Key Verse: 1 Peter 1:3-5 “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, and into an in hesitance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (NIV).

Peter starts his letter by praising God the Father. He has done so much for us! He has given us a new beginning by raising Jesus from the dead. Jesus died because of our sin (and, as the Bible so clearly says it, all who put their trust in Him died with Christ — because “the wages of sin is death”). But, even as Christ rose from death, so too we will one day rise — to “newness of life”! In this new life, we have an incorruptible inheritance in heaven that’s waiting for us. Right now we’re saved through faith, but the Day of the Lord is coming, a day when the extent of that salvation will be revealed. In the meantime, we are “shielded by God’s power”. There’s no more effective protector than God Himself! I think we should join Peter and praise God too.

This is why Peter calls our hope a “living hope”. Even though our salvation is fixed in the Lamb of God who died in space and time “once for all”, it is also a dynamic thing. We’re both “saved” (static) and “being saved” (dynamic). We’ve become children of God, but we’re also growing in “the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. He is our hope, and He is alive!

So whatever “trials” we may have to suffer, they’re only for “a little while” (v.6). It’s only a matter of time until every tear shall be wiped away. We will enter our living inheritance forever. Praise the Lord!