A Disciple's Journeyნიმუში

Our Living Hope

Right out of the gate, at the beginning of 1 Peter, Peter develops a primary theme for how he thinks about the life of faith. He tells us that God has shown us great mercy in the work of Christ on our behalf, through his resurrection from the dead. That has allowed us to be “born again to a living hope” and given “an inheritance kept in heaven” that cannot be defiled or destroyed (1 Peter 1:3–4). This “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” inheritance kept in heaven is what every Christian is now working toward. That’s where we’re going.

We’ve been talking about the “disciple’s journey,” and the most important thing about any journey is knowing your destination. If you are walking around and you don’t have a destination, you’re not on a journey—you’re just lost! As Christians, we’re not wandering around aimlessly; we have a specific place where we’re going, a specific thing we’re seeking: eternal life with God. The destination for the disciple’s journey can’t be found in this world or in this order of things. Peter reminds us that our destination is found in heaven, where it cannot be broken or taken away. It’s kept safe for us there by God. We will get to be with him forever. Praise God for that!

The reason we’re able to look with hope to this eternal destination is because we have assurance of our salvation from God’s coming judgment (1 Peter 1:5). And Peter helps us see how this knowledge of what we will receive in the future can transform how we experience trials in the present. He says we are “grieved by various trials,” but we can still rejoice because we know that these trials will refine us and make us ready to meet Jesus Christ. Trials give us a reason to give him greater praise and glory (1 Peter 1:6–7). As Christians, we love and believe in and find our joy in a God whom we cannot see now. But we walk confidently in the hope that we will see him one day soon (1 Peter 1:8–9).