You Have Hope In This Life (1 Peter 1:1-7)

Peter is the apostle who gets blamed for putting his foot in his mouth too much. But don’t discredit him too much because he was used by the Holy Spirit to pen a couple incredible letters that would forever encourage believers. 

Peter begins his letter by writing about a great hope—the greatest hope! We can think about situations where we express hope—to get the job; to win the game; for good health or recovery from sickness.

Difficult times, though, can lead people to think that there is no hope. Peter teaches us that we always have hope—even through trials. So the question I want to ask this morning is do you live with hope, even through difficulties?

SALUTATION

v.1- We know that the apostle Peter is writing. An apostle was in part used to describe those who were with Jesus, and 5:1 supports this—Peter was a “witness of the sufferings of Christ.” 

5:13 mentions Babylon, which is often a reference in the New Testament to Rome, so it is likely that Peter wrote these letters from Rome. His death is commonly dated around AD 67-68 (church history records Peter’s execution to have been upside down crucifixion [Origen wrote about it]), which could mean that the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Nero was very prevalent at the time. Maybe this is why Peter wrote about suffering so much. 

Peter wrote to people in Gentile territory, in modern-day Turkey. He calls them “elect exiles” (ESV, NIV is similar); “reside as aliens” (NASB); “scattered strangers” (KJV); “pilgrims” (NKJV); “temporary residents” (HCSB); “living as foreigners” (NLT).  The sense of the word used here is that these people are God’s chosen (elect) strangers. These people might have been “elect exiles” in these ways:

If persecution is in view, they might have been dispersed out of the Jerusalem area and throughout these lands (in modern-day Turkey) because of their beliefs. 

It certainly seems from the rest of the letter that these believers were known for their distinct lifestyle that was at odds with the worldliness around them (2:11; 4:3-4). In that way, they could be considered foreigners.

It is possible that the gospel spread through these lands after Pentecost. Pontus and Cappadocia are two lands mentioned in Acts 2:9. Possibly, the people from those lands who heard the gospel at Pentecost took the gospel back to those areas, seeing more people saved and becoming like strangers among the Gentile people.

We might think “exile” indicates some kind of imprisonment or punishment—but quite the opposite is true. Even if they were facing persecution, they were chosen by God to live in this way. Let me say more on this as I move now to a summary of verse 2.

In verse 2, we see God’s Blessings to His People in this passage:

The foreknowledge of God—God knew what they would be up against and where they would go, and therefore His love and grace was upon them as He was working out His plan in them.

Application:  We can easily develop a mindset that thinks that God isn’t real or powerful or that we’re doing wrong because we think there’s no blessing on what we’re doing because its not the greatest situation. But maybe the persecution or not-so-great situation is the blessing. It wasn’t by accident that these people were dispersed and possibly facing persecution. God knew and had a plan. 

The Sanctification of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification means being set apart or consecrated—this is the Holy Spirit’s work. God continually consecrates His people as they work out His purposes for them. The elect exiles were being consecrated as they remained faithful to God.

The Purpose of Obedience to Christ—the Greek preposition “for” (ESV) denotes the goal/purpose of the sanctification: obedience to Christ. Romans 8:29 tells us that we are to conform to the image of Christ, and God will even use times of suffering to teach us better how to obey Him.

Sprinkling of Christ’s Blood—this is a metaphor drawn from ratifying a covenant. We see it in Exodus 24:7-8 to seal a covenant, and the blood of Jesus Christ has made it possible even now for that salvation to go to Gentile people.

Greg Forbes says, “This verse lays the theological foundation for the epistle by outlining the nature and origin of the salvation that believers have experienced. God is the ultimate source, activated by the Holy Spirit, for the express purpose of obedience” (Greg Forbes, Exegetical Guide to the Greek New Testament: 1 Peter (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing, 2014), pg. 13)

All of that is in the first 2 sentences of this letter—imagine the hope and confidence the people might have received right away from reading it!  What a great reminder of who they were in Christ and how God was still working through them.

I want to pause right now even to make certain that you know that all of this can be true for you if you will believe. As we celebrate the resurrection, I want you to know right now what the shed blood of Jesus has done for you, and why his resurrection is the most important truth you need. GOSPEL.

Are you ready to put your faith in Jesus? I’m going to keep preaching, but I want you to think about that even now.

Then you will experience the Peter’s greeting of grace and peace greater than you’ve ever experienced.

CONTENT

We should look at all God has made possible for us and say praise him! Praise God!

That’s what Peter does in v.3. He is overwhelmed with praise because He is teaching that God is merciful and caused us to be born again.  The Greek word used there is an active verb, meaning the subject (God) is the one performing the action. God does the work of rebirth—we can’t do it—we can only rely on the blood of Jesus!

This is according to the mercy of God. Our holy and righteous God could have been justified to look down upon sinners and allow them to go the way of eternal consequence of damnation, but since He is merciful, He chose to provide the way of salvation. 

G.K. Chesterton said, "Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all...As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength" (G.K. Chesterton, Signs of the Times, April 1993, p. 6).  Our hope in Christ will only make sense when we understand our hopelessness caused by our sin.

He has caused us to be born again to a living hope. Believers in Jesus always have hope because hope is the immediate result of our rebirth. Some might think of their salvation only in terms of what it saved them from—the captivity to sin and hell. But we need to think about our salvation in terms of what it saves us to—a living hope. 

“Living” expresses the quality of hope—it’s living, not dead.

It’s not some false hope that was possible at some time but no longer.

It’s not an ancient hope that is no longer relevant.

It’s not just a hope that will be realized one day whenever your life on earth is over.

It’s a living hope because Jesus is living! V.3 makes clear that our living hope is based upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14, ESV)

Hope, as used here, means “someone/something upon which expectations are centered.”

We have a living hope. It’s like the candy Now & Later. The life you can live in Jesus Christ starts now. It has purpose and blessings now. And there is great blessing later.

V.4 gives us the expectation for later, which becomes a reality when you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior —an inheritance.  I’m not talking about money or land or possession on this earth. Peter describes this inheritance that comes through Christ as being:

imperishable—not being subject to breaking down, thus lasting forever

undefiled—free from stain or blemish

unfading—characterized by not losing quality or beauty Christians know that this world isn’t as good as it gets! 

The reason we can stand confidently in this expectation is because it is rooted in the character of God. Peter says that this inheritance is being guarded even now by God’s power.  If God is guarding it, I’m pretty sure you and I can’t do anything that would result in it becoming lost.

By God’s power, this inheritance is being guarded through faith.  We live by faith in God. God guards the inheritance that will be ours.  Think of it like a bodyguard protecting someone. The person has faith in his bodyguard and will follow the bodyguard’s commands because he knows the guard is protecting him.

And there is great confidence in God to hold this inheritance securely. In 1:24, Peter quotes from Is. 40:6-7, which says “A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass.” (Isaiah 40:6–7, ESV)

That Word is what allows us to be saved, and so by being born again, God has eternally changed the trajectory of your life from eternal perishing to eternal living.  

He is guarding this inheritance. For you to ensure that you receive this inheritance, you must be born again: acknowledge your sin and hopelessness; belief in Jesus Christ as your only hope because of what He did on the cross and through the empty grave; commit your life to following Him, guided by His word.