Followers of Jesus have hope for the future that is greater than any trial...

This week we have been looking at the opening section of a letter that is preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 1 Peter. So far this week, we have looked on as Peter explained to these early followers of Jesus that God's transformational activity and intervention in history through Jesus life, death, and resurrection results in a new life in relationship with Jesus and a confident expectation for the future that is certain and sure. 

Peter then explained to these early followers of Jesus that this confident expectation for the future that is certain and sure that flows from God's activity in history through Jesus that brings them into relationship with Jesus provides them an inheritance as a part of the family of God. God is actively at work to guard, protect, and provide security, through our trust in what God has done for us through Jesus, so that we would experience the incorruptible, pure, and unfading inheritance that He has in store for us in Heaven. Today, we will see Peter transition to address the circumstances that these early followers of Jesus found themselves experiencinvg in 1 Peter 1:6-7:

 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, ⁷ so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Now to fully understand what Peter is communicating in these verses, we first need to define some terms and phrases. First, when Peter uses the word distress, this word means to experience sadness or suffering. In addition, when Peter uses the word trials here this word, in the language that this letter was originally written in, was used to refer to both temptations and trials. In addition this word conveys the sense of something happening to you.

Peter here is referring to something that comes upon us that reveals that nature and character of what is within us. You see, character is like toothpaste; you never really know what is inside until it is squeezed. And these early followers of Jesus were being squeezed. These early followers of Jesus were being squeezed as a result of being strangers in a strange land as a result of their ancestors being scattered during the Babylonian invasion of the Jewish nation.

These early followers of Jesus were being squeezed as a result of a persecution against followers of Jesus that is recorded for us in Acts 8.  These early followers of Jesus were being squeezed as a result of the new movement of Christianity beginning to experience persecution at the hands of the Roman Empire.

These early followers of Jesus were being squeezed as they found themselves feeling marginalized and isolated by those around them. These early followers of Jesus were being squeezed as they found themselves the object of ridicule and slander for clinging to a religious belief system that was viewed as being both strange and outrageous as compared with the religious systems that were prevalent in the culture around them.

And as a result of being squeezed, these early followers of Jesus were beginning to question, or even doubt the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. The issue that Peter is addressing here is the temptation to renounce faith and Jesus and walk away from following Jesus as a result of the external circumstances of sadness and suffering that they were facing. You see, while we are not necessarily responsible for the circumstances we face, we are responsible for our response to those circumstances.

And here we see Peter call these early followers of Jesus to view their current circumstances of sadness and suffering in two specific ways. First, Peter called these early followers of Jesus to view their current circumstances of sadness and suffering in the right context. Peter reminded these early followers of Jesus of the exceeding  joy and gladness that they had experienced as a result of their new life in relationship with Jesus that produced such a confident expectation for the future that is certain and sure and is for all eternity. While these early followers of Jesus were experience sadness and suffering as a result of their current circumstances, their current circumstances were temporary, while their relationship with Jesus and their inheritance in the kingdom of Heaven was for all eternity.

Second, Peter called these early followers of Jesus to view their current circumstances of sadness and suffering as providing the evidence of a genuine and authentic relationship with Jesus. Peter used another word picture, this time of the refining of gold by a smelter. In the culture of the day, and even today, a smelter uses an extremely hot fire in order to refine metal. As the metal was heated, the dross and impurities rise to the top and are removed, thus leaving pure gold. However, as Peter pointed out, even pure gold that has been tested by fire is perishable. Even pure gold becomes ruined over time.

Peter used this word picture to reveal the reality that the outward circumstances of sadness and suffering would reveal the genuineness of their faith that was being proved through the fires of the trials and circumstances that they were experiencing. Peter then pointed these early followers of Jesus to the reality that the evidence of their genuine and authentic relationship with Jesus that would be produced by placing confident trust in Jesus in the midst of their circumstances would result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Upon Jesus return to defeat selfishness, sin, and rebellion and to usher in the kingdom of Heaven in its fullest sense, the confident trust in Jesus that was displayed in the midst of their sadness and suffering would result in God receiving admiration and approval. Their confident trust in Jesus that was displayed in the midst of their sadness and suffering would result in God's reputation being enhanced. Their confident trust in Jesus that was displayed in the midst of their sadness and suffering would result in God receiving the honor, respect, and reverence He was worthy of.  Peter then hammers his point home with a timeless word of encouragement in verse 8-9:

