Transcript & Slides: Resurrection Rebirth (1 Peter 1:3-12)

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Resurrection Rebirth (1 Peter 1:3-12)
By David Feddes

Today we're at one of those passages that towers very high among the greatest portions of the Bible. My kids sometimes say, “You always say whatever passage you're preaching on is the best in the whole Bible.” I won't say it's the best in the whole Bible, but I will say this: it’s one of the first that I’ve made my family memorize and one that I’ve memorized and come back to again and again. Because if you want to know what the Christian faith is, if you want to know what it’s all about, if you want a passage that is full of joy and full of realism, there is no greater passage than 1 Peter 1:3–12.

“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 inheritance 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. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things” (1 Peter 1:3–12).

This is one of those passages where, if you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, your whole heart leaps and sings. This is one of those passages that tells us what it’s all about—the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his victory, and his life that lasts forever—and the rebirth that happens in us because of that resurrection. This tremendous passage of resurrection and rebirth reveals so much.

My own congregation knows the hazards when I really get into something. I spent three sermons on the first two verses of 1 Peter, but we’re going to speed up a little bit now. We’re going to consider this whole passage, and there is so much in it that I will never be able to do justice to it. But by the help of the Holy Spirit, I trust that you’re going to gain some wonderful things from what God says here. I’m going to highlight five things that come out of the passage.

First, God is the one who gives resurrection rebirth. Secondly, you inherit God’s wealth. Third, suffering is the path to glory. Fourth, you are amazingly privileged if you’ve had this rebirth and if you belong to this risen Savior. And fifth, your heart responds to Jesus in some wonderful ways that are brought out in this passage.

First of all, Peter shows that this resurrection rebirth is not our doing—it’s the work of God. It’s rooted in God’s mercy. “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” (1 Peter 1:3). It’s rooted in God’s mercy. We would be in deep trouble if there were any other root but that. If God went around saying, “I’m going to look for some fine specimens of humanity, wonderful examples of holiness and goodness, and they’re the ones I’m going to work with,” heaven would be empty of humans if God were to do that.

But God’s great mercy—the Father’s electing love, which is spoken of in those first couple of verses of 1 Peter—that you’re God’s elect, that you were chosen according to God loving you in advance because the Father decided to save—that’s what it’s based on. And I, for one, am very glad that it is, because otherwise I would be sunk.

It’s achieved by Jesus’ resurrection, by his victory over death. God decided on it out of the great mercy and love and grace that flows from the heart of God the Father. Then Jesus did it. He came into the world, he died, he triumphed over death, and he rose from the dead. In that resurrection he also triumphed over Satan and all the demonic powers that are hostile to us and to all of God’s people.

Jesus did this—we didn’t. Again, we don’t know how to defeat death. We get really scared when a bug goes around that kills one or two or three in a thousand people. We get really scared when that happens. And of course, we know that death doesn’t come for just one or two or three out of a thousand. The stats are that it comes for a thousand out of a thousand—just maybe not yet. And we don’t defeat it. But Jesus did.

Because Jesus defeated death, we can also share in his victory. How does that happen? You’ve been born again. God has given you new birth into this living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fact that Jesus has already triumphed over death—the Bible reveals that because Jesus became a human and entered into the human race—whatever happens to him happens to us. When he comes alive, even before we’re born, there’s a sense in which all of his people come alive, because a new creation has occurred in which life wins and death loses.

When you’re born again, the very Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is in you, making you alive. Even though your body may die if Jesus doesn’t come back first, that new life that Jesus puts in you when you’re born again—when you’re born from above by the Holy Spirit—that can’t die because it’s the life of God himself.

So in your life now, if you belong to Jesus Christ, you’re already experiencing the life of the world to come. Not as fully as you will someday, but it’s that very life that you already have. It’s a foretaste of the future. And once again, it’s God’s doing.

We saw in an earlier message that when Peter says hello, he says more than a lot of people say in fat books. When Peter says hello, he’s already talking about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—and the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Here again we see that it’s the Father’s mercy, it’s Jesus’ victory, and it’s the rebirth of life that comes through the Holy Spirit, who is God’s down payment on the future.

It’s not just individual believers who receive this new life, but God also has a plan in which all of the universe and the things that God has made will go through perishing but then rise again. The Bible speaks of the resurrection or the regeneration or the rebirth of all things.

