Going Through Something

1 Peter 1:1-7

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

We are called to rejoice even in the middle of temporary suffering for Jesus's name. In the middle of persecution and Hebrews 11 conditions, Jesus is our living hope. Notice how he speaks of resurrection from the dead and of a personal resurrection from life's circumstances. When you partake of communion, "you proclaim the Lord's death" as in 1 Corinthians 11:26. Not only do we merely hope for the resurrection, but we also proclaim his death and ours to everything of this world that we hold dear. Our life, families, riches, position, authority, our future, and plans are all subject to his notice and his death because of his name. Yet in the hope of the resurrection and his coming, even though delayed, we wait. We may be resurrected on this earth or in heaven as in the case of Jesus who immediately showed his disciples his glory. The coming of the Spirit at Pentecost in Acts 2:2-4 is another coming of the Father signifying his power. It may be in this lifetime you are resurrected or in the next. We hope in God who puts your hope and your future back together. Yet even if he does not, 1 Peter 1 was written to people who were going through something.

and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Even when you are at your weakest, you are shielded by his power through your faith in him. The devil could not take you out because God shielded you. You are still here because he shielded you. Even when you did not believe, he still shielded you for he is faithful as in 2 Timothy 2:13. You can have joy because of whose child you are. We have sonship from the Father. Bastards do not get inheritances or fatherly protection: sons do. If you receive inheritance, you also share his power, his purpose, and his mission.

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

If you suffer with him you "will also reign with him" in 2 Timothy 2:12. No, signs and wonders did not stop after Pentecost and the birth of the early church. God is still the same, as in Hebrews 13:8, no matter what trials you are facing. Their purpose is for the glory of God. He deserves the glory and honor displayed in our lives through all this. Through our trials and our weakness, God uses these to display his glory. They are the doorway for his use. Other people will see Jesus march up out of your grave.