1 Peter - Following Jesus Sample

What’s it like being a Christian? So far, in his letter, Peter has told these Christians a lot about their future. They have a marvellous inheritance coming. They have a great salvation coming. Their present sufferings will have a wonderful outcome ‘when Jesus Christ is revealed’ (1:7). But Jesus Christ has not been revealed yet. The world cannot see Jesus now and neither can these believers.

So many of the good things about being a Christian lie in the future. But the best thing about being a Christian has already begun. At the heart of being a Christian, both now and in eternity, is our relationship with Jesus Christ.

• What is unusual about our relationship with Jesus now (v. 8)?

Peter himself had known Jesus personally while Jesus was on earth. But Peter’s Christian readers, like us today, had never seen Jesus. Yet these people loved Jesus and believed in him. They had put their trust in someone they had never seen. That has been the experience of every Christian from that time on, right up to today. We have been chosen ‘to be obedient to Jesus Christ’ (1:2). We know that Jesus is Lord. But Jesus is not some distant ruler we seldom think about; he is the person we love most in the world.

• Why are these Christians full of great joy (vv. 8–9)?

The answer is surprising. Peter has just been talking about salvation as a future event – ‘ready to be revealed in the last time’ (1:5). Yet here he speaks of believers rejoicing because they are already receiving salvation. These Christians certainly weren’t being rescued by God out of all their current troubles. So what does Peter mean?

Think of it this way. God’s plan of salvation may not be finished yet, but it has begun. Now, today, that plan is moving forward and we are a part of that.

What does it look like today to be part of God’s plan? The answer is that it looks like a very mixed bag. Believers have the joy of trusting and loving Christ, but they also suffer trials. This is what God’s salvation looks like in the present.

Are you loving and trusting Christ in the midst of suffering? Then be reassured. You are being saved.

Pray

Ask God to help you rejoice in loving Jesus today and in being part of his great plan of salvation