Come with me to the book of 1 Peter this morning and let's stroll. The text is 1 Peter 1:1-9.
1-2 I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!
3-5 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.
6-7 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.
8-9 You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.
Peter was, if not the most influential leader in the early Christian church, certainly in "the top 4". The other contenders were James, John, and Paul. His letter was not written to a particular local congregation, but instead to the exiled believers scattered throughout the region. Remember that after Stephen's martyrdom, Christians left Jerusalem, going to places like Antioch and elsewhere. The relentless persecution of Christians fueled the spread of the gospel to all of Asia Minor, and beyond.
Peter reminds his readers in verses 1-2 that they, the exiles have not been forgotten by God, that He has his eye on them. There are times in every Christian's life when he or she feels forgotten. I've certainly felt that way, haven't you? Happily living the Christian life, and striving to be obedient, we encounter a big roadblock. Everything comes to a screeching halt. You wonder, "what the heck?!" And, worse, when you pray about the situation, there seems to be no reply. The devil then, seeing an opportunity, whispers in your ear: "You don't matter; you've been forgotten." Discouragement and derailment often follow if we listen to that nonsense.
Peter encourages the believers by reminding them that as followers of Christ Jesus, how fortunate they are to have a relationship with Him, that because of their faith decision they have a brand-new life with everything to live for! He likens the Christian's troubles in this life to the process used to refine gold.
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How is gold refined? In Peter's day, gold was refined primarily by fire. In our modern day, the process is similarly time intensive and expensive. One website I consulted said it involves these steps: (don't try this at home without the proper safety equipment, lol!)
1. Smash the ore with a hammer, in a metal pan
2. Pass a magnet over the smashed up ore to separate the gold from the ferrous metals (like iron). Gold is non-magnetic and will remain in the pan.
3. Wash the remaining ore with a highly acidic solution, which includes the poison, cyanide.
4. Using a car battery, pass an electric current through this solid and chemical mixture.
Etc.
Sounds pretty drastic, doesn't it? Nevertheless, gold cannot be refined under pleasant conditions.
Peter reminds us that such refining of our faith, through "every kind of aggravation", produces "pure, genuine faith" - - - faith proven to be real. He also commends future believers with a sense of amazement in verses 8 and 9:
You never saw him {Jesus}, yet you love him. You still don't see him, yet you trust him - - with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you'll get what you're looking forward to:
total salvation.
What a precious promise! As we walk resplendent, our faith is tested and purified. Salvation is both a guarantee and a process. The Holy Spirit in our hearts is our guarantee of salvation, but it is our response to the experiences of this earthly life which will determine how pure our faith will be when we do actually see God, face-to-face, when our faith has been made complete.
Dear Father, purify us! Make us and mold us into the image of Your Son. As painful as this process is, we want our faith to shine brighter than pure gold, as evidence of Your eternal victory over sin. In Jesus' name, amen.
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