1 Peter: Confidence in a Complex WorldSample

2: The Christian Story in a Nutshell

Chernobyl. One of the highest-rated box sets made to date. It begins with a test that goes catastrophically wrong. In the middle, there’s suffering, a clean-up operation to limit the devastation, and an investigation. And the ending? Well, nobody likes a spoiler!

For a story to be a story, it needs a beginning, middle, end, and author. In just a few rich verses, Peter tells the story of his audience’s life of faith.

They were in the middle of the story, going about life with various hats on: citizens, slaves, family members. Their pre-Christian lives were not characterised by hope, especially if they were slaves. But now they were God’s people, every situation, task, person, and setback could be viewed through the glasses of ‘living hope’ (1:3).

This living hope has a beginning: ‘the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ (1:3). Christian hope does not float on clouds of wishful thinking. No, it springs from a tomb that once held the body of the crucified Lord, but is now empty. Jesus dealt death a fatal blow. It really happened! And if God has raised Christ from the dead, what can’t he do? Is it so impossible for him to set us free from the things that once bound us, and breathe new life into our lives and frontlines? (Remember, a frontline is anywhere you regularly come into contact with people who are not Christians.)

A powerful beginning, a hope-filled middle, and the ending’s not bad either. They looked forward to an inheritance that would ‘never perish, spoil or fade’ (1:4). We might look forward to holidays, cup finals, or retirement, but these can be scuppered by a cancelled flight, a poor performance in the semis, or a slump in the stock market. But what God has in store for us, he keeps safe in heaven.

It’s not just our inheritance he keeps safe, mind: he keeps us safe too. We ‘are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time’ (1:5). 

Inevitably, this incredible story points to a praiseworthy author: the merciful ‘Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1:3). 

The gospel story is not a private, part-time, religious belief. It’s the true story of what God has done for the world in Christ, and we live by its light at all times. However each day unfolds, walk with hope. Christ is risen, he’s coming back, and, in the meantime, God is with us.

Reflect:

How is hope shaping the way you live on your frontline at the moment? How might focusing on the resurrection of Jesus strengthen your hope?

In what ways do you see God’s mercy in the story of the gospel?

Pray:

Praise God for his gospel; for what he has done, is doing, and will do. Pray that the resurrection of Jesus and the future he guarantees will shape how you live today.