PRAISE

Verse 3. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Peter breaks out in praise, as happens so often with the writers of these letters because they have not lost gratitude for their Saviour. Paul also does that so many times. Have we become jaded or over familiar and lost gratitude for our salvation?

His great mercy – remember, all we have is only because God has not punished us as we rightly deserve. God spared us the punishment by putting it upon Jesus in His great mercy. What has his mercy resulted in? A living Hope!! How? Through Jesus’ resurrection.

Hope for what? Peter calls this hope living, giving it animate qualities. The resurrection of Jesus is pivotal to our faith. We were once without hope because humanity was infested with sin. We were hopeless and doomed until Jesus came and took our sins upon us. His death and resurrection brought a living Hope for us all who believe.

Verse 4. So, the Father has given us a living hope through Jesus and an inheritance that will neither spoil nor fade. It has been kept in heaven for us. We know that this inheritance is incorruptible and cannot be destroyed. We have a clue what this inheritance is from other passages of scripture. Firstly, we do get to enjoy some of it here on Earth. Every spiritual blessing in Christ is ours (Eph. 1:3-14), as we are co-heirs with Him (Rom. 8:17).

Then, to those who overcome, we will be given various things like different crowns (Rev 2:10). Some other things are cities to rule (Luke 19:17), and a mansion is being prepared for us in heaven (John 14:2).

Verse 5. Who through faith. ‘Who’ refers to the “us” from v2. We are kept by God’s power by our faith in Him.

Verse 6. In all this, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

Here, we see the intent of the first paragraph of encouragement. He is saying rejoice in the above truth in the light of your sufferings and trials. He has compared the trials to the eternal living hope that is imperishable. Therefore, the trials are temporary. But our hope in Jesus is permanent and cannot be corrupted. Trials can be of all kinds. They can be financial, relational, health, dullness of heart and mind, etc. It is wrong to believe that you will not face trials. That will only happen when we get to heaven.

Reflections

• Has gratitude for my salvation grown over the years?
• Thank God for the living hope we have that cannot be destroyed.