Into the Ocean

1 Peter 1:3-4

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you."

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In my first post to you, I led us to reflect upon Psalm 146 and the hope that is found in the Lord our God. Today, I want to drill down a little deeper into that hope and the promised inheritance coupled with that hope found in this passage. Let’s just walk through these two verses and let God’s Word encourage us.

Peter begins with an opening call to worship. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” The opening word is eulogetos in the original language. You might recognize it from our English word "eulogy." It literally means a good word, high praise, or a word of blessing. God is praiseworthy! God is to be blessed! No matter the circumstances of our day, nothing changes the fact that God alone is worth our highest praise, blessing, honor, and glory. Take a moment now to hit pause and give God praise. Whether you have a job or find yourself looking for a job, whether you’re healthy or struggling with illness, whether you’re enjoying healthy relationships or walking through broken relationships – our hearts can still cry out, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”

As we continue to read the passage, we find the main idea in the next sentence: “he has caused us to be born again.” This truth is reason enough for us to sing our praise to God. Peter is speaking about regeneration. It’s the same term that Jesus used when talking to Nicodemus. “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). It’s the act by which God takes our hearts of stone and transforms them into hearts of flesh. He gives us a new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26). Notice that we are simply the recipients of this new birth. It is God who has caused us to be born again, and he does so because of or according to his great mercy. We all deserved to be left with hearts of stone resulting in an eternity apart from God, bearing the full weight of his wrath against our sin. Paul writes similarly of this great mercy in Ephesians 2:4-5: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.”

Now, let’s do a little inductive study. After the main idea, you’ll find two prepositional phrases that begin with the word “to.” Go ahead and find those two phrases. Here’s a hint:

1. to a living hope

2. to an inheritance

Personally, I like how the CSB translates the preposition as “into” rather than “to” as the ESV renders it. I believe it more clearly depicts the sense of the meaning. There is a big difference in going to the ocean and going into the ocean. The first involves seeing but not necessarily experiencing. The latter involves seeing and experiencing. Going into the ocean means being saturated with the water, feeling the waves and current, tasting the salt, and enjoying the full experience of being in the ocean. In this passage, Peter is saying that regeneration doesn’t just bring us to the edge of a living hope and an inheritance, rather, it brings us fully into the ocean of these blessings.

Our regeneration has brought us into two realities. When we were born again we entered into a living hope. The hopes of the world are temporal, lifeless, and dead. Yet, our regenerated hearts find a hope that is alive, thriving, and sure. Why? Because it comes through the powerful resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We’re brought into a living hope because we have been brought into Christ. And because Christ was raised from the dead, we know with hope-filled assurance that we too will be raised to everlasting life. Romans 6:8 says, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

Not only does regeneration bring us into a living hope, it also brings us into an inheritance. This inheritance is way bigger that any inheritance you might receive on this earth even if Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates left you everything they owned. Earthly inheritances have an expiration date. The inheritance that we’ve been brought into is eternal. In fact, Peter uses three beautifully descriptive words to highlight the nature of our inheritance. First, it’s imperishable. It will never experience corruption, decay, or end. It’s impervious to the coronavirus, to the fall of the stock market, or even to the end of this world. It is eternal. Second, our inheritance is undefiled. It’s untainted, unstained, pure, and flawless. This inheritance is from our holy God. It’s never been exposed to the stain of sin nor will it ever. Lastly, our inheritance is unfading. This inheritance that God brings us into is brilliantly glorious. It has no on/off switch or dimmer connected to its magnificent light. It will never fade throughout eternity. In other words, our inheritance is incomparable in every way.

And just as assuredly that our living hope is grounded and made certain through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, our inheritance is grounded and made certain through God’s sovereign and powerful keeping. Verse 4 closes with the phrase, “kept in heaven for you.” Looking at the form of the verb can sometimes help us with the meaning, and it’s truly the case with this verb. For all you grammaticians out there, the verb is actually a perfect, passive participle. The perfect tense means that our inheritance has already been established. This imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance has been created by God and is currently sitting in his treasury. The passive voice means that we are simply the recipients of this inheritance. It was completely enacted by God in the past without our help and not according to our merit. God is the main actor, and we’re the blessed beneficiaries. The participle aspect of the verb means that God is ongoingly keeping or reserving this inheritance in heaven. By his character, he guarantees that at the close of redemption’s story, we will certainly be brought into the joy of this inheritance.

So, this brings us back to verse 3. Just marinate for a few minutes on the overwhelming promise and implications of this passage. Read the passage over a couple more times. Really, stop reading this post and go back up to the passage and read it at least three more times while emphasizing a different part of the passage each time you read it. Now, close in prayer by giving God the honor, praise, blessing, and glory that he deserves - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

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~ written by John Mueller