Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time
Peter declared the recognition of the past, the strength of the present and the hope of the future is what sustains us in our faith. Our goal and direction come as we place our hope in the return of Christ and the glory that is ours as promised by God. That future goal sustains us.
Last week we began a new series from the letter of Peter to a persecuted people. He wrote reminding them they are chosen of God, the Father who planned their salvation. They have been redeemed by Jesus Christ who purchased their salvation and they have within them the Holy Spirit who purifies them and protects them until Christ returns. It is important to ponder the wonder of God's love and the reminder that when He has brought you this far, He is not going to drop you and leave you. You are loved of God. He is to be praised.
This week Peter takes that foundation of hope and shares it from a different perspective to help a suffering and afflicted people. He gives them meaning and purpose in persecution as he shares how to go through hard times.
Right now our daughter-in-law is living in the hope of the delivering of a baby girl at the end of this month. I was thinking of the past when she and our son were making preparations of a room, clothes, and telling stories to their 4-year-old how she was going to have a sister, but right now is not a fun stage in her pregnancy. She hurts, can’t get sleep and can’t find clothes that are comfortable. She is miserable, but not without hope. This period is only going to be for one more month before the baby will be born. Even that experience will not be fun until the hope has arrived and she has healed. She lives in the period of time you might call the already, but not yet.
Peter is encouraging those believers going through the joy of salvation which has been given to them and promised, but not yet fully experience. It is sealed and sure, but not yet seen.
Application: Rejoice in that which has already been sealed for you. We live in the already, but not yet time of life. We already have received the promise of God, but not yet realized it and been brought into the fulfillment of it.
Prayer: Abba Father, it gives me such joy for the hope to which You have called me – a new birth and an inheritance that can never perish. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
