Transcript

J. Allen Blair, a former pastor and author, told the story of a pastor he knew who always seemed to be thankful about something, no matter what.

He pastored a small church in a farming community, and everyone knew him for his thankful spirit. Every Sunday, they knew their pastor would thank God for something in his opening, pastoral prayer. 

One particular weekend brought an unexpected blizzard along with the cold that blew in from the north. As the little congregation rode their horse-drawn carriages and carts to that little country church—and some even walked through the snow—they all wondered what their pastor could possibly be thankful for on such a day as this.

As the service opened and he stood to pray, the congregation couldn’t help but smile when they heard him say, “Heavenly Father, we thank You that not every day is as bad as this one!”[1]

Well, if you are feeling like there is not a lot to be thankful for today, we have arrived at the book of 1 Peter just in time. As we set sail today into Peter’s first letter, he is writing to people who cannot imagine much in life to be thankful about.

They are facing a blizzard of trouble. The letter opens with Peter mentioning various areas to which these believers have been scattered because of persecution. They are now living “in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God” (verses 1-2).

They had not planned on being scattered, but God had planned it. From our perspective they were scattered; from God’s perspective they were appointed. They are going to expand the influence of the gospel throughout these regions, all of which are located in what we call today the country of Turkey.

Peter then writes in verse 3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” New Testament Greek does not have an exclamation point, but one seems appropriate here to convey the intense feeling. Peter simply says to God the Father and God the Son, “Thank you!”

Peter is setting an example for them and us today. It is a good practice to always give thanks to God about something, even if it is something like, “Lord, I am so glad every season of life is not as bad as this one! The cold winds of trouble are blowing against me, and the trials are piling up around me like drifts of snow, but thank You!”

Understand that Peter is not telling them to give thanks for the trouble they are facing in their dispersion—for the loss of homes, jobs, and relationships. Peter is focusing their attention on something we can always thank God for—on what we could call the glory of salvation.

He writes that God “has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (verse 3). We do not have a dead hope; our hope is alive because Jesus Christ is alive.

In verse 4 Peter says this living hope is of a future “inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven” for us. We are going to explore and manage and enjoy a new universe one day, along with a brand-new earth that is going to last forever (Revelation 21).

Let me just key in on this idea that our future glory will be unfading. It is like the shrubs you plant that stay green year-round. It is not like the fading beauty of flowers that wilt and dry up.

But this also carries the idea of undiminishing delight. Have you ever noticed that no matter what you purchase, you soon get over that initial excitement? That is true of that new dress or new car. Even that new house fades over time, and you are not as excited about it as you were when you first moved in.

Well, Peter says our thrill and joy will never diminish. Our heavenly home will be as exciting a billion years from now as it is when we first move into it.

Is it possible that we might lose our inheritance—that some fine print might keep us out? No, Peter says, we are “being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (verse 5). If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, you are actually being guarded and kept for your future inheritance.

So, Peter writes here in verse 6, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.” He explains further in verse 8, “Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,” knowing that faith brings “the salvation of your souls” (verse 9).

Peter then goes on to write in verses 10-12 that even the Old Testament prophets could not fully grasp the glory of God’s plan of redemption—a plan that is fully revealed in this New Testament dispensation.

Beloved, it is a privilege to be living on this side of the cross of Christ, in this dispensation of the church age, where we have the completed Scriptures and can understand the full story of redemption. Peter writes that even “angels long to look” into our salvation (verse 12). They are curious. They are intrigued about you and me—mere mortals who will one day share the eternal inheritance with Christ.

In the next few verses, Peter moves on to challenge us with some of the obligations of salvation. It has been freely given to us, but it ought to cause us to respond in certain ways.

The first of these obligations is to pursue holiness. Peter writes in verse 13 that we should be “preparing [our] minds for action.” Your translation might read, “Gird up the loins of your mind.” This pictures a man in Peter’s day pulling up the bottom of the long outer garment and tying it up in his belt so that his legs were free to work and move quickly. The idea for us is to “pull our thoughts together,”[2] to be clear thinking about our lifestyle. In fact, Peter tells us in verse 14 what this is going to look like:

Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.

A second obligation of salvation is a reverence for God. We might call this holy fear; it is reverential respect for God. Peter writes, “Conduct yourselves with fear . . . knowing that you were ransomed . . . with the precious blood of Christ” (verses 17-19).

The verb here for “ransomed” was used for buying prisoners of war and paying the price to free slaves.[3] But Peter makes it clear that all the silver and gold, all the money in the world, is not sufficient to purchase one person out of spiritual bondage and slavery to sin and death. We have been ransomed, and the currency is the lifeblood of Jesus Christ.

The third obligation of the saved is stated in verses 22-23:

Love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again … through the living and abiding word of God.

Then Peter quotes from Isaiah 40:6-8 to reinforce the importance of God’s Word as our daily guide:

All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. (verses 24-25)

So, no matter how cold those winds of adversity, no matter how deep those snowdrifts of sorrow, here is what we can do: we can thank the Lord for our past salvation, our future glory in heaven, and the Word of God, which guides us every day, until the day He calls us home.