Today we are going to meditate on God's word taken from I Peter 1:3-9. with the topic More precious than gold.
We always think that gold is something precious in our lives, but there is something much more precious than gold.
According to human standards, gold is highly prized as a source of prosperity and a symbol of all that is precious, But as Christians, we, there are many things in our lives that are far more valuable than money, which cannot be exchanged or bought with money. So, when we compare gold with something that has eternal values, what true value does gold have?
In today’s Bible passage, we also see something more valuable than gold, which is our faith, our hope and the inheritance that God has prepared for us.
Verse three begins with praise. This praise is the same as the doxology we sing. Praise given to God for His greatness, His mercy and everything so beautiful that God has done in our lives
What has God done? If we read this verse, we see there are many theological concepts that are very basic in our Christian faith.
First of all, the verse emphasizes the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. This is unique in our faith. In the world there are many religions, but not a single founder or religious leader in the world has risen from the dead, but the Lord Jesus has risen from the dead.
It also speaks of the great mercy of God. Because of His mercy, we are born again. So, our new birth is not something we can do, nor is it something we deserve, but it is God's grace and gift, which is given to us only because of His mercy.
And it is because of this new birth that we are given hope. And the hope that God gives is a living hope. Something that really exists. Different from something we expected. Sometimes we expect something and we believe that it will happen, but eventually our hopes fade, so we become very disappointed. There is a term that we often hear in Mandarin, the bigger our expectations, the bigger our disappointment.
But the hope that God gives is different, because on one hand, this hope is God's grace, which is given together with our new birth. This is a package, meaning whoever has been born again, he is a person who lives in hope. The new birth and hope are an inseparable unity. We who have been born again will not live in despair, because the characteristic of our new life is a life of hope.
The hope that we receive through our new birth has a strong foundation, which is found through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Just as the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is a real historical fact, so is the hope that God has given us.
Verse 4 explains the content of our hope. It says here that we will receive an inheritance that has three characteristics: it never perishes, spoils or fades. And it said that this inheritance is kept in heaven for you. It means that God kept an inheritance for you in heaven, and this inheritance will never perish, never spoil, and never fade. Is there anything that you have today that never perishes, spoils or fades?
This inheritance is more valuable than anything found here on earth.
This is an inheritance that we have that exceeds anything in this world. Peter shows that our inheritance has three characteristics.
First, it says that the treasures that God keeps for you in heaven will not perish. One day, whatever we have in this world will pass.
We are facing pandemics, recessions and all kinds of situations that undermine the peace of the human heart. We worry and live in fear. We value our earthly possessions and hold onto earthly things so tightly. We worry that we may lose all our earthly treasures. It is something that eats away at the human day, which makes people restless, uncertain and hopeless in life.
But you and I have a living hope. we have already received something in store for us in heaven, which will never perish, never spoil, and never fade. Something so glorious, so great, that God has prepared for us.
The world cannot defile it, and so it cannot wither away, something that remains fresh and beautiful. As human beings, we will all eventually pass away. All our circumstances in life will pass as well. But the treasures God has in store for us in heaven will never perish, spoil, nor fade.
The apostle Peter uses negative terminologies perish, spoil and fade to contrast how beautiful and great the treasure that God has saved for us, He takes it one step further by adding the word “never” before these words. So, it now becomes a double negative.
A positive statement with two negative elements is used to produce the positive force..
In verse 5 Peter explains two things, first explains about God's providence and inheritance that will be revealed in the last days.
So, after Peter said that there is an inheritance stored for you in heaven, he explained, not only is God's treasure preserved and protected, but you who will receive this inheritance are also protected by God.
We are currently living in a state of waiting. Waiting is not something that is easy to do. Humans are funny, if someone waits for him, it feels very short (just 5 minutes), but if he waits for someone else it feels like a long time (already 5 minutes). Brothers and sisters, have you ever waited for someone else? It doesn't feel like a long time. As we wait for the day that the treasures stored in heaven are given to us, we will face all kinds of challenges, trials and even suffering. And as human beings we can't control these types of situations, but don't worry brothers and sisters, because we are protected by God, we don't face the evil with our own strength but by relying completely on the hand of the almighty God.
