Tuesday, November 8, 2005
1 Peter 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.
GOD'S MERCY IN THE LIVING CHRIST GIVES US SURE HOPE
Peter began this letter with a Trinitarian greeting. He told the first century Christians he addressed that God the Father loved them and chose them to be His. He said the Holy Spirit had brought them to faith. He said the Son shed His blood for them so that they might live by faith in Him.
The first thing Peter does in the body of the letter is to give thanksgiving and praise to God. The apostle Paul also often began his letters this way. Certainly it is good for us Christians to begin our conversations with one another by praising our great God for the wonderful things He has done and continues to do. Only after we consider God's goodness are we ready to consider our human problems.
God is praised for His mercy. Mercy is a word that implies human misery. God looked down at us human beings and saw that we were sinners -- lost and condemned creatures, as Luther puts it. We were hopeless because of our sin. We deserved punishment because of our disobedience. But God had mercy on us. He had compassion on us in our plight, and He did something about it. According to His abundant mercy He begot us again to a living hope. He gave us hope when we were hopeless. When we were dead in sins He gave us spiritual life, a new birth.
We hope for something we do not yet have. God gave us a living hope for our future. What is this hope? Is it getting a good job? Is it success, riches, friends, family? Can we hope for all these things? Is this what God is giving us? No, what God holds out to us as our hope is something way beyond all of these earthly things. In Peter's words, God has begotten us again to a living hope, to an inheritance in heaven. We who were hopeless because of our sin now have a living hope for a heavenly inheritance. In plain words, this means we can be sure we're going to heaven. Wow! Peter says this inheritance is reserved in heaven for us. We have a reserved seat, not just to some athletic event, or to some concert, political dinner or royal wedding. We have a reserved seat in heaven. This means living with God forever and ever.
