Praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Christ

1 Peter 1:1-12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen ² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, ⁷ so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ⁸ and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰ As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, ¹¹ seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

In today’s text Peter begins saying:  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,  Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen  according to the  foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.   Many today focus on God’s grace and the blessings and promises we are afforded by that grace.  Look though at what Peter says we are chosen and sanctified for; not for blessings, but rather to obey Christ. We cannot expect the power of the Spirit to work through us if we don’t yield to the sanctifying work of the Spirit in obedience. In John 14:15;21-24  Jesus says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments…   He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him… If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words.”   Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.   We demonstrate our love for Christ in obedience to Him, being sanctified so that we are no longer sinners. That’s what we are chosen for. That is God’s grace and peace working in us to the fullest measure. 

Peter says:  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,  who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.   A few things stand out from the richness of what Peter says here. First it is God that we should bless and not only seek blessingd from. Then the inheritance we receive, what we are blessed with, is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away. So it is both eternal but also it is undefiled. It is pure and holy. We cannot expect to receive a pure and holy; an undefiled inheritance, if we ourselves would be the very ones that would defile it.  Peter says:  Even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.   These trials, the difficult things we walk through are part of what purifies us. Romans 8:28-29 says:  We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.  God doesn’t cause the difficult times in our lives. But if we continue to love God and seek His call and His purpose, He will cause even the difficult things to work together for our good. As we persevere through the fire, what is impure and unholy is burned away. We become conformed to the image of Christ, so that result of our trials is praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Christ is not only revealed to us, but He is revealed in us and through us.

We are indeed given much as our inheritance in Christ. We are blessed to receive the abundance of heaven here on earth; to have all that God promises in His word. Yet Peter says:  Though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.   Even if we never received another thing from God by our faith, the salvation of our souls should be enough for us to greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. John 3:16 says:  God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  Because He loved us enough to give us eternal life if we believe, our response is that we love Him. Again, Jesus says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments…   He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him… If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.  He who does not love Me does not keep My words.”  

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; I believe and in response to Your love for me, I greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. May the trials of my life continue to purify me, to remove all that is unholy and conform me to the image of Christ; that He may be revealed to me and through me.  Amen.