God’s Perfect Plan – 1 Peter 1:3-5

1 Peter 1:3-5: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

These three verses comprise one sentence, and, oh, what a sentence it is! Follow the progression:

1. Praise/blessed to/be God
2. His abundant mercy
3. Begotten us again
4. A living hope through the resurrection
5. To an inheritance that is:
• Incorruptible/imperishable
• Undefiled
• Does not fade away
• Reserved in heaven
6. Kept by the power of God through faith for salvation
7. Ready to be revealed in the last time

This amazing sentence is the story of salvation for humanity. It rightfully starts with blessing and praising God for His love and devotion to us. Next, Peter acknowledges it is due to God being abundantly merciful that despite that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The next step of the story promises that by our faith in His only begotten Son and what He did on the cross, we are begotten again – or born again as a new creation with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

This newly begotten life brings with it an eternal living hope, which is made possible through Christ’s resurrection which was the “stamp of approval” from God the Father that what He accomplished on the cross fully satisfied the penalty of the sin for those who believe. The resurrected Jesus proves God’s power over death.

With that hope comes an inheritance – we become joint heirs with Jesus as adopted children and enjoy all the blessings of being a true child of God. This inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, is permanent, and secured in heaven. Satan can make all the accusations against you he wants to put doubt into your mind regarding your inheritance, but when you look at what God’s Word says about its certainty, how it’s kept by God through His acknowledging your faith, you have nothing to fear. Finally, this story – your story – will be revealed at the end of this age. You are a living testimony to God’s promise.

One final point about this glorious verse – note how it is broken out in seven segments. Seven is the number of perfection in Scripture. Our perfect God (2 Samuel 22:31) offers the perfect plan to all of His creation. It’s a plan worth reading, but it’s a better plan worth living. His merciful plan offers you a living hope as His beloved child that He will never let go or abandon. Are you interested?

Isaiah 60:1

Oh, LORD, what darkness surrounds me.
How it oozes and seeps into my pores.
Then it slithers and threatens my mind
With the dread there will be much more.

My heart begins to quake and tremble -
Leaving me paralyzed with fading hope.
How could such a doom break through?
As if I’ve arrived at the end of my rope.

Suddenly a voice from heaven thunders
Tearing a hole in hopelessness’s roof.
Darkness’s lies crumble to their knees
Giving way to the Light and the truth.

“Arise, My child, for your light is here!
Why have you forgotten My presence?
Don’t you recall upon your confession?
That I instilled in you My holy essence.”

“The darkness and its grave were beaten
By My beloved Son’s death at Calvary.
When I resurrected Him with My power.
The Light of the World won the victory!”

“As for My unbelieving and lost creation -
The ones drowning in darkness and tears,
If they could only see what you believe,
My perfect love will cast out their fears.”

“So, don’t forget, My beloved possession.
You can arise and shine for I have come.
My glory will forever rise upon you
With the same power that raised My Son.”

“Shine My Spirit’s light who dwells inside
That will testify that My Word is true.
For light will always defeat the darkness
When they’ll see that it did so for you.”

Why Jesus Was Sent

God takes no pleasure in the death of any.
He wants all of His creation to repent.
To prove the truth of this passionate desire,
His only begotten Son to us was sent.

He looked at each of our worst moments
And our rejection of His holy existence.
From a heart of mercy and compassion,
He chose to take our sin death’s sentence.

Yet we still believe the deceits and the lies.
If He exists, He’s an unfair and angry judge.
When we reject the necessity of the cross.
We’re missing His greatest display of love.

What more powerful proof can we find?
For another to willingly lay down one’s life.
The only way to be reconciled to our Creator,
Was for His Son Jesus to be our sacrifice.

The fear of death was given a mortal blow.
His resurrection proving love never fails.
Imagine the guilt and shame of our past
Are forgiven and left on His cross’ nails.

Why won’t we choose to believe this truth?
Receive the free gift of His amazing grace.
If this is the only life that we have to live,
Does it feel anything like a heavenly place?

If there is more to live after our last breath,
Perhaps the cross makes a lot more sense.
To be given the promise of an eternal peace,
We’ll start to believe why Jesus was sent.

That God loves every life that He creates.
You’re no evolved ape, you’re no accident.
If you’ll take Jesus’ nail-pierced hands,
You’ll become a reason why He was sent.