1 Peter 1:3-5
Hope and Glory

Peter writes to Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). Some say they are Jewish, others Gentile. It doesn't matter. These exhortations come to all who live in this world and wait for the coming of Christ.

  1. What God Has Done (v. 3)
    1. Given you a new birth
      1. Your first birth was as a mortal, doomed to die
      2. But you've been born again (to use the phrase in John 3)
        1. Also translated "born from above"
        2. That is, you've been born into heaven itself—not as a mortal doomed to die, but with an eternal life.
      3. Through the resurrection of Christ
        1. He is the firstborn from the dead
        2. His "birth" into the heavenlies in a resurrection body is your birth into that same place
    2. Into a living hope
      1. You have hope
        1. NT word "hope" might better be translated as "utter certainty" (of something yet future)
        2. And the hope you have is of eternal life, the resurrection of your body, the sight of Christ. That's the unique NT meaning of this word in the light of Christ
          1. Paul frequently describes it as the hope of the resurrection (Ac 23.6 et. al.)
          2. or "the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints" (Eph 1.18) or "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col 1.27)
          3. John says it's the hope of seeing Christ as he is (wch in a way is the hope of the resurrection and of glory)
          4. Peter's got all this in mind as we will see (having already mentioned the resurrection as the means of bringing about that hope, he will then mention the resurrection, and after that the sight of Christ.
        3. In a sense, the resurrection of your body has already taken place—in Christ
          1. You're a new creation. Old things have passed away
          2. He who believes in Christ will live even if he dies
      2. And your hope is "living"
        1. The words "life" and "living" in NT often refer to eternal life
          1. This is "the gracious gift of life" about wch Peter will later speak (3.7)
          2. This is "the hope of eternal life that God, who never lies, promised before the ages began" (Tit 1.2)
        2. It is a certainty regarding eternal things
        3. So this may be future, but it will be your permanent blessed condition
    3. By his great mercy
      1. We have not deserved this new identity, this recreation, this living hope. But God has mercy on whom he has mercy and praise be to him that he had mercy on you.
      2. Tit 3.5 "he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit." (Note the baptism imagery in "rebirth." 1 Peter is in large measure a baptismal exhortation explaining what is happening what you are called to and what will happen as a result of that baptism.)
      3. Peter will later connect this fact with your unique identity as the pilgrim people of God: "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." (2.10)

Unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom. So the nature of what you've become determines what's up ahead and what you ought to desire.

  1. What's Up Ahead (v. 4)
    1. An inheritance
      1. In OT — That which belongs to the chosen people by descent from Abraham and the consequent right to receive what was promised to Abraham's offspring
        1. Abraham was promised an inheritance he didn't receive
        2. But Stephen says he didn't even get "a foot's length"
        3. But his descendants inherited that promised land
      2. But NT says that was a picture of heaven
        1. Abraham was looking for the city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb 11.8)
        2. It is an eternal kingdom and eternal life
        3. It is a kingdom that Christ said was prepared for the elect from before the foundation of the world
          1. Before anything around you that you now see took form, this kingdom existed and was being prepared for you
          2. Now Christ has inherited it and is making it perfect for you and you are fellow heirs with him.
      3. Here is a description: "9 Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
        15 The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement, which the angel was using. 18 The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.
        22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life. (Rev 21)
      4. This is the kingdom of heaven that flesh and blood can't inherit. But you've been begotten anew of imperishable seed (v. 23)
        1. And the nature of the inheritance is in keeping
        2. incorruptible, undefiled, unfading. It lasts forever.
    2. Kept in heaven
      1. Peter tells you these things to draw your eyes heavenward
        1. You live as pilgrims
        2. There's a great danger you'll start to make this world your home and find your treasure here
        3. So he reminds you not only of what waits for you but where it waits.
      2. Rev 21 describes this city as coming down out of heaven. That is where it is right now.
      3. And that is where all your treasure is
      4. And that is where Christ is
      5. Admonition to Dispensationalists and Postmillenialists
        1. Don't be moved away from this hope
        2. Peter himself will beg you "rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (v. 13) or as NRSV puts it "set all your hope on...."
  2. How You Get from Point A to Point B (v. 5)
    1. You are protected by the power of God
      1. This power refers to the resurrection of Christ
        1. Declared to be Son of God with power at the resurrection (Rm 1.4)
        2. Crucified in weakness but lives by the power of God (2 Cor 6.7)
        3. The same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead and keeps him eternally alive now protects you so that you will certainly persevere and inherit
      2. If God is for you who can be against you?
      3. Rely totally on his power and he will bring it to pass
    2. Through Faith
      1. Since it is not of your works, this benefit (and all benefits) of salvation is received by faith alone.
      2. This preaching of the word, this call to baptismal faith, is the crucial means of causing you to persevere and inherit, because faith comes by hearing.
      3. Let Peter by the H.S. shake you loose from attachment to the things of this world and being dazzled by it. Let the eye of your faith be dazzled one more time by the vision of the Son of Man coming in glory and setting up the final state of a kingdom that is forever and ever; and you reigning with him and seeing him in all his splendor and majesty and being called a joint heir with that, that awesome, terrible, beautiful, priceless, matchless Savior.
    3. Until the Salvation Arrives
      1. This protection will go on until the end. Do not fear, only believe.
      2. Your "inheritance" is nothing less than salvation itself
        1. In a sense, you're already saved
        2. But saved by faith
        3. Then your salvation will be revealed
      3. This is Judgment day
        1. Christ will set all things to rights, repay with affliction those who afflict you and giving relief to you (2 Th 1.6,7))
        2. He will judge the living and the dead and consummate a kingdom that will have no end
      4. And Christ himself will be revealed
        1. Who is hidden in the heavenlies and available to faith
        2. You will see him as he is
        3. And you will rejoice before him forever.

CONCLUSION: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for he has done this thing and it is marvellous in our eyes.

Now you are ready for the rest of 1 Peter, for the persecutions and sufferings, for you know in advance that this glory will certainly follow. It is already secured by Christ who is preparing a place for you and will come again to receive you to himself that where he is, there you may be as well.

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