The Blessed Hope Series

1 Peter 1:3-5 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. (ESV)

Right now, when you talk to people, there are a lot of things that people miss. Due to all the restrictions people miss getting together with family and friends. They miss travel and attending public events like concerts and sporting events. People miss going out shopping and having a meal in a restaurant. Our provincial state of emergency has just been renewed to at least February 9th, and most expect it to continue. People say they hope this all ends soon so they can resume some normality of life.

For the Christians to whom the Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter, they had lost hope. They were facing the threat great persecution from the Roman government and were fleeing for their lives. They were dispossessed from their homes and seeking hope. Peter writes a letter of hope. The hope he proclaims is not what we call a ‘fond hope’. We cherish fond hopes because they are so fragile. We ‘hope against hope’ because we do not really expect what we hope for. But Peter writes of a sure hope, a hope that holds the future in the present because it is anchored in the past. Peter hopes for God’s salvation, God’s deliverance from sin and death. His hope is sure, because God has already accomplished his salvation in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (Clowney, E. P. (1988). The message of 1 Peter: the way of the cross (p. 44). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)

Naturally, it can be particularly challenging to be hopeful when faced with difficulty. When difficulties occur, we face obvious questions: How can we find hope when: We are tempted, when family is threatened, when life seems unfair, or when all hope seems to be lost ? God here calls us a prophetic posture: to simultaneously see what is broken and have a biblical hope for what is being made new.

In 1 Peter 1:3-5, the Apostle Peter comforts those who face difficulty by explaining the nature of our Blessed Hope. In that, he shows 1) The Source of our Blessed Hope (1 Peter 1:3), 2) The Surety of our Blessed Hope (1 Peter 1:4), and 3) The Salvation of our Blessed Hope (1 Peter 1:5).

We can be comforted even in the midst of difficulty because of:

1) The Source of our Blessed Hope (1 Peter 1:3)

1 Peter 1:3 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 (ESV)

Peter, … starts with a doxology A doxology is a hymn of praise. The word comes from the Greek doxa, which refers to glory that is ascribed to God, because it belongs eternally and intrinsically to Him. The concept of glory in the Bible refers to the weightiness of God, the depth of His character… Singing praise to God is a central significance of worship; the primary dimension of godly worship is not the offering of our money, time, or body but the sacrifice of praise. Doxology is at the very heart of true worship, and this is how Peter begins (Sproul, R. C. (2011). 1-2 Peter (p. 26). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.).

Peter assumes it is necessary for believers to bless God. The intention is so implicit that the Greek text omits the word be, which the translators added. (In the original, the sentence literally begins, “Blessed the God,” which conveys Peter’s expectation that his audience “bless God” as the source of all spiritual inheritance.) The apostle adores God and implores others to do the same. The word blessed (Gr eulogeios) is the word from which we get “eulogy,” and means “to be well spoken of” or “to be praised.” Peter is expressing a desire that God should be praised by all believers everywhere. (Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2601). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.).

Peter further calls Him the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a phrase that identified God in a distinctly Christian way. The term ‘Father’, as applied to the first person of the Trinity, signifies not that the Father in any way created the Son or caused him to exist (for the Son has always existed and was never created, John 1:1–3; 8:58; 17:5, 24; Rev. 22:13), but that he relates to the Son as a father relates to a son normally: the Father plans and directs, the Son responds and obeys; the Father ‘sends’, the Son comes from the Father (Gal. 4:4; John 3:16, 18; 5:19, 22, 26–27, 30). The Father creates ‘through’ the Son; all things come ‘from’ the Father ‘through’ the Son (John 1:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2). ( Grudem, W. A. (1988). 1 Peter: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 17, p. 59). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)