Where’s the Hope?

Some people call Peter “the ignorant fisherman,” but no man who had spent three years in the school of Jesus could be called ignorant. The Epistles of Peter confirm this. In the first few verses of his letter, he deals with the great doctrines of election, foreknowledge, sanctification, obedience, the blood of Christ, the Trinity, the grace of God, salvation, revelation, glory, faith, and hope.

We first met Peter in the Gospels, but a lot has changed. He was impetuous, but now he is patient. He was bungling, fumbling, and stumbling when he first met Jesus. Now, decades later, grace has changed Peter. He had been arrested, jailed, threatened, and realized he would be crucified on a cross someday, but he preached about glory. He speaks out of his own suffering experiences, but he emphasizes their sweetness and how they firmed his beliefs and strengthened his faith.

Peter wrote these two letters between A.D. 64 and 67 after bloody Nero had come to the throne, and persecution was already spreading through the Roman Empire. Peter addressed these two letters to people who were suffering. He wanted to offer them real Christian hope in the time of trial.

Peter also teaches us about the work of the Holy Spirit. We are sanctified, meaning we identify with Christ. The Holy Spirit is responsible for our new birth, and He begins a work in our lives to lead us to maturity as Christians.

Peter is writing to Jews who had been brought up in Judaism. They knew the Old Testament and understood how the high priest on the Day of Atonement took blood with him into the Holy of Holies and that he sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat seven times. When He died, the Lord Jesus Christ took His own blood to the throne of God (where we are judged as guilty sinners), and He sprinkled it there. He paid the penalty for us. Now that throne of judgment is the throne of grace where we can come and receive salvation.

Until the meaning of the blood of Christ has been explained, the gospel has not been preached. Talking about blood may be aesthetically offensive; of course, it’s not pretty, but neither is your sin. He died so we might live; He paid this offensive penalty.

Whenever you study Peter’s preaching, you’ll see the resurrection of Christ. It was his great theme on the Day of Pentecost and in all of his letters. He said in effect,“ All you have seen here today is because Jesus whom you crucified has come back from the dead.” And when he writes his epistles, he anchors us in Jesus’ resurrection. He was a witness, and he never forgot it.

Peter has described to us what God has done for us in the past. Now he moves into the future and tells us about an inheritance reserved for us in heaven. Imagine how precious this promise was to the Jewish Christians who were forced to leave their homelands, and whatever inheritance would have been theirs. Now they can praise God as the Father of the incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus. He’s the one who gives them a living hope that will never die. He’s the one who reserves this inheritance for us—not on earth but in heaven.

The only way you can live the Christian life is by the power of the Holy Spirit and because you are kept by the power of God—right on through until the day when Jesus presents you to His Father. As we are going to see, our hope is completely based on our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Next: Incentives for the believer to endure trials.