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. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 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. 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, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:3-9

Peter begins this letter by giving praise to God for the living hope that we have in such abundance through Christ, what an amazing hope this is! It cannot be taken away from us, and it is being kept pure and unsullied by the very power of God in Heaven, waiting for the day we will inherit.  It remains intact even though we will have our share of problems during this time on earth, but take heart, for whatever may happen to us now, we remain co-heirs with Christ, and if what He received after His sufferings is any indication, our inheritance is far greater than the human mind can even begin to comprehend.

Even now, because we believe, we are filled with joy, and we have already received the salvation of our souls, which is to say that we have received forgiveness for our sins. But wait− there’s more…

 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

1 Peter 1:10-12

This is one of my favorite passages, for it demonstrates that the work of Jesus in establishing His Kingdom at the time and by the methods He used were no mistake, having been part of God’s purpose from the outset.  Look carefully at the words here and you will see something truly amazing… The Old Testament prophets were filled with the spirit of Christ and understood that they were serving a different people in a different time when they foretold of the salvation that we have received.  Notice that we have already received this salvation; it is not still in the future.  Those prophets searched carefully to figure out when this would happen as they wrote of the work of Christ, and in this, they were serving us.

Then, Peter says the most interesting thing:   Even angels long to look into these things.  Even the angels want to look into these things, for our inheritance is far greater than anything they will get, and we have been sinners.  When God created Man, He had a great purpose in mind, and even though things went astray back in the Garden, God is sticking with His plan, and you and I are right in the middle of it, for we are on a track where even the angels cannot follow.

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

1 Peter 1:13-16

Peter tells us that we, as “obedient children” shouldn’t concern ourselves with the evil nonsense of the past, reminding us that next to what is coming, such things appear to be foolish indeed.

Then the “be holy” part…

It seems that many of us think that we are being “holy” when we are busy disapproving of other people, but that is far from being holy.  “Holy” means “set apart,” and we are not to be set apart from other people−  far from it, in fact.  We are to be set apart from the evil of this world, not from the inhabitants of this world.  In truth, these are the very people we are supposed to be reaching out to in love.  Think about it this way, when a person is “set apart” and they reach out in love, and then the person who needs Jesus Christ sees Him in the faces of those who are reaching out, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most powerful force on the planet, and it can bring about nothing less than a movement, sometimes called a “revival.”

Now, I ask you: Is any part of this complicated? No, it is simply… simple!

I wonder why this sort of thing is so rare. Surely not because it is complicated.