1 Peter 1
(1) Intro
From: Peter, a missionary of Jesus, the Chosen One.
To: Those living as foreigners in Asia and Asia Minor who were chosen by Father God. In His foreknowledge, He chose you by consecrating you with the Spirit so that you would obey Jesus and be sprinkled with His blood.
May you have abundant favor and peace.
(3) Future Hope Overshadows Current Hardships
The God and Father of our leader, Jesus, is so blessed! In God’s abundant compassion, He caused us to be reborn—not to a woman, but to a thriving hope. We were born to that hope as a result of Jesus waking up from the dead. God did this to give us an imperishable, uncorrupted possession that would never fade, which is being preserved for you right now in heaven. And your beliefs simultaneously allow God’s power to protect you until it’s time for the rescue to be unveiled at the end of time.
You can be super-excited about this even though various hardships might temporarily weigh on you now. Hardships test to see how genuine your beliefs are—and your beliefs are more valuable than gold, since gold will one day disappear. Like gold in a fire, hardships test your beliefs to see if they’ll produce glory, praise, and honor when Jesus is revealed at the apocalypse. Even though you’ve never seen Him, you still love Him, and even though you can’t see Him at this point in time, you still believe in Him. You are full of inexpressible excitement and splendor, while your beliefs result in the preservation of your souls.
(10) Prophets Predicted Today’s Salvation
This favor of being rescued (which you currently have) was actually predicted by the prophets long ago. As the Anointed Spirit within them spoke, they carefully inquired, trying to understand the time period and the person He was talking about. Jesus’s Spirit inside of them predicted the Chosen One’s sufferings—along with the splendor that followed. It was revealed to them that they weren’t speaking to their own generation, but to you! And now you’re hearing their message through the people who shared the exciting news with you via the Holy Spirit! This is the kind of stuff that even angels yearn to catch a glimpse of!
(13) Be Different Like God
That’s why you should mentally prepare yourself to take action! Keep your spirit alert, and put all your hope on the graciousness that you’ll receive when Jesus the Chosen One is fully revealed. Be like obedient children, and don’t conform to the desires you used to have when you were ignorant. Instead, you should be different, along with everything you do. You should be like the Different One who called you by name. Just as it’s written:
“You should be set apart, because I am set apart.”
—Leviticus 11:44
(17) Jesus Went on a Rescue Mission for Today’s People
One day, God will put each one of us on trial and objectively judge us based on our work… so if you call Him “Father,” you should conduct yourself with fear during your short stay here on earth. The lifestyle you inherited was worthless, and the bail to get you out of it wasn’t paid with perishables like silver or gold—it was paid with costly blood, like that of a perfectly good lamb. Jesus had been known before the earth’s foundation was laid, but He appeared during these final days just for your sake (if you rely on God through Jesus). God woke Jesus up from death and gave Him splendor so that your trust and hope would be in God.
(22) Reborn Because of God’s Intent
Since you obeyed the truth and purified your souls to get your genuine brotherly love for each other, you should love each other enthusiastically from the heart. You’ve been born anew—and not from a perishable seed, but an immortal seed. You’ve been reborn because of God’s own intent, which is both living and permanent. After all,
“All biological flesh is like grass, and all of its magnificence is like the grass’s flower.
The grass withers and its flower falls off, but the Existing One’s intent remains forever.”
—Isaiah 40:7–8
And that same intent is what recently reached you when you heard the wonderful news.