Building a new life in Christ Week 2, 1 Peter 1:13–25 Day 3: Bought by the highest bidder During the summer before my junior year in high school, we got the news that there would be a new principal. My best friend and I wondered who he was, what he would be like and how that might affect our conduct. We were mischievous and smart alecks, never at a loss for an unedifying comment. One day, several weeks before school began, we were playing golf and overheard a man introduce himself as the new high school principal. Now that piqued our interest, so we watched him prepare for his drive on the first hole. We saw him take a mighty swing, heard a loud thwack and watched the ball sail 325 years down the fairway. My friend and I watched in astonishment and we each had the same simultaneous thought. What damage that swing could do to a certain part of our anatomy if it involved a paddle! Mr. Beaston never had a bit of trouble from us and he never had to say a word to us. We lived in fear and awe because we had witnessed the terrible potential of one swing. 1 Peter 1:17–21 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. There is one command in this passage. What is it? From this passage, make a list of all the things God has done for your benefit. Seeing our Father clearly While it is impossible to overstate God’s kindness toward us in Christ, our new birth does not entitle us to behave any way we please. Peter has already expressed this in one way by calling us “obedient children” (verse 14) and adding “be holy in all you do” (verse 15). In verse 17, Peter heightens our obligation by reminding us that — unlike other fathers — we have “a Father who judges each person’s work impartially.” No matter whether you are the President of the U.S. or a beggar, Peter says that God judges your work “impartially” (Greek aprosōpolēmptōs, “without reference to rank or status”[1]). Achtemeier explains that partiality by ancient judges, either due to the rank of one of the parties or because of a bribe, was a common complaint in the ancient world.[2] Not so before our Father! God’s holiness and impartiality lead to a sobering conclusion: “you are to conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your temporary residence” (verse 17b, HCSB). We have italicized the words “in fear” because they are positioned to receive stress in the Greek sentence.[3] ESV also gets it right with “conduct yourselves with fear.” Other English versions struggle to express this idea and tend to soften it: “in reverent fear” (NIV, NLT) or “in/with reverence” (NET/CEB). The discipline God brings on a disobedient son or daughter is difficult to distinguish from his historic punishments inflicted on the wicked; you do not want to find that out the hard way! The meaning and implications of redemption Verses 18 and 19 must be understood as a pair in which the initial negative clause (“it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold“ – verse 18a) sets up and emphasizes the concluding positive clause (“but with the precious blood of Christ” – verse 19).[4] The core of the two verses is the central clause: “you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors” (verse 18b). Why did they need to be redeemed? Because, by God’s estimation, the way of life they inherited was empty, useless and powerless. Commentator Karen Jobes says that this ancestral way of life “was esteemed and venerated as the basis of a stable society in both Greek and Jewish culture.”[5] What does it mean to be redeemed? The Greek verb lytroō, means “to free by paying a ransom.”[6] But that is not the whole story, and it is vital to our understanding of Christianity that we see the ancient context. Jobes explains the Greco-Roman custom of the manumission of slaves in this way: The slave would receive his or her freedom after depositing money in the temple of a god or goddess, money which would then be paid via the temple treasury (minus a commission) to the slave’s owner with the thought that the god or goddess was buying the slave ... The former slave would then be free in the eyes of his former owner and society but would be considered a slave of the god or goddess.[7] To see how this ancient custom applies to Christians, imagine — as is actually the case — that we were the slave and our former owner was sin. We were purchased — redeemed — “with the precious blood of Christ” (verse 19) and, from that moment onward, belong to God. For this reason, Paul uses the concept of redemption when he says: “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:19b–20). Prepare yourself for a shock: you have never been free for a single moment! You began life slavishly following “the empty way of life handed down from your ancestors” (1 Peter 1:18b). By God’s grace, you responded to the good news of Jesus Christ and became God’s slave instead. The apostle Paul says: “Though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:17–18). What is your reaction to the claim that “you have never been free for a single moment”? In a culture where the ways handed down from the ancestors are both honored and unquestioned, Peter takes time to show that the new birth God has given to the recipients of his letter makes them part of an even more ancient tradition.[8] It was God who chose[9] Christ “before the creation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20) and revealed him “in these last times for your sake” (verse 20b). The issue here is largely one of identity. The readers are unsettled by their exile and the hostility of the surrounding culture toward their new faith. Peter reframes the issue by showing them their place within God’s eternal thinking and his pre-creation choice of Christ. Achtemeier says, “That has the effect of focusing the whole sweep of history on the readers, and sets them, exiles and aliens that they are, at center stage in the drama of salvation.”[10] Being confident in their new identity in Christ is essential to maintaining their faith and engaging the surrounding culture with the gospel. The very same issues are true for us: Our identity in Christ is foundational to living for him effectively. Verse 21 is meant to reassure Peter’s readers that because God raised Jesus from the dead and honored him, they too may expect vindication and honor when they are resurrected. Thinking about creation It is sadly common in our times for Christians to avoid any discussion of creation (1 Peter 1:20), perhaps because the views about creation held by certain Christians have been sharply rejected by famous scientists such as the astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who recently declared that the universe originated without any need for God’s help.[11] We wonder how he could know that, and, more to the point, we wonder why anyone finds such fact-free claims newsworthy. However, the subject cannot be avoided. Peter says that God chose Christ to redeem us and did so “before the creation of the world” (verse 20). In his second letter, 2 Peter, he speaks of the dissolution of this present creation and the appearance of new heavens and a new earth promised by God (2 Peter 3:10–13). Later in the current letter, Peter calls on Christians to “entrust their souls to a faithful Creator as they do good” (1 Peter 4:19, NET). This is not the venue for a robust discussion of the interface between Christianity and science. For now, we rest the issue with the recent statement by Thomas Nagel, a non-Christian philosopher: “For a long time I have found the materialist account of how we and our fellow organisms came to exist hard to believe, including the standard version of how the evolutionary process works.”[12] We agree, and entrust our souls to a faithful Creator. A final word The old song says, “Our God is an awesome God” and that is accurate. Our God is awesome in His grace on our behalf and if necessary, in His judgment. That knowledge should cause us to live holy, reverent lives!
Posted on: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 14:03:56 +0000
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