Peter was talking to Jesus, and he said, “We’ve left everything to follow you. What then will there be for us?”—you know, the blunt sort of question Peter will ask: “What’s in it for us?” Jesus says, “At the rebirth of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones. Everyone who has left father or mother or children or fields for me will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19:27–29).

So if you are reborn, realize that the entire creation is going to be reborn in the rebirth of all things, and that if you gave up something for Jesus, you’re not going to say, “Boy, I really feel ripped off. I had to go do this, and that meant I left something or somebody else behind, or I lost some of my possessions.” Jesus says, “A hundred times as much—and, oh, by the way, eternal life.”

So Jesus is saying, in answer to Peter’s question, “We’ve done a whole bunch for you, Lord,” that he’ll give them one hundred times as much and eternal life.

In line with that, what is that inheritance Peter speaks of when he says we’ve got this new birth into a living hope and into an inheritance? The Bible talks often about our inheritance. When you inherit, you get something from somebody, and in this case the Bible says, “All things are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:21–23).

You inherit what your Father has. That means that God’s wealth is yours. That means that this amazing creation—the creation here on this earth and planet, as well as all those amazing galaxies that God has made—God intends for his children to share in his reign. You remember those words about the apostles sitting on thrones, but the rest of the Bible talks about the thrones and authority that God will give his people—the various domains in his creation. So God’s wealth is yours.

I don’t have time to get into all the details, but suffice it to say, if God owns it, he shares it, because you’re his children and you inherit it. Death can’t destroy it. There are a lot of things that death can destroy, but death cannot destroy your inheritance because it comes from God, who is indestructible. Sin can’t spoil it. The Bible says it’s imperishable and it can’t spoil or fade.

This inheritance that God keeps for us is something that sin can’t wreck because it’s beyond the reach of sin, because God is the one who’s giving it and guarding it. Sin can’t wreck it, and time can’t fade it away. There are a lot of things in life that were a lot of fun—some of those Christmas presents you got, you thought, “Wow, this is the best thing ever!” And three weeks later you were on to something else because it faded. You’re not so thrilled about it anymore.

The inheritance that comes from God is ever fresh, ever new, never fading, never falling apart. The Bible says that God keeps it in heaven for you. It’s kept in heaven for you by God. That doesn’t mean you’re only going to inherit it in heaven, because someday heaven is going to come to earth and make this whole creation new. But it’s guarded in heaven because it’s in the very presence of God, and Christ is preparing a home for his people. Therefore it can’t be taken away, because God’s keeping it for you in greater security than anybody else could keep it.

On the other side of that, Peter says he’s not only keeping it for you, but he’s keeping you for it. You, by faith, are shielded by God’s power. So God is guarding the inheritance, but his shield—his almighty power—is what guards those who belong to him. That’s why it’s such a wonderful truth that the Bible says he chooses you in his mercy and then shields you by his power, because otherwise you’d be chewing your nails down to the nubbins every other day, thinking, “Here today, gone tomorrow. I guess I did belong to God, but now I don’t.” You’re shielded by God’s power when you have faith in him.

He’s guarding you on earth, and he’s guarding the inheritance in heaven. Then, when that salvation comes on the last day, what you’ve tasted in part will come in all of its fullness. That’s the inheritance God has prepared for those who love him.

That inheritance includes such astonishing things as the wonderful banquets and feasts pictured in the Bible, the wonderful fellowship with each other, with loved ones who’ve gone before us, with the saints, with the mighty angels of God. It includes, of course, perfect fellowship with God himself. It includes the thrones and authority and positions of power, perhaps even above the angels, because Christ has made us the children of God.

This inheritance is worth many fat books. If you want to deepen your knowledge of that inheritance, I think Randy Alcorn has gone on for about 500 pages in his book Heaven. You can grab that one if you don’t want this sermon to get too long. I won’t give you all 500 pages, but there’s a lot in the Bible about your inheritance.

Now it’s time for a reality check. Because Christ is risen, Christ is victorious, your inheritance is fantastic, your inheritance is coming—but you suffer and grieve now. Jesus is alive and victorious, but you don’t see Jesus now. That seems like a couple of downers—all this wonderful language about praising God for the living hope, except for a couple of little glitches: you can’t actually see Jesus, and you get to suffer.

What about that? That’s one of the great things about this passage. It’s so tremendous in the way it speaks of the wonders of God and of his salvation, and at the same time it’s so realistic. It gets right into the troubles of your life and says, “What about those?” It gets right into the fact that we don’t always experience as much of Jesus as we would like, and we certainly don’t see him with our eyes.

