A Living Hope
1 Peter 1:3-9
The word blessed, which is used here, is a different word from the blessed that is used in the Sermon on the Mount. The word used here is the Greek word from which we derive our word eulogy. It means “to praise.” In the New Testament this word is never used in reference to man. God does not praise man, but man is to praise God, and He is the Father.
“The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in a unique way. Remember that the Lord Jesus made this distinction when He spoke to Mary Magdalene on the morning of His resurrection: “… I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17). He is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ because of His position in the Trinity. They are equal. But you and I do not call Him Father, except on the basis that Peter mentions here: He has begotten us. The word begotten has to do with the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you [1 Pet. 1:4].
“An inheritance incorruptible,” meaning that it is nondestructible. It cannot be damaged in any way—no rust, no moth, no germ, no fire can touch it.
“Undefiled” indicates that it is not stained or defiled by anything. We will not get this inheritance illegally.
“That fadeth not away.” We won’t inherit it and then find it to be worthless, like some stock that once had value and then became completely valueless.
That inheritance is imperishable, indestructible, and no enemy can take it away from us. Someone has expressed it poetically:
It will always be new; it will never decay.
No night ever comes; it will always be day.
How it gladdens my heart with joy that’s untold
To think of that land where nothing grows old.
Unfortunately, in our day our attention has been taken away from that which is future because so much emphasis is placed on the present.
“Kept by the power of God” emphasizes the keeping power of God. Kept is probably one of the most wonderful words we have here—“kept by the power of God through faith.”
The story is told of a Scotsman, who was typically economical, leaving instructions that only one word should be engraved upon his tombstone. But that one word, taken from this verse, is one of the greatest I know. It was the single word KEPT. He was “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
However I still have an old nature-and you do, too. And neither of us can change our old natures by trying to follow a little set of rules. We can no more change that old nature than we can take a gallon of perfume out to the barnyard, pour it on a pile of manure, and make it as fragrant as a bed of roses. My friend, you have that old nature, and you cannot change it.
The only way in the world that you can live the Christian life is by the power of the Holy Spirit and by the fact that you are kept by the power of God—right on through until the day when you will be delivered to Him in heaven. As we are going to see, it all has to do with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
The suffering and the security of the believer produce—of all things—joy! They can do that because of the work of the Triune God. God our Father, according to His mercy—oh, He has been so merciful!—has begotten us, given us a new nature and a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And out yonder in the future He has a marvelous inheritance waiting for us.
Peter gives us reasons for enduring trials down here in this life. “Now for a season”—the trials will not be long, compared to eternity. In our day there is too much emphasis on the present life. Psychology and materialism have slipped into the church. We are told that we must develop ourselves into a full-orbed individual. If we are having trouble, something is wrong with our Christianity. Oh, my friend, it doesn’t mean that at all!
Instead of so much introspection, we ought to be looking outward to the great God we have and to the marvelous inheritance which He has ready for us to receive some day. We should stop this attempt to improve our old nature through the power of the flesh. God is the one who is in the business of improving us. He is the one who is trying to bring us to a maturity in our Christian life. God’s way of improving us is through manifold trials
We have been told this in previous books—in fact, it is almost like a stuck recording. Jesus told us not to be dismayed. He said that in the world we would have troubles. In the Epistle to the Hebrews we learned that God tests us by trials and troubles. James wrote about the testings that come from God. And Paul had a great deal to say about suffering. Now Peter comes along and says the same thing.
I know it is not at all popular to teach that God will prove us and lead us on to maturity through suffering. People would rather be encouraged to think that they are somebody important and that they can do great things on their own. My friend, we are nothing until the Spirit of God begins to move in our hearts and lives. We have nothing to offer to God. He has everything to offer to us.
The things at our fingertips which we consider so valuable are not really of value. They are simply passing things when measured in the perspective of eternity. All these things are destructible. They are corruptible, and they can be defiled. The things of this world do fade away. The things we cannot see are the eternal, things. They are of real value.
“The trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold.” After gold is mined, it is put into a smelter, a red-hot furnace. The purpose is not to destroy the gold; it is to purify the gold. When the gold is melted, the dross is drawn off to get the pure gold. Later on, Peter will also make an application of this regarding the suffering of our Lord. He says that we have been redeemed, not with gold or silver, but with something infinitely more precious than that—the blood of Christ.
When God tests us today, He puts us into the furnace. He doesn’t do that to destroy us or to hurt or harm us. But He wants pure gold, and that is the way He will get it. Friend, that is what develops Christian character. At the time of testing, the dross is drawn off and the precious gold appears. That is God’s method. That is God’s school.
We don’t hear that teaching very much in our day. Rather, we are being taught to become sufficient within ourselves. Oh, my friend, you and I are not adequate; we are not sufficient, and we never will be. We simply come to God as sinners, and He saves us by His grace through the blood of Christ. Then He wants to live His life through us. He tries to teach us this through our trials. He is drawing us closer to Him.
There are no shortcuts to maturity. All the gimmickry and new methods will lead to a dead-end street. The only thing that will bring us into a true maturation is the trial of our faith which God sends to us.
Simon Peter, when he wrote this epistle, knew that crucifixion was ahead of him. He says that the trials are going to bring out the gold when we appear in Christ’s presence. That’s the thing toward which we are to look forward.
This verse ought to mean a great deal to us. Remember that Peter had seen the Lord Jesus personally and had traveled with Him for three years. He had failed miserably during that period. Then one morning on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the Lord prepared breakfast for the men who had been fishing all night, and I guess He was waiting for Peter. I would have expected Him to say, “Peter, I can’t trust you. Why did you deny Me? I’m going to have to put you on the sidelines. I cannot use you.” But no, He didn’t say that. Rather, He said, “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” (see John 21:17). That was His question: Do you love Me? The man who had been a braggadocio before was no longer bragging. He finally just cried out, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” And the Lord Jesus said, “I’m going to let you feed My sheep” (see John 21:16–17
Salvation was a subject of prophecy in the Old Testament. Both the prophets and apostles bore witness to the truth of it. What an encouragement that was to the Diaspora, those who were suffering for their faith.