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December 4, 2022
Born Again To A Living Hope
1 Peter 1:1-5

Jesus changed Simon’s name to the Aramaic name of Cephas. Into Greek then to English his name becomes his more popular name Peter. Both names mean stone or rock. He resided on the norther side of the Sea of Galilee at Capernaum. We know he was a fisherman when he was called to Jesus’ ministry. His ministry easily breaks down into three parts: Disciple, Apostle, Martyr (ISBE: Peter). Peter was a home-run hitter or a strike-out artist. He made many mistakes in his ministry, but he also was given special insight by God (Matthew 16:16; 17:1-13). And he was used by God in miraculous ways; three thousand people were saved when he delivered his first sermon after Pentecost (Acts 2:14-47). Talk about getting a ministry off to a good start. ¶ "Many popular writers have labeled Peter the apostle of hope. Rightfully so it would seem. Although 1 Peter is no theological opus, it presents hope as a core theme in precise, encouraging, and pronounced ways. Peter left the church one of the richest passages of Scripture regarding the hope and security of our future. The ideas that “lie behind” these words have the power to uplift every anxious heart, every grieving mother, and the Church at large (Barclay). If one takes these words to heart, one will see the cares of this world dissipate into the oblivion of insignificance.

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

• An apostle: a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders (Thayer)
• Peter was an apostle with a capital “A.” He was in Jesus’ inner circles; he was at the transfiguration.
• Apostle of Jesus = Greek for Hebrew name “Joshua” = God saves.¹
• Christ (Greek) → Anointed One ← Messiah (Hebrew). (Thayer; John 1:41, cf. BDB)

1b To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

• Roman provinces all in modern day Turkey.
  • The sequence of listed provinces directly corresponds to the natural route that the bearer of the original letter would have normally followed as he traveled through this region. (Hort, et al.)
• Exiles
  • Michaels wrote that we are “estranged” by “divine election.” “This is an epistle [is] from the homeless to the homeless.” (p. 7 & 9 respectively)
  • Peter’s audience was banished from their place. The world told them, “You don’t belong here.” Get out of your home!
  • This did not mean that they were to pull back from their engagement from the world (Barclay). …
  • There heard just as we have, “We are suppose to be in the world not of the world.”
  • We have a duty to be the Body of Christ to the nations which we do not call home.
• Of the dispersion
  • dispersion is a “Jewish idiom”. “Diaspora,” literally means “to sow” (Utley); as a farmer would scatter seed in his field.
  • They too heard that the wheat is growing with the weeds, awaiting the great harvest of God. (Matthew 13:24-30)
  • For the Jewish recipients this would have then brought sad reminders in their history as a nation. (EBC)
  • But Peter retooled the idea to apply to the Church; they too we were scattered in the world. (EBC)
  • Other authors wrote about these things.
    • Paul wrote to the Philippians in verse 3:20 too, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (3:20).
    • Hebrew 13:14, The writer of Hebrews as well in verse 13:14, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.”
• What’s the best thing the text called the church in Asia Minor? The Elect
  • Peter give no explaination here, so we briefly look to Paul in his conclusion to the Roman church in Romans 9:30, “What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith.”
  • Romans 9 is clear too that Christians are born again by the will, purpose, and by the acts of God. This is not something we do ourselves. A person cannot simply will himself to stand righteous before God; God has to act and has acted on the elect’s behalf.
  • There is real encouragement here: There must be no greater “compliment and privilege in all the world” than to be an elect person of God. (Barclay)
  • What the world placed into exile, God has brought to His home and table.
• All according to, I’m in verse 2, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
  • Used twice in the NT, Peter is the only one to use the term “foreknowledge.” (Act 2:23 the other)
  • “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” = God knew his people before the foundation of the world. God has known, God knows, God knows all things. God is omniscient.
  • We need to get warmer to this idea if we are not there yet.
  • Regarding the terms “elect” and “foreknowledge”, countless hours have been spent and much of it in an unprofitable way debating these ideas. The EBC had a great comment, quote, “Some men have seen nothing else in the Bible, while others have hardly acknowledged it to be there at all” end quote.

ILLUSTRATION

• I attend a weekly Bible study and we were in Romans 9 last week. One of the young men at the study was really struggling with the idea of election. He is not alone.
• Many Christians have really struggled to admit that there are gaps of understanding between us and Almighty God. We don’t like it.
• But we need to be at rest with these ideas. Let’s look at the Bible for this rest.

BIBLICAL SUPPORT

• David wrote about that the idea of “foreknowledge” being beyond us in Psalm 139:1-6, O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.
• David doesn’t begin some theological discourse to the table–AS HE WAS BEING used by God to write the word of God.
• David simply called God knowing everything about him wonderful. Why do we struggle?
• Paul understood that election is beyond the scope of our reach here too. He wrote his doxology in Romans 11:33 directly after being USED BY GOD TO WRITE about the election of the Jews. We see, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (NKJV)
• Job’s friends gave some wisdom, Job 11:7-9, “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.

