We discover in First Peter a message offering Christ’s church hope in a world, not her home. Jesus said:
“If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you” (Jn 15:19, MSG).
As followers of Christ, we are called to live out our faith in a world that often does not understand us and sometimes is quite antagonistic. Peter does not want us to be taken by surprise by the opposition we’ll face. In fact, he writes to teach us how to stand firm, living with hope as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus, awaiting eternity with Him by making an eternal difference in this world.
We discover in First Peter 1:13-21 the answer to this crucial question: How ought a believer live in this world? First, we discover in verse 13 that believers are to set their hope in Jesus Christ. When life gets hard, we are constantly looking for someone or something to place our hope in – to be the answer that will right our lives and give us what we need. It is only natural that when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances, we seek to find that something or someone who will rescue us. Unfortunately, we often look in all the wrong places and many of them common places, such as education, marriage, profession, and on-and-on we go. Here is the simple truth: Our only real source of hope is found in Jesus Christ.
Second, Peter in vv. 14-16 teaches that believers are not only to set their hope in Jesus Christ but be holy. God makes us holy and calls us to holiness. The believer is not to be “conformed” or “molded” into the form of the world, but transformed into the pattern of God (see: Rom 12:1-2). Holiness speaks both of our position in Christ as well as our practical conduct. The main idea behind holiness is not moral purity, but it is the idea of being “set apart” or “apartness.” The idea is that God is separate, different from His creation, both in His essential nature and in the perfection of His attributes. Here is something amazing: Instead of God building a wall around His apartness, God calls us to come to Him and share His apartness. We can only conduct ourselves with holiness (Christlikeness) because we are made holy by Christ’s salvific work and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In this sense: Holiness is not so much something we possess as it is something that possesses us.
Thirdly, Peter in vv. 17-21 informs us that believers are not only to set their hope in Jesus Christ. They are not only to be holy. They also are to do this because of who God is and what Christ has done and is doing in their life by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our motivation is love, God’s love. It is the Good News of salvation in Christ that’s the primary motivation for our holiness, as we live in this world. We don’t deserve God’s love, but by His grace we abundantly receive it. We receive mercy because God has purchased us with the blood of Jesus. This is why our hope is in Jesus. Our call is to be like Jesus. And our motivation is the salvific work of Jesus. Believers set their hope in Jesus Christ, being holy, because of who God is and what Christ has done and is doing in their life by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Imagine what it would look like to place you hope in Christ. Picture what it would mean to trust Him as you follow in His steps becoming like Him. As we respond to His love, I believe each of us, our homes, our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, this region, will never be the same.
It is my privilege to serve Christ alongside each of you. This world we live in is not always easy. But, we can find hope in Christ. God calls and empowers us to become like Christ. And, our motivation to such a life is found mainly in God’s abundant love for us. Let’s encourage one another to be holy. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God Alone)!