4.16.23 1 Peter 1:3–9 (EHV)
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time. 6 Because of this you rejoice very much, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various kinds of trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—which is more valuable than gold, which passes away even though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, yet by believing in him, you are filled with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
The disciples had some lofty goals early in their ministry. They all wanted to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, to sit on the right and left hand of Jesus. As much as Jesus had to rebuke them, He never rebuked them for the GOAL, per se. At least they were thinking about the kingdom of heaven as their goal.
What Do You Want to Do With Your Life?
Are you one to set goals in life? Do you have a set amount of money that you want to have saved up by the time you turn 65? Do you want to retire at 65? Have you thought about how many children you want, what you’d do with your grandchildren, where you want to travel this summer, or in your life? What are your goals?
I can recall years ago how a financial advisor told me I could be a millionaire when I retired if I invested right. I started out investing pretty well, but then that target changed. God had other blessings for me through the years which included a wife, five children, two dogs and a cat. They are much better than a million dollars. (And even if I had a million dollars, in today’s economy it wouldn’t get too far the way things are going.)
So anyway, my point is, you set your goals, you have your ideals, but you don’t always get there. Maybe you wanted to be regular in worship and know your Bible well, but that hasn’t been happening. Maybe you never get married or you don’t have children. Maybe you don’t end up in a line of work that satisfies you. Maybe you have health problems. You seldom end up where you thought you’d be. Now your present and your future are nothing like you’d thought they would be, and you have no hope of getting there either.
So what do you do? You get depressed. You see where the world and our society is heading and where you are and you say, “It is what it is. I’ll keep my head low and survive. That’s about it.” Or maybe you resign yourself to a life of missed opportunities and just say, “I blew it. No use in trying any more.”
When you listen to Peter’s opening words of his epistle, you don’t hear any type of that mind set. You find words of thankfulness, joy, and hope. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. God decided to give you a new birth. That’s what Easter is about, new life and a new birth.
Think about that term “new birth.” When you’re newly born it means that your entire life is ahead of you. This is how Peter told us we could live, as if we were newly born. That life comes through the Holy Spirit, who brings you into a relationship with Jesus, and Jesus brings with Him all of God’s love and mercy and forgiveness.
Think of the old classic movie called the Sound of Music. A naval officer is trying to raise his children as if they were infantry soldiers after the death of his wife. He blows his whistle at them and orders them around with strict rules. Nonetheless, the children weren’t easy to deal with. Any nannies that had come in were bullied off in no time at all. It was a miserable place to live, until Maria was sent there to try and help shape things up. At first, the children tried their hardest to chase her off, but Maria was undeterred. She brought a cheer with her that livened up the household and brought new life and new music there. She changed the entire complexion of the household with her music and cheery disposition.
Peter says that it was God who chose to bring new life into you through His gift of the Holy Spirit, given to you at your baptism. You don’t have to base your life or your future on what your temporary goals were in this life, how much money you made, where you retired, or how many children or grandchildren you had. The Holy Spirit sings into our souls through the music of the liturgy and the hymns, speaking of Jesus and the hope we have to be with Him into eternity. He keeps us clean through the body and blood of Jesus in the Supper. He speaks to us sternly when we need to be rebuked with the Law. He speaks to us tenderly when we need to be encouraged with the Gospel. He keeps us from despair with His promises. He is always there to give us life.
He points to the FUTURE. Here’s what Peter says exactly. He gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. It’s focused on the future with a LIVING hope. It’s not a dead hope. It’s not something that we’ve given up on years ago. It’s something that lives and breathes through your soul and your life. You know that there’s an eternity of joy and pain free living ahead of you. It’s a real and genuine hope that lives and flows in us through Jesus’ resurrection.
You see, since Jesus is alive, He lives to intercede for us. His death continues to cry for our pardon and forgiveness. Since Jesus is alive, He can still give us His body and blood in the sacrament. He lives to rule over everything in this world in such a way that we can and should stay in the faith. He sends His angels to protect us. Peter says that “Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.” That can give us hope for the future, not despair!
Many years ago my nephew had a knack for wandering away from his grandpa. So his grandpa purposely hid behind a set of clothing in a department store to see how he would react, and to scare him a bit so he would stop wandering off. He was never in danger. Grandpa was protecting him, but he let him think he was alone for a little bit so that he wouldn’t stray too far the next time.
We can be like my nephew at times, and God lets us wander a ways. In a hidden way, God keeps temptations from happening that would be too strong for us to resist. He keeps the devil from open season on us so that we would be easily overpowered. He is protecting you. He is keeping you safe and protected through His angels and His guidance. Think of when Daniel ended up in the lion’s den or the three men ended up in the fiery furnace. Up to that point, it may have felt that God had abandoned them, but He hadn’t. He was always there. He just hadn’t shown Himself. And what happened? They came out unscathed. Jesus is still alive and doing that today, protecting us and taking care of us. You don’t have to worry about that. Your future on this earth is in God’s hands.
