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, 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. 1 Peter 1:3-5 [NIV]
Ask God to speak to you then read these three verses through first quickly, then a second time slowly and carefully.
How many gifts have you received that you still treasure? A gift of food won’t last long. At the very least it will be eaten! Give clothing and it wears out, or is soon out of fashion. Maybe the gifts that we treasure most are things that we have inherited. On my desk is a nineteenth-century spinning top made out of whale bone. It was my grandfather’s. My vigorous spinning of it when I was younger means that the shaft is now broken off. But it still sits on my desk. Inherited jewellery, furniture, finances, even small seemingly insignificant things are treasured. The gifts we inherit remind us of the giver. They are precious.
Wonderfully, Peter writes in this passage that as the people of God we receive both gifts and an inheritance! What we receive comes from God’s mercy (v.3), we don’t deserve anything but he is lavish with us just the same. The gifts which Peter speaks of are new birth and a living hope (v.3). The resurrection of Jesus (v.3) means that we are given not just a new start, but a whole new life! And because Jesus lives forever so this new life will last forever. We are guaranteed to get there because for the rest of our lives we will be shielded by God’s power (v.5) – he will keep us.
And so we have a real, concrete, living hope – death, our world’s greatest fear, is suddenly the door to heaven. And that is where we get the inheritance of the kingdom, reigning with God and being in his presence. We inherit because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Our lives here are governed by the law of diminishing returns. The more you have of something the less satisfying it is. Order a pepperoni pizza from Domino’s. You’re ravenous and the first piece is just amazing and dripping with flavour. The second piece is great, the third is good, and the fourth is cooling but nice. You can’t remember the fifth and sixth, but the seventh was definitely cold and a struggle. The eighth lies uneaten in the box. But in heaven this is reversed. We will be satisfied in God, tasting the delights that he has for us forever, the experience of his love becoming infinitely sweeter and more glorious forever. What he has for us can never “perish, spoil or fade.” Little wonder Peter begins with praise (v.3), but a great wonder that I look for ultimate satisfaction in the fading gifts of this life, rather than enjoying and anticipating the gifts of God!
Read the passage again. Slowly. What else is God showing you through these words?
Thank God for your inheritance. Ask that you would anticipate it, beginning to taste it, today.
Olly Mears
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