Remember what Happened to Jesus (1 Pet. 1:18-21)

This sermon was preached on 1/5/2011

As we have noted already, Peter in this section is exhorting his readers, living away from the homeland of heaven, to keep up the remarkable level of discipleship that they exhibited. His first exhortation was that they should look ahead and see the grace that was to be brought to them when Jesus returned; and his second was that they should imitate the holy character of God and live righteous lives. Peter’s third exhortation to the exiles that was designed to cause them to continue in the faith was for them to keep in their minds what Jesus had done for them when he had been on earth a few decades before.

C. H. Spurgeon, in preaching on verse 19, expressed one of his concerns about himself: ‘It is frequently my fear lest I should fall into the habit of preaching about the gospel than directly preaching the gospel, and hence I labour to return to the first principle, of our faith, and often take a text upon which it would not be possible to say anything new, but which will compel me to recapitulate in your hearing those things which are vital, essential, and fundamental to the life of our souls.’ No doubt his concern was shared by all preachers before him and after him. Peter here stresses the same requirement that we should often consider biblical passages that say nothing new.

The predicament

The first detail that Peter refers to is the predicament they were in, which he describes as ‘the futile ways inherited from your forefathers’. What does he mean by this description? His readers were probably mainly Gentiles although there would have been some Jews among them. Although there were many distinctions between them, the outcome was the same – their lives were marked by futility. Both groups were religious, yet their worship was futile because it did not bring them near to God. Both groups had a rich background culturally, yet it not provided them with liberty because they were enslaved to the Roman Empire. Worse still, both groups were enslaved to the power of sin and the ethical understandings from within both groups could not provide a way of escape for them.

Peter appeals to their personal awareness of such pointlessness. He asks them to recall for a moment what life was like. They had realised before their conversion that the life they were living was futile, but that was an assessment made out of disappointment. Yet Peter asks them to look at their past from a different perspective, from the point of view of someone who has tasted the real thing. Before conversion, they knew they were going nowhere no matter how longstanding and illustrious the past seemed to be; now they had a better viewpoint, and Peter says, ‘Look at your past from the heights of grace rather than only from the depths of frustration.

It is not only Peter’s readers who had lived lifestyles marked by futility. Emptiness is written over every thing of modern life. There are many benefits in the world and I am not decrying them. We can travel, we can have important work, we can collect valuable things, we can have all kinds of interests, yet we have to admit that satisfaction and meaning is not found there. One of the best books to ask contemporary people to read is the Book of Ecclesiastes. Its author tasted power and pleasure, yet after having it all he concluded that all was emptiness.

How can we escape from such an environment? By ourselves we cannot, because not only are we frustrated, we are powerless. We are both hopeless and helpless unless someone comes to our aid. And Peter asks his readers to remember the one who did come to rescue them.

The price that was paid

The price for the deliverance was the precious blood of Christ. Peter says that they were ransomed by it. His readers would have been used to the notion of exiles being delivered by the payment of money; sometimes a great price was paid, depending on how important the individual was. From one point of view, we could say that the price paid for such was worth it because the ransomed person may have been a notable leader or soldier in the army. It was the worth of the ransomed person that indicated the value of the price.

But with Peter’s readers the situation was the other way round. The ransomed were of no value individually, so what made the price great was the person who paid it. The person who paid it was Jesus and the price was his own substitutionary death. Peter asks his readers to recall that a significant person made a momentous sacrifice on behalf of worthless sinners.

The Old Testament’s presentation of a redeemer was that of a person who was a kinsman of the one needing deliverance. Here Peter is reminding his readers that their Redeemer, Jesus Christ, is their kinsman. He became one of them when he became incarnate. Although he was the eternal Son of God, he entered into the human race, avoiding its sinful state, but becoming nevertheless a kinsman-redeemer.

Another feature about redemption that was connected to the kinsman-redeemer was the recovery of the debtor’s inheritance. A relative found himself in severe difficulties, which included deprivation of his inheritance. His relative not only redeemed him but also recovered his lost heritage. This is what Jesus did for the exiles to whom Peter was writing. He is reminding them that the fact of their redemption is the guarantee that they will yet inherit the world of glory that they lost in Adam. Although they are exiles, their destiny is secure because of their redeemer.

The reference to blood reminds us that the price involved the death of Jesus. But his death was not a catastrophe, rather it was a voluntary sacrifice by which he paid the penalty that God’s justice required. The readers of Peter’s letter were urged to recall continually that Jesus had offered himself as the payment of the price that was needed to set them free. That is why they should regard it as precious blood – a price that was costly for him but also valued by them.

