed is the foretold Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. Our savior, our deliverer. The perfect Lamb of God.
I want to take some liberty for a minute and tell you that this is clearly saying that…but I feel it might be helpful for us to also consider how we feel about our own pasts.
You see it’s likely easier to have living hope for the future (our inheritance). I’d say that’s the easiest. Then it’s more difficult to have living hope for our present (experience), things don’t always go our way and we live in a fallen world with sinful people. If you watch the news it certainly doesn’t seem that the present is a good place….but often when I’m talking to people they also still struggle over their own past. Maybe some of you do that today. Do you have living hope for the future? Good. Do you have living hope for the present? Good. Do you….really have a living hope that your past has been dealt with? Oh you know the words…but does Satan remind you of who you were? Do you think about past failures? Can you today understand that this living hope is good for the past?
If it all rests on Jesus, then it’s handled. This reference to the past is about trust in His word, scripture. And scripture says.
- Jesus is coming back and all will be set right (future).
- All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (present)
- Even though there will be trials and tribulations (present)
- God has forgiven you and taken away your sins as far away as the east is from the west. (Past)
Let your living hope set you free
John 8:36
[36] So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
