Life can be hard to understand sometimes. We can have so many conflicting experiences. We experience joy and sadness, happiness and sorrow. In 1 Peter 1:1-9, we are given a picture of life in microcosm. In a few brief sentences, we are given the whole scope of life – but as seen from heaven. A couple of observations about life:
First, Life is a journey. Writing to the church, in verse two, Peter calls them strangers. The word in the original language also means pilgrim. He was referring to them as, I believe, God sees all of His children in this world. In this world, we are strangers on a pilgrimage. Heaven is our true home (cf. 2 Cor 5:-10). So while we are here, we are on a journey.
It can be a hard journey, a joyous journey, a journey filled with confusion and adversity or with contentment and happiness. Much depends on what we experience in life. The things we cannot control, for instance, lead us in many ways; and more often than not, our ability to cope with and overcome hardships with a positive attitude, a joyful spirit, and a heart filled with faith leads us as well. But no matter what we experience or how we face the challenges of the journey, Scripture makes it clear that life is just that: a journey.
It may be stating the obvious, but it is important to understand that point; if we understand life as a journey, we will not allow ourselves to become too settled.
By that, I mean we will not become too attached to the things of the world. We should be content with such things as we have, but we should never be content to put the journey on hold for the sake of this world. We can enjoy life, and of course we should. God created life to be enjoyed. But that must never be the goal of the journey. The first goal of the journey is to embrace it as such.
Of course, the journey has many trials and challenges. So in verse six, Peter tells the church to rejoice in the experiences and trials of life. He says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials…” His point is simple: Life’s experiences shape us into what God wants us to be. And in verse seven he tells us what that is. He says, “that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it be tested by fire, may be found to praise honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
What do we learn from this? We learn that we need to embrace all life experiences. For in everything, the good as well as the bad, the easy as well as the hard, we learn that in all things God is working in our lives for a purpose (Rom 8:28). And that purpose is to lead us to know him.
Ecclesiastes says it like this:
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace (3:1-8).
Then the book sums up all of life with this observation: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man’s all” (Ecc 11:13). This is a loaded statement. The Bible teaches that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps 111:10). To fear God is to be in awe of His majesty; to respect His Word; to learn to obey His will. Keeping His commandments is not simply obeying precepts; it is ultimately learning to love God.
When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). The Ten Commandments are given in the negative, because they are not meant to lead us to heaven, but to inform us how we fail to obey the greatest commandment, which is to love God above all things (Rom 3:19-20).
As we reflect on what this means, one obvious question is: where are we on this journey?
The second observation is that there are some discoveries to make on the journey. In verses 3-5, Peter communicates three discoveries that God wants us to experience in life. I think these discoveries can account for much of what happens in life. God uses our circumstances and shapes our experiences to lead us to these discoveries. God wants us to understand:
First, we are never alone. In verse two, Peter calls the church the “elect.” This word has many meanings that impact our understanding of God. Most importantly, we learn that God knows His children. In short, God’s knowledge of you is complete. He knows everything about your life. Psalm 139 teaches this as well. The Psalmist wrote, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?” (v. 7). The answer is nowhere. God is ever present with His own. Because of that truth, we need never be anxious or worried about life. God knows all of our needs and responds accordingly (Matt 6:8).
Further, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, God tells us we have not been abandoned or forgotten because of our sin. In fact, in the cross we see our God enter into the suffering of His people. God knows and has experienced our sorrows and pain. He will not leave you alone, and He will never condemn those who believe in His goodness and love as given at the cross. He wants you to learn to cast your cares, concerns, sorrow, in short, everything, upon him – even your sins. He wants you to seek him and find your strength in him. He wants you to learn to seek the abundance of His grace in daily living.
He wants us to understand that we are always loved. Verse two tells us that God has His eyes on those who come to Him in faith (the elect). Verse five informs us that He is guarding us. He says that we are “kept by the power of God.” In the original language, “kept” is a military term meaning to guard something. God the Father is protecting His children. He guards and watches over you because He loves you.
The bible says,
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:31-39).
He wants us to understand that He provides for us. First, He has provided our salvation. In verse three, we are told that according to the Father’s abundant mercy, we are “begotten again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” We do not need to worry about salvation. When our Father provided for our salvation, it was complete and lacked nothing (Heb 10:10). The resurrection of Jesus validated the Father’s acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. Further, on the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
He has provided an eternal home in heaven. He writes that it is “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” Our Father has provided a home quite unlike anything we can experience in this life. It is a home of abundance, beauty, and fullness of life, and it cannot fade, sicken, die, or be taken away (Rev 21:1-4). What a contrast to the world we live in today.
In light of all this, how do we respond? He wants us to rejoice! Peter writes, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (vs. 1 Peter 1:8-9).
May we never lose sight of the journey, and may we make those discoveries that make our joy complete.
