Living Hope & Inexpressible Joy
1 peter 1:1-9
Main Idea: We have living hope and inexpressible joy through suffering because of our secure inheritance in Christ.
I. A Divine Identity (1:1-2)
Peter addresses his letter to ‘elect exiles of the Dispersion,’ primarily Gentile Christians scattered across Asia Minor. Their status as ‘elect exiles’ is theological rather than socio-political; because they are loved and chosen by God, this makes them exiles (1:1; 17), strangers, and sojourners (2:11) on the earth as they await their true home.
This ‘electing’ love of God toward us is thoroughly Triune. It is…
According to the foreknowledge of God the Father (1:2a)
In the sanctification of the Spirit (1:2b)
For obedience to the Son, by the sprinkling of his blood (1:2c; cf. Ex. 24:3-8)
Philippians 3:20: But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ
Hebrews 11:13–16: These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland… they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
“So much of our restlessness and disappointment is the result of trying to convince ourselves that we’re already home. [But we are called] to a refugee spirituality – unsettled yet hopeful, tenuous but searching, eager to find the hometown we’ve never been to… The disciple finds himself or herself between, on the way, fatigued yet hopeful. Baptism isn’t a capsule that transports us to the end of the road. Conversion is not an arrival at our final destination; it’s the acquisition of a compass.”
~ James K.A. Smith, On the Road with Saint Augustine
II. A Hopeful Inheritance (1:3-5)
Peter begins with a blessing and doxology to God, who in his great mercy has caused us to be born again (cf. Jn. 3) to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection of Christ is the key to a hope that is certain and alive, not mere “optimism” or “wishful desire” (cf. 1 Cor. 15:19).
“The means of our new birth is not first the message of the resurrection; it is the fact of the resurrection. When Christ rose he secured our salvation. He entered that new day of which the prophets spoke, and he brought us with him. Peter is saying what Paul also declared: when Christ rose, we rose. In giving life to Christ, God gave life to all those who are united to Christ. God’s elect have a hope that is as sure as Christ’s resurrection. Christ has not just made their salvation possible; he has made it sure.”
~ Edmund Clowney, The Message of 1 Peter: The Way of the Cross
This living hope is stored up for us in an ‘inheritance’ in heaven that is:
Imperishable
Undefiled
Unfading
Matthew 6:19–20: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
This inheritance is being kept for us while we are being kept for it (cf. Ps. 121), “guarded by God’s power through faith.” Faith and hope are intrinsically connected until our salvation is “ready to be revealed in the last time.” Our salvation is past, present, and future in Christ Jesus.
III. A Joy Inexpressible (1:6-9)
Because of the good news of this salvation, we can rejoice even though we face "various trials.” Peter draws our attention to 3 realities in our suffering as Christians, that invite us to joy (cf. Jas. 1:2-4)
1. Suffering is temporary (1:6). Compared to the glories that await us in the future, all of our suffering is but “a little while.”
2 Corinthians 4:16–18a: So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.
"Suffering brings discouragements, because of our impatience. 'Alas!' We lament, 'I shall never get through such a trial.' But if God brings us into the trial he will be with us in the trial and at length bring us out, more refined. We shall lose nothing but dross (Zech. 13:9). From our own strength we cannot bear the least trouble, but by the Spirit's assistance we can bear the greatest.”
~ Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed
2. Suffering strengthens and refines our faith (1:7a).“Men will never become great in divinity until they become great in suffering.” ~ Charles Spurgeon, “The Christian’s Heaviness and Rejoicing”
3. Suffering results in praise, glory, and honor (1:7b).
While we await the ‘revelation’ of Jesus Christ, though we do not see him (cf. Jn. 20:29), we believe in him, love him, and “rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” Joy in God in the midst of suffering results in great glory, as we endure as elect exiles until the day we see Christ face to face.
Hebrews 12:1b–2: “… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