APPLICATION

• We can ask harder questions than God was willing to explain to us here. We don’t even have enough capacity. We have to know our place in these matters. We don’t want to be people who “talk back to God” as a small child does to his father.
• Remember Job. Job went to school: Job 38:1-4, Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
• In slang terms, That is what is called a “Mic drop.” COMMENT
• God foreknew His people and He knows His elect.
• God offers salvation to all people through His Son’s death and resurrection and He will hold those accountable–for their every sin–that reject His Son as their Savior. That is Bible theology.
• One day we will know fully as we are fully known, but that is not today. There are some mysteries for us to wonder at in the here and now.
• Let us rest in the revelation God has provided about these things. - We can trust Him. We will understand more clearly when we get to Him in heaven.
• I am sure that we will say too, holy holy holy is the Lord God Almighty.

The foreknowledge election of God’s people continues verse 2b in the sanctification of the Spirit,

• sanctification means consecration, purification >>> of the Spirit (Thayer)
• The Spirit is the Person forming the Church into the Bride of Christ.
• Holiness is the result of the Spirit’s work in us. The fruit of the Spirit is the word OF THE SPIRIT.
• I look like God because of God.
• NOTE: We participate by dying to self, through humbleness, and reliance on God, but is the fruit of the Spirit that is seen in us.
• That is why we read the commands of the New Testament: “Walk in the Spirit”; “Live in the Spirit”; “Do not quench the Spirit.”
• We participate in the Spirit’s work, but it is His holy fruit. He is the One sanctifying us.

Why is the Spirit sanctifying us? Peter gives TWO PURPOSES here, - One: and for sprinkling with his blood:

• It took God’s blood to make us holy; to make us living, consecrated objects.
• Here Peter is using OT imagery to remind his audience that they were set aside for ministry because of Jesus’ blood.
• God made them holy objects for worship and usefulness in His work not in the temple but as the temple of God.
• We are individual temple set apart to holiness and service by Jesus’ blood.
• We are a collective temple set apart to holiness and service by Jesus’ blood.
• Another: 2b for obedience to Jesus Christ COMMENT
• We see all Three Persons of the Godhead here again working on our behalf: Father > Son > Holy Spirit.
• By the will of Father, through Jesus, by the indwelling of the Spirit.
• The Father wants His people people to obey His Son in all things.
• How does the Scripture put it? “…to obey is better than sacrifice…” (1 Samuel 15:22b). "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20, underline added)
• He commands us to behave in certain ways and to live out the word even when it is uncomfortable?
• Oswald Chambers wrote, “One step forward in obedience is worth years of study about it.” (Our Daily Bread, March 4, 1993)
• Application of the word is the target of the living Word of God.

ILLUSTRATION

• Jesus illustrated from the Old Testament and from life with His parables (e.g., The Sower, the Lost Sheep, The Prodigal Son, Hidden Treasure, The Net, The Unforgiving Servant, etc.).

Roger Staubach, who led the Dallas Cowboys to the Super Bowl victory …, admitted that his position as a quarterback who didn’t call his own [plays] was a source of trial for him. Coach Landry sent in every play. He told Roger when to pass [and] when to run … . Even though Roger considered Coach Landry to have a “genius mind” when it came to football strategy, pride said that he should be able to run his own team. Roger had a decision to make. Would he allow pride to rule his life and ignore his coach, making himself the star? Or would he listen to the coach and do what he wanted? Staubach later said, “I faced up to the issue of obedience. Once I learned to obey there was harmony, fulfillment, and victory.” (Source: Unknown)

• Jesus is the Lord of His team. We find victory when we obey. We find our fulfillment when we obey. And we have every resource from God and stand now fully equipped to be a victor.

APPLICATION

• 1 Peter 1:14-16, As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

TRANSITION

• We see that the Holy Spirit is at work in us to sanctify us so that we obey the Son. Let’s now look at the quality of our inheritance of our future. Verse 2b.

2b May grace and peace be multiplied to you. 3 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, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

• 2b May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
  • grace = also >> that which affords joy, delight, sweetness, loveliness (Thayer)
  • peace = also >> a state of tranquility; harmony between individuals (Thayer)
  • multiplied to you.
• 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
  • "Blessed" This term here (eulogētos) is not like the one used in Matthew 5 (makarios). This one is used only of God. (Utley)
  • Therefore here, blessed means praised be God.
  • God of Jesus? The cults latch on to this verse trying to diminish the Lord.
  • Latin word “taxis” (tax-is) = an arrangement, an arranging, the order or disposition (Harper)
  • Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. (John 8:58)

Why should the Asia Minor church praise God? verse 3b 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,