Those who benefited from the death of Jesus are never to forget that they were ransomed by what he did. In other words, they were slaves to sin, and the only way of release for them was by Jesus paying the penalty. Since he had paid the penalty, he would not allow anything to prevent them reaching the world of glory. The exiles from heaven obtain the assurance of getting to heaven by looking back to the cross and meditating on the price that Jesus paid.

The perfect sacrifice

Of course, those who are familiar with what the Old Testament rituals taught about animal sacrifices would know that the animal had to free from flaws. Peter alludes to that requirement when he goes on to describe Jesus as a lamb without blemish and spot. Perfection was the prerequisite without which Jesus could not have become the sacrificial offering. The Saviour was sinless throughout his life in thought, word, and action. As Peter’s readers think about the price that Jesus paid, they are also to think about the sinless life that he lived.

Remember the apostle is encouraging his readers to persist in the faith, and one help in maintaining their discipleship is to think about how Jesus persevered in a life of holiness. How did Jesus do it? He did it moment by moment. Of course, he did not have a sinful nature, but he still lived in a sinful environment. It was part of his perseverance, of his perfect life, that he hated sin. And it is by having the same attitude that Peter’s readers would continue in the faith.

The biggest danger they faced was going back to whatever their futile lifestyle had been, but when that temptation appeared they were to remind themselves that such a lifestyle had been an expression of sinful living, and they should hate even the recollection of it. Although they were sinners, they could imitate the sinless Saviour and hate the possible sins they could commit as well as any actual sins they did commit. So the question comes to us: Do we regard sin with loathing? If we do, it is evidence that we are becoming more conformed to the perfect Saviour.

The eternal purpose

Peter now calls on his readers to think further back than the life of Jesus in this world. He reminds them that Jesus was ‘foreknown before the foundation of the world’ (v. 20). What does Peter mean by this description? He is saying more than that Jesus, the eternal Son of God, existed in a loving relationship with his Father before the world was created. Instead Peter is reminding his readers that Jesus was known in a particular capacity before the world was made, and that capacity was his future role as the Saviour. It is almost as if the apostle is saying to his readers, ‘Remember as you look back to the cross that heaven was looking forward to it.’ Given that no creatures existed before the creation of the universe, Peter’s reference of foreknowing must have to do with the other members of the Trinity – the Father and the Spirit. Here Peter is describing a wonderful focus of the fellowship of the triune God before time began – the divine persons were concentrating on their own eternal purpose, and as they considered it, it filled them with delight.

It is because of that eternal purpose that Peter can move on to his next clause about Jesus: he ‘was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you’. The Son of God was revealed, his activities were observed, his obedience was accomplished, and his death was completed. And, says Peter to his readers, ‘It was all done for you, even although you did not see him.’ They had come to know about Jesus and to know Jesus through the gospel. And as they looked back to what had happened to Jesus, they were to remind themselves continually that God’s eternal purpose of salvation involved them. In fact, they, exiles though they are, remain the focus of God’s thoughts. He has given to them the great privilege of participation in the salvation he had planned from eternity.

The power

We have seen that his listeners had not seen Jesus when he was here on earth, yet they were exhorted by Peter to focus their minds on what had happened. Neither had they seen the resurrection of Jesus and the subsequent glory that God gave to him. Peter, of course, had seen Jesus after the resurrection and had witnessed him entering into glory. So in a sense it was easier for Peter to reflect on the risen Christ through recalling personal experiences. Nevertheless, the apostle wants his readers, living in exile, to focus on this wonderful reality that Jesus was alive and living in the place of honour.

Great power was displayed by God when Jesus was raised from the dead. We cannot estimate it by comparing it to any expression of might with which we are familiar. But it was more than a resurrection back to human existence; instead it was a step on the path to glory. Jesus ascended to heaven where he lives in glory and where he is glorified. The reason why Peter wants his readers to look back to then is to remind themselves that what happened to Jesus will also happen to them because they are united to him by faith.

Peter brings this three-fold exhortation to a close by stating that they believe in God because of what Jesus did and they can have hope in God because of what Jesus did. It is thinking about Jesus that strengthens our faith and focuses our hope. Often we try and fins reasons for encouragement within ourselves and it is important to examine ourselves to see if we possess marks of grace. But what marks of grace should we be looking for? Surely, such marks must be connected to Jesus and what he did. Do I depend on what he did when he was here on earth, when he lived a perfect life and died an atoning death? Do I delight in the fact that he is exalted and representing his people still? Do I repent of my follies and ask for forgiveness through his merits? Is his blood precious to me?