 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, ⁹ obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

Peter's statement, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would sound something like this: "Even though you have never seen Jesus, you love Jesus with a selfless and sacrificial love. And even though you do not see Him in the midst of your sadness and suffering as a result of your circumstances, you trust Him and rejoice with an exceeding gladness that causes Jesus to look splendid and great. And your response to Jesus in the midst of your sadness and suffering reveals the reality that you possess a genuine trust in Jesus and that Jesus has rescued you from your rebellion and into an eternal relationship with Jesus that transcends this temporary human existence." Peter then revealed how God's message of rescue through the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel was revealed to humanity in verse 10-11:

As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, ¹¹ seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

Now, when Peter refers to the prophets, he is referring to those who were gifted by God to be was a spokesman for God who proclaimed God’s message to the Jewish people and the world. In addition, when Peter uses the phrase "prophesied of the grace that would come to you", he is revealing for us the reality that God's spokesman throughout the Old Testament predicted and proclaimed that God would send a rescuer, a deliverer, a Messiah that would provide humanity that opportunity to be restored to the relationship with God that they were created for but had rejected through their selfishness and rebellion.

And as the prophets proclaimed God's message to humanity, the prophets tried to figure out when the Messiah would come. The prophets, as they proclaimed God's message, searched and made a thorough effort to understand what the Holy Spirit was proclaiming to them when it came to what the Messiah would experience in terms of His death and resurrection. Peter then reveals what answer the prophets received when it came to their searches and efforts to understand God's promise of a Messiah in verse 12:

 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven-- things into which angels long to look.

Now this morning, did you catch that? Did you catch that the Holy Spirit made known to the prophets that they were not proclaiming God's message to humanity for their own benefit. Instead, the Holy Spirit made clearly known to the prophets that they were functioning as an intermediary on God's behalf to communicate His message of rescue through the message of the gospel to followers of Jesus throughout history.

The message of the gospel that was first revealed and proclaimed by Jesus and was now being proclaimed by Peter to these early followers of Jesus who were experiencing sadness and suffering as a result of being squeezed by their circumstances.  The message of the gospel that in which angels long to look. In other words, the angelic beings in Heaven did not see the gospel coming. The angelic beings in Heaven had a strong desire to get a glance at the gospel.

However, the angels were not the focus or the point of the gospel; humanity was the focus and the point of the gospel. A humanity that had a living hope, a confident expectation for the future that was certain and sure as a result of God's activity through Jesus that provided an eternal inheritance in spite of their current circumstances.

And it is here, in this opening section of this letter, that we see Peter reveal a timeless truth about the power of hope for followers of Jesus throughout history in that followers of Jesus have hope for the future that is greater than any trial. As followers of Jesus, we have hope for the future as a result of the resurrection of Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we have for the future that results in an eternal inheritance. As followers of Jesus, we possess an inheritance as a child of God who is a part of the family of God.

An inheritance that is incorruptible, is pure, and is unfading in its character or quality: An inheritance that is preserved in Heaven for followers of Jesus to experience in the future: An inheritance that God is actively at work to guard, protect, and provide security for: An inheritance that will be made fully known when Jesus returns to defeat selfishness, sin and death and to usher in the kingdom of heaven in its fullest sense.

As followers of Jesus, we have hope for the future that is proven through our faith in the midst of trials. While we may experience sadness and suffering as a result of our current circumstances, our current circumstances are temporary, while our relationship with Jesus and our inheritance in the kingdom of Heaven is for all eternity. The outward circumstances of sadness and suffering that we experience reveal the genuineness of their faith that is proved by our confident trust in Jesus through the fires of those trials and the circumstances.  And as followers of Jesus, we have hope for the future that has been predicted and proclaimed through the message of the gospel.

So here is a question to consider: Do you feel squeezed? Do you feel squeezed by the sadness and suffering that you may be experiencing as a result of your circumstances? Do you feel squeezed because you feel like a stranger in a strange land as a result of a shifting and changing culture? Do you feel squeezed as a result of feeling marginalized and isolated? Do you feel squeezed as a result of being the object of ridicule and slander for clinging to a religious belief system that is viewed as being outdated and outrageous?

For while we are not necessarily responsible for the circumstances we face, we are responsible for our response to those circumstances. So how are you responding? Where are you placing your hope in?

Because, as followers of Jesus, we have hope for the future that is greater than any trial....