We are going to be in the book of 1 Peter for the next little while, and today's focus will be on 1:1-5. Because of the extremely good quality of the Greek in which this letter was written, many believe that Peter used a scribe or amanuensis (a literary assistant who either copies, translates or takes dictation) to pen his first letter. (In 5:12, Peter refers to Silvanus "through whom" he wrote.)
12 Through Silvanus, whom I know to be a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, in order to encourage you and testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.
The reason for this letter appears to be the death of Paul (in 64 CE), which took place during Nero's reign in Rome. Peter, wanting to support the Asia Minor churches, many of which Paul and/or his converts evangelized, wrote this letter to encourage them. It was written shortly before Peter's own martyrdom, a year or two later. The theme of 1 Peter is "experiencing God's grace in the face of suffering".
Shortly after Christ's ascension, persecution of Christians intensified, in both Jerusalem and Rome. This caused Christians to flee for their very lives. While an awful situation, God used Satan's attacks on the early Church to spread the gospel all over that part of the world.
In verse 1, Peter addresses this letter in the broader sense to "the temporary residents" (HCSB) or, as The Message puts it "exiles scattered to the four winds". Some intended recipients of this letter were, at the time of the writing, living in exile to escape persecution in either Rome or Jerusalem. God knew then, and He knows now, who would/will choose His Son (vs. 2).
No doubt many of these young Christians, regardless of physical age, wondered if they had made a wise decision to follow Christ. They no doubt felt like "strangers and aliens" in their places of exile. Peter uses this phrase in 2:11. One of the first times this happens for us as young children is when we are taken to Sunday School or the nursery at church for the first time. Usually, this is quite a traumatic experience - - - for both the parents and the child. The child often cries and is confused with being is such an unfamiliar environment.
Recently, I watched, along with 50,000 other people around the world, a simulcast from Birmingham, AL. The teacher, David Platt, was beaming his message out from a secure, undisclosed location, not the location he had originally planned on using. Why? He and his team had received death threats if they went forward with the broadcast. No doubt he felt like a "temporary resident", a "stranger", an "alien" there. Are you surprised this is happening in America?
In a larger sense, this world is hostile to us and to our gospel message. The Bible plainly states that the message of the gospel is offensive to those whose hearts have become hardened by sin. Even though Christ commands us to share the gospel and to treat our fellow man with love, our message is often rejected; and, the hate for the message often spills over onto us, branding us as "hateful" as well. This is a lie, as well as an attempt to discredit the message of salvation. ("Shoot the messenger", if you will...)
Even when things are "going well" here in our earthly existence, the taint of sin and the stink of death surround us. They are inescapable in our earthly existence. At the moment of this blog post, the death of a loved one is imminent. I look at him as his body, his earthly "jar of clay" wastes away, and I realize that, because he believed on Jesus Christ as His Savior, this world in a short while will no longer be his home. Look at the promise in 1 Peter 1:3-5 ...
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.
(NET)
As I look at my brother in Christ, my loved one, whose body is perishing, I am comforted by this verse. Our hope of eternal life is not "hope" as the word is commonly used in this world. By that definition, hope is uncertain. No, ours in Christ is a LIVING hope, which is an assurance, a certain hope that springs from the perfect mercy of our holy God, whose Word is unchanging. For the Christ-follower, eternal life is "reserved in heaven" for us. It is God's power that keeps us "saved", keeps us His. Our inheritance of eternal life will never perish, is undefiled by sin and will not fade away. It.Is.Ours. This is God's promise.
This promise of eternal life comes through the new birth, that same "born again" experience that Jesus shared about with Nicodemus in John 3:1-21. This new birth is validated by Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead. Because He was raised from physical death to life in a resurrected, supernatural body, so shall we be.
Whether the suffering of sickness, death, persecution, martyrdom - - - whatever....they are all temporary, temporal, characteristic of this earthly realm. In eternity, they will have no hold on us whatsoever. We will dwell forever where the taint of sin cannot reach, in God's realm of "unapproachable light" (1 Timothy 6:16), continuing our existence "healed and whole" (1 Peter 1:5, The Message).
This place, far beyond our wildest dreams, is where Paul is, where Peter is, where my loved one will soon be, and where I will be when it is my time to go. I pray your destination will be the same.
All blessing, honor and glory be to You, God my Father, and to Your Son, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! It is only through Your great mercy, Father, that we have this living hope. I am so thankful for Your promises, which are from everlasting to everlasting, which will never fail. Amen.
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