New birth to a living hope – I Peter 1.3-9

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures since we have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of humans, but of God. Preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. We are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. Baptism, which unites us, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

God has given us a new birth into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which builds you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. When the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Henceforth there is laid up for you the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to you on that day, and not only to you but also to all who have loved his appearing.

You are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Christ said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

In this salvation you rejoice, though now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials. Through him we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. My brothers and sisters, whenever you face various trials, consider it all joy. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange was happening to you.

You have suffered trials so that the genuineness of your faith–being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. You know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. God knows the way that we take; when he has tried us, we shall come out as gold. As the psalmist proclaims, “for you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.” The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts. God spoke through Isaiah, “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.” Each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. Therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive their commendation from God. May the Lord grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. To this end I always pray for you that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Although you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. By faith Moses left Egypt, unafraid of the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he saw him who is invisible. Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” To know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, you will be filled with all the fullness of God.

You are obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its culmination, eternal life.