Even when you do face a difficult health problem or a tough temptation, God has a purpose behind it, so that the proven character of your faith—which is more valuable than gold, which passes away even though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. God purposely allows those trials to come so that we dig into the word and pray all the more in the midst of the trial or temptation. Those trials only prove to strengthen our faith and give proof of our faith in the way we respond to difficult times. They give opportunity for God’s glory to be revealed in our lives so that our lights shine all the more.
Think of how beautiful it was for Mary and Mary to go out to the tomb on Easter morning in order to anoint Jesus’ body with more herbs and spices. They didn’t let the darkness of the morning or the obstacle of the stone or the guards keep them from going. It showed their deep love for Jesus even when they thought He was DEAD!
When Paul was in prison he wrote, “Demas, because he loved this present world, has forsaken me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. (2 Ti 4:10–11) Luke had an opportunity to distinguish himself in a time of trial by sticking with Paul and helping him while he was in prison. The difficulty brought out his dedication.
When you go through trials, God is giving you an opportunity to let your light shine.
So we stick with it, even when we fail in life. We keep on praying and keep on turning to Jesus time and time again. We do this with the hope of receiving an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. Notice that Peter calls it an INHERITANCE. Let’s not skip over that word. An inheritance isn’t something that YOU earn, it’s something that someone else earns and then puts you on the recipient list to receive after they die. That’s what Jesus does through His perfect life and then innocent death on the cross. He pays the full price for the salvation of the world. He gives it to us by grace, in your baptism, through faith.
The inheritance is undying, undefiled, and unfading. Nothing can take that money out of God’s bank. Salvation is paid in full. Just recently several banks went suddenly bankrupt and had to freeze all of their assets. Thousands of people were worried about their retirement accounts and wondered whether they would ever get any of their money back. Elderly people who had their nest eggs saved up and invested in mutual funds have seen the price of their investments go down. They are afraid of having to go to work again or running out of money. Some elderly are swindled out of their life savings by con artists and left with nothing. There’s always a fear of losing what you’ve worked for. If a house stays vacant it doesn’t remain in pristine condition. It becomes run down and eventually animals take it over and it decays. But Peter says that THIS inheritance, this promise of eternal bliss in heaven, it never dies, never gets defiled, never fades. And if it takes you five years to get there or a hundred, the room remains spotless and ready. He doesn’t change the terms. The rate doesn’t go up. The room size doesn’t get smaller. It’s always the same gift, always by grace, through faith alone.
So what is your goal in life? Retire with a million dollars? Live near your grandchildren? Own your own house? Get married? Be a CEO of a company? Live in a cabin by a lake in the woods. Travel the world? It’s all good and pleasant to have goals in this life in the here and now. But even if you meet all those goals, they are only temporary. They only last for a limited amount of time, and they are tainted with sin. Do all you do to the glory of God in this life. Use your gifts to the fullest of your ability. But don’t forget that everything on this side of heaven is temporary and meaningless in the big picture of life.
Peter points us to our true goal, to be in heaven with Jesus. Jesus already died to earn that salvation. He now lives to GIVE us that salvation. No matter what happens here and now, as long as we cling to Jesus in faith, we still get to receive our ultimate goal. Peter writes, Though you do not see him now, yet by believing in him, you are filled with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Usually when people get older and start to lose their abilities, they get depressed and feel worthless because they can’t do what they used to do. I’m starting to feel that. When we were on vacation a few years back we were hiking through the Tennessee trails and we came upon a natural swimming hole. People were climbing up this huge rock and jumping down. I thought to myself, “I want to do that! That looks fun! So I started walking across the river and slipped on some rocks, went straight back and fell on my back. That was embarrassing. Got back up, swam upstream to the spot where the kids were climbing up the rock. It was steeper than I thought. I couldn’t make it up. I wasn’t flexible enough. So I started floating back. Lo and behold, a kid didn’t watch where he was jumping and landed indirectly on me. I floated back to shore, having been completely humbled. I ain't as good as I once was. That’s the cold hard truth. I was upset about that. And now, after a day’s worth of walking, my ankles are swelling up. Oof. That’s not good either. More reason for depression.
But Peter says, “That’s not a reason to get depressed. That’s more reason for joy! You are one step closer to your goal in life, to go and be with Jesus.” I can’t lose sight of that, and neither should you. Maybe I needed that kick in the head when I was swimming to remind me of my own mortality. I’m sure Jesus had some purpose in it. If Jesus takes away my ability to walk or exercise, then I’ll enjoy it all the more when I rise from the dead! If you find yourself all depressed and angry or upset because your goals in life haven’t been met or if you’re losing what you once had, join the club! But remember that Jesus has promised you another goal, a goal of grace, to bring you to heaven, earned by His death and resurrection. Continue to cling to Christ, and nothing can ruin that inheritance. What do you want to do with your life?
For me to live is Jesus, to die is gain for me.
And when my Savior pleases, I meet death willingly. Amen.