What about that? In a sense, that’s the main theme of the whole book of 1 Peter—suffering and glory, and how the path to glory leads through suffering.

Peter says, “You may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials,” and those trials come in all different forms. They come in the form of difficulties getting along with people. They come in the form of persecutions. They come in the form of illnesses. They come in the form of many things that you try and tackle and don’t succeed at. There are many different kinds of griefs and suffering.

The Bible says those are positive problems. That doesn’t mean you smile and have this plastic grin on your face all the time, but problems have a positive purpose, and Peter describes those things here. One thing to know as you suffer and grieve now is that grief is brief; joy is eternal. Peter says, “Now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief” (1 Peter 1:6). The apostle Paul talks the same way. He says, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17). He also says, “Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

When biblical writers write that way, your temptation is to say, “Yeah, well, that’s what preachers are supposed to talk like.” But don’t forget that Paul was somebody who had been imprisoned repeatedly, beaten five times with rods, three times with the thirty-nine lashes, been in shipwrecks, thrown into prisons, and finally had his head chopped off. Peter was a guy who was repeatedly thrown into prison, assaulted, beaten, mocked, and crucified upside down. So when they say the grief is brief and not worth comparing to the glory, they’re saying something. You’re not likely to go through as much as they did, and they say that by comparison the grief is brief and it’s not very big.

Another fact, says Peter, is that as you suffer and as you grieve, something happens with your faith. He says your faith is more precious than gold, and it lasts longer than gold. Now, what happens with gold? He says gold can be refined by fire. When you have ore or dirt you get out of the ground that’s in a gold vein, there’s still a lot of stuff in it that’s not gold. So you melt it, and the gold gets sorted out and purified, and all the junk is gone, and you’ve got pure gold left. That’s the refining process. Peter says your suffering is a refining process that melts away a lot of the junk in your life, and what comes out is more and more pure.

But it’s even better than that kind of process, because he says, “Gold perishes.” People always say, “When times are bad, invest in gold—that’s your guarantee against losing value.” Peter says gold perishes; faith doesn’t. Faith lasts forever. When you trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, that faith gets purer and purer, and it also gets stronger and stronger.

In your own personal experience, sometimes when you profess your faith or say, “I’m a Christian,” you believe that—and it’s true—and then you go through some hard stuff. When you make it through that and your faith is still standing, then you’re more sure than ever that your faith is real and not just some little vibe you had for a while. When you make it through the trials, that’s when you’re really established and stronger in your faith.

Another thing Peter brings out—besides the fact that grief is brief, joy is eternal, and faith is proven and purified through these troubles—is that the result is praise, glory, and honor. Now, what does he mean? I don’t think he’s first of all talking about the fact that God receives praise and glory and honor in the faithfulness of his suffering people who stick with him. It’s true that that happens—that God is praised and honored and glorified. How many times, when you hear stories of Christians who have stayed strong through a terrible time and yet remain joyful and walk with the Lord, do you praise God and say, “Wow, God must be quite something for them to keep doing that”?

But here, Peter’s not talking so much about the praise, honor, and glory that God receives as the fact that those who are faithful to God through suffering receive praise, glory, and honor. You receive praise when God says, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23). God is praising you. We live to praise God, but probably the greatest desire—even when we don’t know it—is to be praised by God, to be recognized by God, and to have God say, “I appreciate what you’ve done and who you are.” Of course, he had a big hand in making us that way—in fact, the hand that did it all—but nonetheless, to have God say, “Well done,” and to have God praise you—that is, in a sense, the supreme gift in the universe.

Then there is the glory. Jesus was radiant with the glory of God when he was transfigured. When people saw visions of him after he ascended to the throne, his glory was so bright that Paul—who was an unbeliever at the time—was blinded by the glory. John fell at his feet as though dead when he had a vision of Jesus’ glory. That’s the kind of glory Jesus had and has, and he gives us that glory when he’s revealed. His radiance, his splendor, becomes our radiance.

I don’t know exactly how to convey that into our experience. Maybe take a different example: when are times you’ve just been awestruck or amazed or overwhelmed? Some people have that when they get into a splendid range of mountains or see a mighty waterfall. There’s something about it—you just look and you’re overwhelmed. Or when you look at the night sky somewhere far from city lights, and you can really see it all, something just overwhelms you with the glory, and you almost want to get into it. That’s a dim reflection of the kind of glory the Bible speaks of when it says, “These are just the outer fringe of his glory” (Job 26:14).

