By Nathan Harris, Ph. D.
Vice President for Strategic Initiatives, University of Mobile
OUR INHERITANCE
1 Peter 1:3–12
It does not take long to find that the purpose of 1 Peter is to encourage believers to hold fast to the faith while enduring suffering and trials in this life.
In fact, it is the very hope they have in Christ through His resurrection that strengthens believers as they face suffering, knowing that their salvation is secure and held by God.
Though Christians may live as exiles in a hostile world where they are persecuted for their faith, 1 Peter reminds us that we have a living hope and a guaranteed inheritance in heaven as our future. Suffering will come, but that is only temporary. Our hope and salvation in Christ is eternal.
Joyous Praise (3–5)
Right from the start, Peter orients Christians to the proper posture for life: praise. Peter blesses God the Father for His magnanimous mercy and grace in giving us His Son, Jesus Christ.
This is a call to praise! We praise God the Father because He showed mercy to us by giving us new life through our faith in the death and resurrection of His Son, and now we are recipients of an inheritance that is undefiled, unfaded and held in heaven for us.
And it is through faith that God guards believers for salvation. For that, as Peter says, we bless God. Because of our salvation in Christ, we experience a life marked by joyful praise.
Strong Faith (6–9)
But joyful praise isn’t just our response when life is good. We don’t just bless God on the mountaintops of life, but we bless Him even in the lowest of valleys. We rejoice in our salvation and God’s mercy even as we face suffering, trials and persecution. Why? Because our faith is tested and refined in the fires of suffering, which results in praise, glory and honor given to the Lord.
It is faith, rooted in the saving work of Jesus Christ, that causes us to persevere in the storms of life while producing in us a life that praisaes the Lord for His goodness. Even though we don’t see Christ now, our faith in Him causes us to rejoice in our suffering because we know that the goal of our faith is the salvation of our souls.
Promised One (10–12)
Concerning our salvation, Peter further encourages believers to rest in the reality that the Promised One — Christ — has come. What was once prophesied about and longed for is here and available for those who in faith trust in the work of Christ.
As we learn in this passage, the prophets of the Old Testament wrote to serve us — those who would receive the blessing of Christ’s finished work on the cross. What the prophets foretold and longed to experience was now proclaimed as the central message of the gospel — that through faith in the work of Christ on the cross, we experience the fullness of salvation.
Peter’s main point is that Christians are blessed to live in the time when the Promised One has come, and we no longer anticipate Christ’s first coming but joyfully await the Second Coming.
The prophecy of the Promised One has been fulfilled, and therefore believers then — and now — can place their faith in God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
EDITOR’S NOTE — The Sunday School lesson outlines are provided by Lifeway.
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