Founders Note: Today on the blog we have a guest post from Victoria. You can find out more about Victoria in her bio at the end of the post. Also be sure to stop by and check out her blog!
1 Peter was written by Peter (one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus) and sent out to Gentile Christians who would be facing the terrible martyrdom we read about in our history books that began in 64 AD.
When this book was written and sent out in 62-63 AD, Nero was ruling in Rome and things were okay for the Christians except for the verbal abuse and harassment that they had to deal with from their neighbors. I can’t help but think about what this letter meant to many of these people and what it would come to mean in the years to come!
Today, I want to share with you a few pieces that really stuck out to me which come from 1 Peter 1:3-9:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Let’s start with verses 3-7. Peter recognized the trials that these Christians were facing and he taught that they were dealing with these trials in order to prove their faith to be genuine.
You see, like us, they had some things (which Peter calls “this” in verse 6) to rejoice in:
1) that God cause them to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (verse 3)
2) that He had for them an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading which He is keeping in heaven for them. (verse 4)
3) that they are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (verse 5).
They were grieved and they were suffering, but they had every reason to REJOICE. For, even in that grieving, God was proving to them and to the world around them and to the people who would after them, that the faith He had given them was genuine and would result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus.
This genuine faith would prove that God is who He says He is and does what He says He will do.
In verses 8-9, Peter reminded them that loving God and believing in Him, they also rejoiced in Him. He assumed that rejoicing.
What does he say they were rejoicing with? The joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.
Why was this possible? Because their hope was in God.
They knew that God was at work and that where God brings the promise of salvation and faith and an inheritance and guards His people, these people will receive the outcome.
What is that outcome? The salvation of their souls!
So, Christian, let these verses be the motivation in your life to press on and to press into God.
Imagine what these words would have meant to Christians who were hearing them for the first time or going over it in their minds. Know that it can and should mean the same to you!
There is a joy before you and in you that comes from God. Let that joy be stirred up in you and remind you of who God is and what He has done and is doing even now.
Christian, He is great and He has for you a genuine faith with an outcome, namely, the very salvation of your soul.
Victoria blogs over at Through * For * By where she aims to write in such a way that gives her readers something to brighten their day,encourage their soul, and give them a reason to praise God. Feel free toe-mail her at victoria.mjfh@gmail.com she would love to hear from you!
My Journey For Him
1 Peter was written by Peter (one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus) and sent out to Gentile Christians who would be facing the terrible martyrdom we read about in our history books that began in 64 AD.
When this book was written and sent out in 62-63 AD, Nero was ruling in Rome and things were okay for the Christians except for the verbal abuse and harassment that they had to deal with from their neighbors. I can’t help but think about what this letter meant to many of these people and what it would come to mean in the years to come!
Today, I want to share with you a few pieces that really stuck out to me which come from 1 Peter 1:3-9:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Let’s start with verses 3-7. Peter recognized the trials that these Christians were facing and he taught that they were dealing with these trials in order to prove their faith to be genuine.
You see, like us, they had some things (which Peter calls “this” in verse 6) to rejoice in:
1) that God cause them to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (verse 3)
2) that He had for them an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading which He is keeping in heaven for them. (verse 4)
3) that they are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (verse 5).
They were grieved and they were suffering, but they had every reason to REJOICE. For, even in that grieving, God was proving to them and to the world around them and to the people who would after them, that the faith He had given them was genuine and would result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus.
This genuine faith would prove that God is who He says He is and does what He says He will do.
In verses 8-9, Peter reminded them that loving God and believing in Him, they also rejoiced in Him. He assumed that rejoicing.
What does he say they were rejoicing with? The joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.
Why was this possible? Because their hope was in God.
They knew that God was at work and that where God brings the promise of salvation and faith and an inheritance and guards His people, these people will receive the outcome.
What is that outcome? The salvation of their souls!
So, Christian, let these verses be the motivation in your life to press on and to press into God.
Imagine what these words would have meant to Christians who were hearing them for the first time or going over it in their minds. Know that it can and should mean the same to you!
There is a joy before you and in you that comes from God. Let that joy be stirred up in you and remind you of who God is and what He has done and is doing even now.
Christian, He is great and He has for you a genuine faith with an outcome, namely, the very salvation of your soul.
Victoria blogs over at Through * For * By where she aims to write in such a way that gives her readers something to brighten their day,encourage their soul, and give them a reason to praise God. Feel free toe-mail her at victoria.mjfh@gmail.com she would love to hear from you!
My Journey For Him
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Pleasant words are like honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24