And then there’s the honor—among other things, the honor of being enthroned by Christ or being told, “You take charge of this area. You were faithful in a few things; I’m putting you in charge of many things” (Matthew 25:21). To receive honor from God, positions of honor—and then the greatest joy of those positions and those crowns—is to lay the crowns right back before his throne, as the book of Revelation pictures people who are given crowns and then are always offering their crowns back to the Lord (Revelation 4:10).

Those are the kinds of things Peter says you can look forward to if you’re suffering: the result is going to be even more praise, more glory, more honor.

I think it also indicates that those who have suffered most for the cause of the Lord are likely to receive the greatest praise, the greatest glory, the greatest honor. The challenges of our suffering now are going to melt away in the light of even greater glory when Christ is revealed.

Remember that hall of fame in Hebrews 11 where it talks about all these great heroes of faith who shut the mouths of lions and conquered kingdoms? Then it says, “Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated… They were longing for a better resurrection” (Hebrews 11:33–37, 35). You might say, “I’d like to be like King David.” And yes, David had his share of sufferings, but we want to be like those big, triumphant figures of the Bible. Yet the little secret of the Bible is that if you got sawed in two, roasted by Nero, or fed to lions instead of winning the big victory, you actually receive greater praise, glory, and honor.

The other problem Peter addresses is the fact that Jesus is unseen. Peter had seen Christ. He was with him throughout all his ministry. He saw him after he rose from the dead, and so did the other apostles. We might envy them—why don’t we see Jesus now?

One thing Peter doesn’t mention in this passage but that he mentions in his second letter is that God is patient. If you could see Jesus right now, that would mean you’d be getting what you want—seeing Jesus face to face. But when Jesus comes in all his glory and splendor, those who are not prepared for that are going to take one glance at that face and call on the rocks to cover them and the hills to fall upon them (Revelation 6:16). They will not be able to face the splendor of Christ and will be repelled in the other direction forever.

God is patient. That unseen face of Christ is still a face that allows room for change—for the unbeliever to turn to Christ. So one advantage of not seeing Jesus now is that a whole bunch of other people don’t see him yet either, and that’s better for them—they still have a chance.

The thing Peter mentions in this passage is, “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8–9). So he says that because you don’t see him, you get a special blessing when you continue to walk by faith in a Savior you can’t see.

Some of you will remember the story of Thomas. Thomas wasn’t there; he skipped church on the Sunday night when Jesus showed up. There’s always a hazard in skipping church because Jesus just might show up. But anyway, Thomas did that on the day of the resurrection. He was so discouraged that he just wasn’t with them when Jesus appeared. When the others told him about it, he didn’t say, “I’m so glad to hear that good news!” He said, “I’m not going to believe it unless I poke my finger into the nail holes and put my hand into his side” (John 20:25).

The next week, they were together again, and this time Thomas showed up for church—and Jesus showed up again. Jesus said, “Go ahead, Thomas, put your finger into my hands and your hand into my side.” And Thomas said, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).

Then what did Jesus say? “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). There is in the mind and heart of Jesus a greater blessing given to those who believe even when he doesn’t come to them physically as he came to Thomas or to Peter or the other disciples.

So before you get too envious of those disciples—and let’s face it, it is a wonderful thing for them to have witnessed and seen the risen Lord—just remember that Jesus pronounces great blessing on those who have not seen and who believe in him and love him.

Peter then goes on to talk about the amazing privilege even more. If you didn’t already get the point that it’s an amazing privilege for all these things to be given to you by God, and all this glory, he continues: “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow” (1 Peter 1:10–11).

These prophets wanted to know more. God was giving them hints, little tastes of what was going to happen. When you read the Old Testament, you’re reading insights and glimpses that God gave the prophets, but they always wanted more. They said, “What exactly does that mean? What’s going to happen?” They kept searching so they could figure out more and more what the circumstances and time might be.

Still, as much as God had revealed to them, a lot of it remained a mystery. But this was revealed to them: “They were not serving themselves, but you” (1 Peter 1:12). Peter is saying, “Do you know who you are? Do you know when you are? You are living at the time when a plan that God had for ages and ages is being fulfilled. You are living in the time that holy people long ago wanted to figure out. They wanted to find out about it, and you’ve got it all laid out right in front of your nose.”

