Episode 495: 1 Peter 1:3-5

The Christian Story in a Nutshell

Every good story needs a beginning, middle, and an end. In just a few rich verses, Peter tells the story of his audience’s life of faith.

They were living in the middle of the story, going about life with various hats on: citizens, slaves, family members. Their pre-Christian lives were not characterized 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 the lens of ‘living hope’ (1:3).

This living hope has a beginning: ‘the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ (1:3). The hope that Christians have does not float on clouds of wishful thinking. No, it springs from a tomb that once held the body of our crucified Lord, but that tomb 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.

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