Peter also explains about the inheritance that is stored for us, which is the salvation that is to be revealed in the last time. You might ask, what does God mean by this? Are we not saved, or are we not saved and will only be saved at the end of time.
Let's look at some verses that can help us understand this sentence. First, let's look at 2 Corinthians 1:10, where it says: "He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us."
This verse mentions the same word “deliver '' three times but Paul has different meaning for each time he uses them to highlight our salvation. God delivered us from a terrible death that we deserved as sinners. That is justification. Justification is a point in time, where our status is changed from being sinners to people of righteousness. When we confess and repent of our sins and believe in the Lord Jesus as our savior, then at that moment our status changes, for John 1:12 says 12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
From that point in our life, we need God to continue to deliver us from temptations of this world and from ourselves. We need the Holy Spirit to give us the power to live according to Him and not our flesh. That is sanctification. Romans 8:12-15
12Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father".
And when the Lord Jesus reveals Himself in the second coming back to earth, He will deliver us from our earthly bodies to glorified bodies. This is glorification. Just as what 2 Corinthians earlier said that on Him, we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us. This is also what Peter meant in verse 5, which is the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
What does it mean that salvation is ready to be revealed in the last time?LLet's look at one more passage in Philippians 3:20-21, 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
According to Paul in Philippians 3, the salvation revealed in the last time refers to the change of our bodies.
Continuing on to verse 6 it says "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials." In this verse we see two terms that contradict each other but exist together, greatly rejoice and suffer grief. In the Greek Bible, these two terms are written in the present tense, meaning that these two conditions of the heart continuously exist in our hearts. It doesn't mean that we were sad, then suddenly happy, or that we were happy and then suddenly sad. Rather they exist together.
How can these two conditions exist together? That is the uniqueness of people who have hope in God. Although we cannot control the stressful external world, we can control the attitude of our hearts. We do not focus on what is happening in the outside world, but we focus on the inheritance that God has in store and which will be revealed in the last days.
There is an article about Viktor Frankl, a Jew who was arrested and held in a concentration camp for 3 years. As a psychiatrist and neurologist, he analyzed the people detained in the concentration camp. He noticed there are four types of people who react differently to the suffering. The first, those who become angry and trample on others to stay alive.
The second, those who become apathetic, and have been advised not to be seen or heard. They don't want to dress, don't want to eat, are beaten or don't react.
The third are those who want to stay alive, but because of limited ability are ultimately also unable to survive. And the fourth are those who find meaning in life, usually such people are those who have hope.
If we focus on the hope that God has promised and the treasures that will be revealed in the last days, then we are able to bear the sufferings and trials of this world. So even though the trials and pressures we experience are painful, our hearts do not hurt, our hearts rejoice, because of the joy that comes from God. Suffering from outside can only injure our bodies, but cannot tear our souls apart, because our souls are filled with true joy from God.
Then in verse 7 it says, "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."
Sometimes we ask why good people suffer or why bad things can happen to people who live in fear of God. Some will also demand to know where God is when His people suffer. Every suffering experienced by a believer has a meaning. Verse 7 states that "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."
On one hand, it proves the purity of our faith, which is more valuable than gold, gold will melt and crumble and can be burned with fire, but our faith will be stronger and stronger. And second, proof of the purity of our faith will produce extraordinary things, praise, glory and honor, from whom? Not from humans, but from the Lord Jesus in His revelation, which is His return later.
Finally, in verses 8-9, we see is an expression of faith that has been purified through trials and tribulations:
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
So, the joy that fills our hearts is an inexpressible and glorious joy. Verse 9 explains the reason why we have such joy is because we receive the results of our faith.
So, in this passage we see that we receive God's grace, giving us the faith to believe in Him. By His protection, when our faith is tested, it produces the purity of life. This is the new life we have by the great mercy of God, A life with a new quality, a life into a living hope and an inheritance kept for us in Heaven, this is a new life that is more precious than gold.
Praise God because everything is a gift from God, that is why we should always live to praise and magnify God's name.