You know what God did. You know that he sent his very own Son into the world. You know that he did mighty miracles. You know that he conquered death and ascended to heaven. You’ve got it all laid out for you. You’ve experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit. You know that God gave himself to live within us. These things were hinted at to those Old Testament prophets—but think about what you’ve got!

Jesus once said, “Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matthew 11:11). Not greater in terms of courage, power, or accomplishments, but better off. When you live in the New Testament era, you experience and realize things that those before could only pursue—you possess what they only anticipated. Then they receive those blessings together with us, not as though they get shortchanged, but during the era they were living in, they did not know and did not experience nearly as much as we can, because we live in the era of Christ’s coming.

Another privilege is that God gave witnesses—not just those Old Testament prophets, but also his apostles, the eyewitnesses like Peter, and those who were there on Pentecost and heard Peter preach. Some were from the very cities Peter was writing to in 1 Peter. So Peter says they’ve spoken to you the things you’ve now heard from those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.

On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven, preached to people through Peter, and they believed and received that heaven-sent good news by the heaven-sent Spirit. Do you know what it is to have the third Person of the Trinity working in people—bringing the gospel to you and moving you to believe? Peter says that’s a staggering thing. Do you realize how good you’ve got it?

Oh, and by the way, if it’s not enough for you that you are receiving things that those mighty Old Testament prophets didn’t receive in nearly the same degree, if it’s not enough that the heaven-sent Holy Spirit of God himself is the one who anointed and empowered those who brought you the truth of God and the good news of salvation—what about this? Angels long to look into these things (1 Peter 1:12).

You’re seeing and experiencing things that even angels would like to know more about. We sometimes think that angels, being in heaven, know it all. Angels don’t know it all. Angels know only what God reveals to them, and they are active on earth only to the degree that God sends them on his various assignments. But there is much that angels cannot know.

Part of it is simply the way we’re made. Angels don’t know what a peach tastes like. I’m not sure they can appreciate a blue sky, green grass, and trees the way we do. An angel doesn’t know what it’s like to take a nap. Angels aren’t physical creatures. There are gifts and splendors of God that are available only to our senses. Maybe you can think of a comparison—dogs can hear certain frequencies that we can’t hear—but if you’re a non-physical being, there are ways we experience the Creator’s works that angels don’t.

But that’s not even the main thing Peter is talking about here. God never became an angel. God never became an angel. God became human. Do you know what a privilege you have—that God became one of us?

Angels feast on the glory of God, and every good thing God does or is makes them happier. So when they see what God does among humans, they get even happier and want to know more. The angels who are in his very presence still hide their faces because God is too much for them, but there are things that angels can learn about God from his workings among humanity that they would not have known just by being in his presence. It’s by what God has done.

And you know what else? Though God didn’t become an angel, he got a lot closer to the angels when he became human, because there is an infinite, unbridgeable gap between God and everything else. There’s a greater difference between God and the archangel Michael than there is between Michael and a mosquito. I’m not trying to insult the archangel Michael here—I’m just saying there’s God, and there’s everything else. But when God took on human form, he came to us in a form that humans could identify with and recognize—and also one that angels could understand more about, because the God who was blinding light to them revealed himself in a new way.

So angels love to look at what God is doing. That’s why the Bible says, “In the presence of God and of the holy angels…” (Luke 12:8–9) or “Here’s how you ought to conduct yourself in worship”—because there are angels there while you’re worshiping. The Bible is very conscious that angels are involved in helping us in our salvation, but also in rejoicing in and witnessing our salvation. “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10).

The apostle Paul says God’s purpose in Christ and his unsearchable riches in Christ was “that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 3:10–11). This was his plan from all eternity, and it’s now been carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let me pause for a moment: if angels long to look into these things, don’t you think it would be fitting if we were a little more eager to focus on the things of God? If angels say, “I can’t believe it—God became a human being!” shouldn’t we be amazed that the Son of God became one of us? If angels are rejoicing at all that God has done for humans, maybe we humans could rejoice a little bit about all that God has done for us.

In this passage there are these marvels—God doing it all, that amazing inheritance, what God does through even our sufferings and trials, and the tremendous privileges he gives. How then do we respond? Peter says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Peter 1:3). You praise God. You worship him. You bless his name. You put your faith in him. You put your faith in God’s power, because if God does all this, the way your heart responds is by saying, “I believe him. I trust him.”

