“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.”
1 Peter 1:1-2 ESV
The opening of 1 Peter provides a profound look at both the ontological and economical Trinity. Also, it clearly sets forth God’s divine power to save and His foreknowledge in the process of both our justification and sanctification. As we’ll see He stretches our language and our minds.
But first, Peter, the Apostle
To start, Peter identifies himself right out of the gate as an apostle of Jesus Christ. This is significant because it flows into the rest of the amazing power that surges through opening verses. An apostle is a messenger, one who is sent. It’s from the Greek word apostolos, which means “one who is sent off” or “sent forth.” Of course, this implies that the sent one has a message therefore implying the idea of a messenger. Not only this but the sent one acts as a representative or delegate, carrying not only the message but the authority of the sender. We must add at this point that there’s a movement of so-called Christians who believe only the “red letter” parts. They openly reject the APOSTLE Paul, for instance, and their “new perspectives on Paul” argue, no kidding, that Paul’s gospel isn’t the same as that of Jesus!
This means that the apostle Jesus sent after stopping him on Damascus Road wasn’t, in fact, a messenger of Christ, but himself. Obviously, this heretical interpretation must be rejected. All Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16) and is, therefore, God speaking. Yes, the red letters, those precious jewels from the lips of our Lord Himself are wonderful but so is everything else in the Bible. Leviticus. Deuteronomy. Amos. Song of Solomon. Jonah. Romans.
And here, indeed, with Peter. This is the word of the most high God for us.
So, in the case of this letter, Peter is speaking to the elect exiles, and us too, the message of Jesus Christ!
Please consider that this is the message our Lord wants us to know. Let’s not take it lightly because it seems so simple. It is simple, but not easy. If a man sits around for a long year, on the couch, snacking, napping, hardly exercising except for those arduous strolls to the fridge, do you think he can run a marathon? Likewise, Christian, do you think you’ll be spiritually healthy if your “food” isn’t the word of the living God but Instagram reels and Netflix? Do you think you can safely run the marathon of life’s spiritual warfare?
We often worry, many times riddled with anxiety over life’s affairs, about what to do. Is this not due to our misidentifying our main purpose in life? It is grace and peace multiplied through the Spirit to the glory of God in Christ Jesus. We reverse the order, though, and suffer for it. We put life’s daily affairs, the cart, in front of the horses of our salvation in Christ, and wonder why we’re dragging along without energy. Peter teaches us that all of life’s goals, as well as the troubles the come, even and especially the persecutions and trials, must be seen in light of our new life in Christ.
Grace and peace multiplied on God’s terms, not our own.
Psalm 37:4 teaches us that if we delight in the Lord then He’ll give us the desire of our hearts. The thing is, though, to truly delight in the biblical sense requires a total reordering of our values from self and stuff to Christ. Insofar as we follow Him in spurts rather than as our deepest joy and goal, we suffer the emotional/psychological fallout. Made by Him and for Him, we’ll never operate properly unless we abide in Him. This is the apostle’s message, which means it’s God’s message to us. To you.
The application of this is that we should prayerfully consider…prayer. What we do with our time is the greatest indicator of what we love. This is why Peter laters mentions self-control as central to the life of a disciple of Christ. Grace and peace await us when we prioritize Him and make time for worship, reading, prayer, fellowship, and simply enjoying Him in thought all day long. Indeed, your life becomes a great and majestic song that He teaches us to play for Him and with Him through the Spirit so that with Him we rejoice in the beauty of our salvation (Zephaniah 3:17).
In every case, without fail, if you’re struggling with depression or anxiety, if your life is dragging along as though you’re pulling an invisible bag of boulders, it’s due to not knowing and rejoicing in Him. How can we delight in a God we don’t know? And how can we know Him unless we both study His word/letter to us, and spend time in His presence (meditative prayer)? Note that we don’t mean that you won’t have trials. Peter, like our Lord, openly says you will, but the inner peace from His love and grace are multiplied through such storms if we but reach out and take what is ours in Christ – which is the hand and heart of God!
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