It shouldn’t surprise us that a plan devised by the triune Godhead should have unequaled consequences. Peter lays out a series of these in the ensuing verses in 1Peter 1.
Great Mercy
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1P 1.3).
Peter’s opening salvo is that the Father has, and has demonstrated, “abundant mercy.” In biblical terms, mercy is typically the withholding of deserved punishment. In the face of our brokenness and consequent rebellion, God has chosen not to demand from us the negative consequences that our rebellion so richly deserves. Instead of death—the appropriate consequence of sin—God has opted to give us life, new life, abundant life, eternal life. He has called out to millions of long-dead and putrid Lazaruses, “Come forth!”—and we have been born again, able to see and hear and taste and smell and touch the spiritual realities with which we have always been surrounded but to which we were completely insensitive. This is a great mercy indeed.
Great Confidence
The same verse identifies the next consequence: hope. As Bible teachers have often said, biblical hope is not a feeble, unfounded wish; it is the confident anticipation of something that is certainly coming. By raising his Son from the dead, the Father has demonstrated the certainty of our resurrection as well, giving us firm confidence in his promise and joyous anticipation of its coming.
And what a day that will be, when millions of the dead are reunited with their reconstituted bodies and raised, never to die again.
Great Inheritance
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you (1P 1.4).
To our astonishment God has not only withheld deserved punishment (mercy); he has poured out undeserved blessings and benefits (grace). Not only have we been delivered from hell, but we have been promised an inheritance—unimagined wealth from our infinitely wealthy Father.
Peter uses three adjectives to describe this inheritance, all of them negations: incorruptible, undefiled, unfading. An inheritance that’s incorruptible can’t die or decay; one that’s undefiled can’t be soiled; one that’s unfading can’t wilt like a cut flower. This inheritance is for good, in every sense of the word.
You add an inheritance like that to the confidence that it will certainly come, and you really have something significant.
Great Protection
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1P 1.5).
Now Peter adds to the certainty by noting that we are being looked after by God himself, infinitely powerful, to ensure that we arrive at this inheritance. This word “kept” is a military word, used of a watchguard, a group of soldiers assigned to keep something secure. Paul uses it of the guard that was placed on Damascus to keep him from escaping (2Co 11.32). As we know, he did escape, being lowered over the wall in a basket in the middle of the night (2Co 11.33). Soldiers are not omniscient, and they don’t see everything. But God is not like that; he knows, he sees, and so he protects perfectly. If you are a believer, my friend, you will be kept; you will receive your inheritance when the earthly journey is complete.
It’s worth noting that in the previous verse Peter has told us that our inheritance is “reserved in heaven for [us].” That means that our Father, whose power is infinite, is watching both ends of this situation; he’s guarding the inheritance that’s waiting for us, and he’s guarding us as well, to see that we get where we’re going. This calls for great confidence.
Peter’s just getting started. More on this next time.
Part 3: Another Greatest Consequence | Part 4: The Greatest Cost | Part 5: Making It Worth It
Photo by Jose P. Ortiz on Unsplash
Leave a reply. Keep it clean.