At church this morning, our senior pastor Josh Harris preached the first message from our new sermon series, “Living. Hope. The First Letter of Peter.” Josh’s message, from 1 Peter 1:1-5, was on the “past, present and future hope” we have because of Jesus Christ.
Greeting (verses 1-2)
The author of 1 Peter is, of course, Peter, the Apostle, one of Jesusʼ original 12 disciples. Peter’s audience was the Jews and Gentiles scattered throughout various churches in what is now known as Turkey.
In the opening greeting, Peter imparts hope and reminds his readers of their identity in Christ. They are:
“elect…according to the foreknowledge of God” – They were chosen by God from eternity past for salvation.
“exiles” – Their temporary residence is earth. They are permanent residents of the Kingdom of Heaven. Heaven is their home.
“in the sanctification of the Spirit” – They have been transformed by the powerful work of the Holy Spirit.
“for the purpose of obedience and for sprinkling with his blood” – In right relationship with God through Jesusʼ shed blood, their goal is obedience to Christ.
Past (verse 3a)
Peter begins his letter in a joyful exclamation of thanksgiving. “Blessed be God” is a way of saying “Praise be to God!” Heʼs saying, “God, youʼre wonderful! Thank you!” Sometimes our past mistakes or sins, or the sins and wrongs others have done to us, can define us. But as Christians, the risen Savior has rewritten our past. The most radical and important moment in our past is when we were born again. As Christians, the defining moments of our past are no longer our sin, our mistakes, wrongs done to us, our parents, our education, our marriage, or our decisions. As Christians the defining reality of our past is that God caused us to be born again! Christians have hope because Jesus has given us a brand new life.
Present (verse 3b)
We have been born again “to a living hope”. It is a hope that lives, grows and increases.
Hope, as we use the word, is a desire for an outcome that may or may not happen. Theologian D. A. Carson says the biblical word for hope describes a certain confidence in God. As Christians, we hope in God with confidence that even though we canʼt see the fulfillment of his promises, he always keeps his promises. CLC pastor Ben Wikner shared that apart from God, every other hope we have is ultimately a dying hope. Relationships, career, money, sex, success or material wealth will all eventually grow old, wear out, dry up or die.
But when our hope is in the resurrected Jesus, we have a living hope. When we hope in a God who has eternal joy waiting for us in heaven, our hope grows stronger with every passing day. Nothing—death, sickness, loss of home, job or loved ones —can touch or shake our living hope.
Future (verses 4-5)
As Christians living in this world, we are just like the Israelites—we are Godʼs chosen people, but we are exiles. We are not yet home. But God has promised us an inheritance. He has promised us a home! He has promised us heaven! God has rewritten our future. And it is a future of hope! God is keeping our inheritance for us in heaven. And it can never perish, spoil or fade.
We need to think about our inheritance every day. In the new heavens and new earth, our God will dwell with us. We will see him. He will make all things new. The world itself will be made new. And we will have bodies of indestructible life like Jesus. No more diseases. No more weariness and pain. And no more sin. We will know and obey Jesus with joy. And all the beauty of this world will be unimaginably more beautiful and more glorious in Paradise! We will be Godʼs people in Godʼs place (heaven) in Godʼs presence – for all of eternity!
Hallelujah!
