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“...so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:21, NKJV)
The old gospel song, “Because He lives, we can face tomorrow,” has a Petrine ring to it. Early on in his letter, Peter pointed us to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus and affirmed a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1:3).
Peter again brings that hope to bear and the difference it makes in our outlook and in the conduct of our lives. We are not redeemed through the perishable but with the precious blood of Christ. “You were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet. 1:18–19).
We are holy in the Lord and to be holy in all we do. We conduct ourselves in the fear of the Lord, making a holy God our point of reference for our lives here as aliens and sojourners. But those efforts on our part are not the basis for our hope. Our hope is in the work of the triune God and His sovereign work of salvation.
Speaking of Jesus as the lamb unblemished by sin who came to save those bound in sin, Peter reminds us of God's grand plan of redemption. “He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Pet. 1:20–21).
Echoing the language of the writer of Hebrews (Heb. 1:1-3), Peter speaks of the fullness of time when the mystery became manifest, shadow became substance, the anticipated became actual. The sacrificial lambs of the Old Testament gave way to the Lamb of God who accomplished the redemption they could only point to. We live because He lived and died and lives again.
REFLECTION: Our faith and hope are in God who acted. Pray for humility, awe, and gratitude.
Unless noted otherwise, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.