1 & 2 Peter Book Study Näide

A Living Hope

Who needs a message of hope? We all do, of course, yet hope has special meaning for people living under adverse conditions. The earliest audiences for the letter of 1 Peter were small groups of Christians under attack, little bands of exiled believers huddling in scattered communities. The cost of following Jesus was steep.

This letter was written to encourage, to hearten these faithful few who certainly would have wondered about the suffering they were enduring. In a noble effort to acknowledge and calm the bitterness of the now, Peter delivers a message of “new life and a hope that lives on” (1 Peter 1:3 NIV), a glorious future to anticipate.

This hope is anchored in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3), in continuity with the prophets of old whose words came to fullness in the life of Jesus and who promise even better things to come. “Even angels long to look into these things” (1 Peter 1:12 NIV).

The faith of these struggling congregations is in lockstep with the wisdom of the ages. The things they are enduring are a test of their resolve, of the authenticity of their commitment to Christian convictions. Their righteous suffering can survive the most demanding of trials, refining them into the likeness of Jesus Christ. They are surviving a season of exile, a time of not belonging.

To those who are longing to reconnect, to be re-established, Peter makes it clear that the followers of Jesus belong to a community greater than they can imagine; that they are heirs of a living hope; that the slogging season will pass and all will be well in the end.

Stay the course, he advises. Jesus is the way. “The outcome of your faith is the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:9 NIV).

Respond in Prayer

O God. It’s hard for me to identify with the suffering of persecuted peoples, if only because my own freedom to worship and serve faces few obstacles. My own indifference is the biggest barrier. Help me to realize how precious it is to belong to the family of God. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Doug Koop