based on the Love God Greatly Study, Triumph over Trials / w1d1
THE JOURNEY (SCRIPTURE AND OBSERVATION)
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:1-5 / SOAP: 1 Peter 1:3-4
From Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those temporarily residing abroad (in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia) who are chosen 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by being set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with Jesus Christ’s blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure!
New Birth to Joy and Holiness
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:1-5 NET
These opening words of 1 Peter always bring me delight and remind me of the hope that comes with the peace we have with God through the blood of Jesus Christ!
Before I truly understood the truths of grace and mercy, I lived in a constant state of ‘hide-n-seek’ with God – striving to please Him but “hiding” from Him when I chose my way over His. Then I would work harder to please Him, somehow believing this would make everything better and help maintain the way God looked at me and the quality of my place or inheritance in Heaven. However, God mercifully placed me in the path of someone who explained the truth of His grace and mercy, and my life was forever changed! It was infused with a ‘living HOPE!” My hope is not born of the little engine’s chant: “I think I can, I think I can,” but by the grace of God that sent Jesus to the cross and raised Him to life again!
Grace: The undeserved favor of God
Mercy: Withholding a negative consequence that is deserved
Our hope is not meant to be based on our lifestyle or determination but rather on the knowledge that our inheritance in Christ is totally dependent on the grace, mercy, and peace of our God and Savior—through our FAITH in Jesus Christ. For it is only by God’s grace that we are able to know peace with God through the blood of Jesus.
It’s one thing to hope we will be saved, to yearn for life after death. Jesus proved that this hope is not a fantasy. He died, then showed Himself alive to many witnesses. Our faith is not a wish for a better world. The reason for our hope in an eternity with the Father is that our Lord is alive. Because He lives, those who believe in Him will also be resurrected.
bibleref.com / 1 Peter 1:
LIVING THE JOURNEY (APPLICATION)
Do you strive and worry about what God thinks of you? Does your confidence ever waiver concerning the status or state of your inheritance in through Christ? If so, let this passage be a wake-up call or reminder to:
- Live in peace with God.
- Stop striving and worrying.
- Maintain a confident and living hope in an eternity with the Father through your faith in Jesus Christ, His Son.
Ultimately, like Peter, our response should be praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Who, by His great mercy, gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! And by that resurrection not only a living hope but an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading – in other words – untainted by us. It is reserved, as Peter wrote, in heaven for us, and it is protected by God’s power through faith.
PRAYER FOR THE JOURNEY
Father, help us never lose sight of You and of Your power, love, grace, and mercy and the peace we know with You through Jesus Christ. How blessed we are to be Yours, set apart by the Spirit and sprinkled with the blood of Christ. All praise and glory belong to You. Help us to rest in You, to stop striving and worrying and instead to trust that Your promises are truly ‘yes and amen’ in Christ, our Lord. – In and by the name of Jesus I pray, amen
THE MORE WE KNOW
A Guarded Inheritance
God is guarding our inheritance, and He is guarding us from anything that might cause our inheritance—our eternal life with Him forever—to be lost. The Greek term used in this verse is phrouroumenous, a military term, also translated as “shielded,” “kept,” or “protected.”
In regards to 1 Peter 1-2
I love that God knows/sees the beginning from the end from before the foundations of the earth were laid (Eph 1:4). I love knowing the truth of Jeremiah 1:5, that God in His infinite power “formed” Jeremiah in his mother’s womb and chose him to be a prophet to the nations – before Jeremiah was even born! — Oh, the beauty of God’s grace we see in His “foreknowledge” – that He didn’t choose only the best of us” to be His, but He chose the prodigals, the adulterers, the murderers, the thieves, the greedy, poor and wayward … And to us, those who by faith would believe, He gave the right to become His adopted children – with full rights of His only begotten Son! Galatians 4:1-8
Me From the Inside Out 