Bethany Church FEBRUARY 6, 2022
1 Peter 1:3-12 Tim Miller
Always Be Ready to Sing, Stand, and Search
I. ALWAYS BE READY TO SING
A. 1 Peter 1:3-5
3 Blessed be (“praised be” [REB], “all praise to” [NLT], “let us give thanks to” [TEV]) the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy (“in his great mercy” [NIV],
“because of his great mercy” [CSB]) has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and
undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected (“shielded”
[NIV], “being guarded” [CSB]) by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time.
1. How does Peter begin this section? He begins by using a prayer format called a birakhah.
a) OT example: 13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen
and amen.” (CSB)
b) First-century example: “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who bringest
forth bread from the earth.”2
c) Throughout the Scriptures, God’s mighty, merciful, and gracious acts of salvation are often
followed by a response of praise and thanksgiving: E.g., Ex. 15 (Moses, Miriam, and the
Israelites after the parting of the Red Sea); Lk. 1 (Mary and Zechariah)
Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand
and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. (Ps. 98:1, ESV)
2. What marvelous thing has God done for us? In His great mercy, He has begotten us, that is,
fathered us anew.3 Through His word/gospel (1Pt. 1:23-24), He has graciously put his “imperishable
seed” (1 Pt. 1:23) into us—His own life and nature, His own “DNA,” through Spirit (cf. Gn. 1). This
sets us apart from the world (1 Pt. 1:2, 16), and makes us look strange to it (1 Pt. 4:2). We have
been newly conceived and thereby been brought into a hope that is “living”—life-giving,4 active,
alive, resilient, moving, growing, and unable to be killed, etc. It is “a hope which is able to survive
the various trials which Christians, especially Peter’s readers, experience.”5
3. How has God brought us into this living hope? By raising Jesus from the dead. Jesus is the
firstfruits of the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:23). Jesus’ own resurrection in real time and history assures
us that our hope in the age to come and in the resurrection to come is dependable, reliable, and
well-founded (2 Th. 2:16). After being raised, Jesus ascended to the Father’s right hand and poured
out the Spirit (Ac. 2:32-33), which is a “down payment” and assurance of our inheritance to come
(Eph. 1:14).
4. What is this hope and conception unto? Resurrection and immortality in the Messiah’s coming
kingdom.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will
not all sleep, but we will all be changed—52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be
changed. (1 Cor. 15:50-51, NIV)
5. Why do we need such guarding/protection until the Second Coming? Because until that time
followers of Jesus will face tests (1 Pt. 1:6-7), unjust suffering (1 Pt. 2:19-20, 14; 3:14-17),
accusations and slander (1 Pt. 3:16), and opposition and assaults from the devil, who wants to
devour us (1 Pt. 5:8). We need the power of God in order to follow Jesus’ own example (1 Pt. 2:21)
II. ALWAYS BE READY TO STAND
A. 1 Peter 1:6-9
6 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 (“the genuineness of your faith” [NIV],
“the proven character of your faith” [CSB], “the tested genuineness of your faith” [ESV]), 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; 8 and though you have not seen
Him, you love Him, 9 and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice
with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome (“the end result” [NIV], “the goal”
[CSB], “what your trust is aiming at” [CJB]) of your faith the salvation of your souls.
1. What is the purpose of trials prior to the Second Coming? To demonstrate the genuineness of our
faith.
7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies
gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. (1 Pt. 1:7a, NLT)
2. What value does God place on genuine faith and loyalty/love even though we don’t see Jesus at
present? It is extremely precious and valuable to him.
So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and
glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world (cf. Rom. 2:7,
29; 1 Co. 4:5). (1 Pt. 1:7b, NLT)
10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you
in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the
point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Rev. 2:10, NIV [84])
29 Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who
have not seen and yet believe.” (Jn. 20:29, CSB
3. What is the outcome of our faith? The salvation of our souls. One quick technical point: In the Bible,
“soul” sometimes refers to a part of the inner self in contrast to the body (see, e.g., 1 Th. 5:23), and
sometimes to the person as a whole (see, e.g., Rom. 2:9). Here the latter is in view: “...namely,
your deliverance” (CJB), “your salvation” (CSB).
III. ALWAYS BE READY TO SEARCH
A. 1 Peter 1:10-12
10 As to this salvation (cf. vv. 4 and 9 above), the prophets who prophesied of the grace (“this
gracious salvation” [NLT]) that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries (“searched
intently and with the greatest care” [NIV]), 11 seeking to know what person or time (“the time and
circumstances” [NIV]; “what era or specific time” [ISV]) the Spirit of Christ within them was
indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 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.
1. What did those who prophesied about the promised salvation do, and what does this reveal about
them and about the value and sanctity of the gospel? They investigated them and searched them
out. They were hungry. Their entire hope was set on God’s promised salvation. The gospel and the
gracious salvation concerning which the prophets prophesied are of immeasurable worth, more
worthy than anything else of our time, energy, thought, passion, and investment.
17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see the things you see but
didn’t see them, to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them. (Mt. 13:17, NIV)
2. What did they want to know? They wanted to know the times and circumstances of both the
sufferings of the Christ and the glories to come. For example:
a) Isaiah 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. (Is. 53:3, NIV)
1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD shines over you., 2 For
look, darkness will cover the earth, and total darkness the peoples; but the LORD will
shine over you, and his glory will appear over you. (Is. 60:1-2, CSB)
a) Daniel 8 I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this
be?” 9 He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until
the time of the end. (Dan. 12:8-9, NIV)
~~~~
1 Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition (Downers Grove, IL: IVP
Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2014), 687.
2 D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew–Mark (Revised Edition), ed. Tremper Longman
III and David E. Garland, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010), 391.
3 Timothy Friberg, Barbara Friberg, and Neva F. Miller, in Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, Baker’s Greek
New Testament Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 48.
4 William Arndt et al., in A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2000), 426.
5 Daniel C. Arichea and Eugene Albert Nida, A Handbook on the First Letter from Peter, UBS Handbook Series (New
York: United Bible Societies, 1980), 16.