• He has caused us to be born again. Enough said, Let’s go home.
• Caution, are we still blessing God because He saved us? As the date gets further away they is a tendency of indifference due to the flesh.
• So let’s remind ourselves to the degree to which we have been born again.
  • See “According” in 3b? The word is κατά. It means to the respect of, by, after the manner of, beyond measure, out of measure >> God’s great mercy is the tape measure by which we are born again. That mercy is infinite.
  • Look again, God caused us to be born again.
  • He is the first cause of everything.
  • In salvation it is His plan, His Son, His indwelling. His eternal–never ending mercy; He is the cause.
• Being born again is not the end of what God is doing. Look at it in verse 3 >>> to a living hope.
  • The continuation of Peter’s idea is thus: because we are alive by being born again, we are brought to a living hope as well.
  • We will never stop being born again therefore our hope will always remain.
  • Paul knew the same: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love” (1 Corinthians 13:13, BSB)
• It’s important to bring up here that this living hope is rooted in our future. Paul wrote to the Roman church in Romans 8:24, “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?”
  • There is no hope actualized here!
  • Proper Christian hope is rooted in our final destination and in the things He has promised us.
  • Christian hope does not seek any detail of this life for its confidence.
• We can count on the this living hope–it’s guarantee–why? Verse 3, it is through–that means it is the necessary event–the resurrection.
  • Of course, Jesus’ cross and empty grave are the central events out of which all our blessings flow including our second births and eternal hope in an amazing future with God.
• Well Peter help us understand the hope you are describing. Verse 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
  • Peter is not alone here, the NT has much to say about this inheritance: 9 books in the NT teach us about it.
  • Peter said our hope is an imperishable inheritance.
    • It’s unlike the earthly possessions that fall apart here.
  • Peter said our hope is in an undefiled inheritance.
    • undefiled mean unsoiled; not deformed or debased (Thayer)
  • Peter said our hope is in an unfading inheritance. It will never need painting so to speak.
• and it is assured how? Verse 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
  • God is gurding us and our inheritiance.
  • Many translations do not have “guarded” >> the weakest translation being “kept”
  • The Greek word for guarded is a military term. COMMENT
  • Barclay wrote, “So, then, the same power is working on both sides of the veil, preserving the inheritance for the heirs, and preserving the heirs for the inheritance.”
• When does this protection start? When we place our faith in Jesus.² see it verse 5 “through faith”
  • When we have faith that births us spiritually into God’s family, we gain all the privileges that that reality brings, including His military protection. We are eternally under God’s protection from that point on. The faith that Peter speaks of is saving faith that results in the benefit of which he speaks. (cf. Constable)
• for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
• Here is the salvation of glorification.
• We have seen all three types of our salvation in this passage. I hope you caught them all.
• COMMENT

ILLUSTRATION

• Paul taught implicitly in 1 Corinthians 2:9b, we see, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”
• Tiger Woods
• Neil Armstrong
• It’s better than any man or woman has seen apart from God. Ever.

IN CLOSING

• Some would say to be motivated by an inheritance is an improper motive. WOW! Peter would disagree.
• SIDEBAR: 19x in the NT people are instructed on how to receive a greater “reward” therefore inheritance.
• Our souls are guarded by God and He has an inheritance for us.
• If you have trusted in Jesus only to save you, if you believed He died for you personally on the cross and rose from the dead, then God has cause you to be born into a living hope. Hope that is eternal. A hope that will never be exhausted.
• This living hope should be vibrant and the “energizing principle” of life (Alford). Hope is the eternal battery of our energy here.
• It’s why we continue to fight the good fight, why we press on, why we endure, why we continue to trust. HOPE CHRISTIAN HOPE

Notes

¹ Jesus = Greek for Hebrew name “Joshua” = God saves. Greek, Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs), Aramaic, ישוע (Yēšū). Hebrew יֵשׁוּעַ‎ (Yēšū́a) is traced back to ancient word 𐤉𐤔𐤏‎ (y-š-ʕ, “to deliver, save”). For a good explanation for why is Jesus’ name is “Jesus” see, Got Questions’s, “If His name was Yeshua, why do we call Him Jesus?”, https://www.gotquestions.org/Yeshua-Jesus.html.

² “To interpret faith as a ‘steadfast determination to cling to God in all trials’ (Wand) makes their faith the cause of their preservation by God, i.e. they are saved because they cling steadfastly to God; this really makes the reference to God’s power unnecessary and provides no assurance to the believer since what he doubts is his own power to cling to God in trial.”[57]

Works Cited

Alford, Henry. The Greek Testament. 4 vols. New ed. Cambridge: Deighton, Bell, and Co., 1883, 1881, 1880, 1884, 4:2:333. Cited by Constable.

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of Taxis.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/Taxis. Accessed 30 November, 2022.

Hort, F. J. A. The First Epistle of St. Peter 1:1—2:17. Pp. 157-84; Selwyn, p. 119; Goppelt, p. 4. Cited by Constable.

Michaels, J. Ramsey. Word Biblical Commentary: 1 Peter. Ed. David Hubbard, et al., Word Publishers, 1988.

Scripture quotations [unless otherwise noted] are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All Other Works Cited. Please click here to access the web-page for all of the works cited, save those above–if any. Most of the works cited on the linked web-page correspond to the verses they are outlined with. In the case of background information and other general reference citations, one will find cited material with the Bible books the citations are associated with.

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