You have a living hope of a sure inheritance. You don’t go around with a little bit of wishful thinking, saying, “I hope this sickness goes away,” or “I hope my favorite person gets elected,” or “I hope next year turns out to be better than this one.” Those are hopes, but really, that’s just a wish.

When the Bible talks about a living hope, it’s not talking about a wish—it’s talking about expectation. You expect it. You’re planning on it. You’re counting on it. That’s what a living hope is. You have the life of Christ in you, and you have the expectation of that inheritance that God has promised.

And then there’s just plain love. “Though you have not seen him, you love him” (1 Peter 1:8). After the resurrection, when Peter’s initial hopes were shattered—Jesus was dead, and Peter had failed him and denied him repeatedly—it was over. Where did that leave Peter? In a mess. But then Jesus rose again, and so Christ had triumphed, but Peter was still a failure. Then Christ came to him and asked, “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you really love me?” (John 21:15–17).

Here in this passage Peter is saying, “You don’t see him, but you love him like I do.” And that is the very core of it. You can talk about the inheritance and the truths and doctrines of what God does, but ultimately it comes down to this Person—Jesus Christ, sent from the Father, anointed by the Holy Spirit. This Person. When you get to know him, it draws forth love because he loved you first.

Then, with that love comes joy. As Peter puts it, “joy unspeakable and full of glory”—joy too glorious even to put into words (1 Peter 1:8). This is the normal Christian life. Sometimes we say, “Well, that’s not very realistic—praising God, having this strong faith, having this living hope, love for Jesus, a joy that goes beyond words.” But that’s the fruit of the Spirit. That’s the normal Christian life.

We ought to pray more and more that God makes us normal, because it’s abnormal to belong to Christ, to have the Spirit living in us, and yet be lacking all these things. This is the response of a heart that’s getting more and more in tune with God’s love for you and with what he’s really done for you.

Along with that joy too glorious for words is security: “You are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:9). It’s a done deal. You’re receiving it. It’s going to happen. And so you are secure. That is the heart responding to Christ—praising, trusting, hoping, loving, rejoicing, and fully secure in him.

“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 inheritance 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. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:3–9).

We praise you, God. You are the great and eternal God. Your gifts are so far beyond what we can even grasp. But we pray, Lord, that more and more our hearts may be able to take in what you have done and be filled with your fullness. By your Holy Spirit, bring us more and more into the inheritance we have in Christ, that we may rejoice in you and give you glory, and see you in that day when you come again and we see you face to face, when all things are reborn and made new. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Resurrection Rebirth (1 Peter 1:3-12)
By David Feddes
Slide Contents

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, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, ⁵ 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.⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, ¹¹ trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Resurrection rebirth

• God gives resurrection rebirth.

• You inherit God’s wealth.

• Suffering is the path to glory.

• You are amazingly privileged.

• Your heart responds to Jesus.

Resurrection rebirth

• Rooted in Father’s mercy

• Achieved in Jesus’ victory

• Experienced in Spirit’s life as foretaste of the future

• Believers, universe reborn

Reborn and repaid

Peter: “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

Jesus: “At the rebirth of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones… Everyone who left family or fields for me will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. (Matt 19:27-29)

Inheritance

• God’s wealth is yours.

+ Death can’t destroy it.

+ Sin can’t spoil it.

+ Time can’t fade it.

• God keeps it in heaven for you.

• God guards you on earth for it.

• Final salvation brings fullness.

Reality check

• Your inheritance is coming, but you suffer and grieve now.

• Jesus is alive and victorious, but you don’t see Jesus now.

Suffering and glory

• You suffer and grieve now.

• You don’t see Jesus now.

Amazing privilege

• Prophets with Christ’s Spirit predicted grace, sufferings and glories, but you possess what they could only pursue.

• Apostles with heaven-sent Spirit told you the full good news of salvation.

• Angels can only wonder at blessings you experience and things you know.

Amazing the angels

God’s purpose was to show his wisdom in all its rich variety to all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms... This was his plan from all eternity, and it has now been carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Eph 2:10-11)

Heart response

• Praise to God for salvation

• Faith in Jesus and God’s power

• Living hope of sure inheritance

• Love for trusted friend Jesus

• Joy too glorious for words

• Secure in salvation of your soul

Resurrection rebirth

• God gives resurrection rebirth.

• You inherit God’s wealth.

• Suffering is the path to glory.

• You are amazingly privileged.

• Your heart responds to Jesus.