Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 1:3-12
First Peter 1:3-12 is one long sentence. This long sentence is a blessing, a well-speaking, that involves the Trinity of the Godhead. Verse 3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Here Peter speaks of God the Father. Beginning in verse 3, Peter mentions the Lord Jesus Christ, or Jesus Christ, again and again. At the very end of this section, in verse 12, Peter speaks of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, this blessing is actually composed of the Trinity of the Godhead — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not three Gods. We have one God, the unique, eternal God. This unique God is complete and perfect. But although God is uniquely one, He is triune. He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
Those who know Greek may not consider that Peter’s composition is very good. The Bible, however, is a matter of revelation, not of composition. These ten verses in 1 Peter 1 may not be good human composition, but they give us an excellent, marvelous, and wonderful divine revelation.
In 1:3 Peter uses the word “blessed.” Paul also uses this word in Ephesians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ.” In Greek the word blessed means well spoken of, praised with adoration. Hence, a blessing is a well-speaking, and to bless someone is to speak well of him. Therefore, to bless God is to speak well concerning Him and all that He is to us, has done for us, and will do for us. To bless God is to speak in a sweet way of what God is, of what He has done, and of what He will do. This kind of speaking is a blessing.
Many Christians think that to bless God is to praise Him. This understanding of blessing certainly is not wrong. Whenever you are about to praise God, you need to speak something about Him. However, in what way shall we praise God? A child may say, “God, I praise You for giving me a good father, one who loves me and who earns a lot of money. God, I also praise You that my mother buys nice things for me.” Many Christians praise God mainly for material things. They may say, “Oh, blessed be God the Father! Praise Him for giving me a good business, a large house, and a nice family.” This falls far short of the revelation in 1:3-12.
Gradually the Lord has brought me into the thought of the divine revelation in the Bible. I can testify that when I read such a verse as 1:3, I realize that to bless God the Father is to speak well of what God is to us subjectively. It is not merely to praise Him for what He has done for us or given to us objectively. To bless God the Father is to speak subjectively of what He is to us, of what He has done for us, and of what He will do for us. This is to bless God according to what is revealed in the New Testament.
These ten verses in chapter one of 1 Peter tell us what the Father has done for us through the Son and by the Spirit. The Father has done so much for us through His Son. All that the Father has done for us through the Son is applied to us by the Holy Spirit. We need to speak well regarding all these things.
It is important for us to realize why Peter uttered such a well-speaking concerning the Triune God in a letter written to scattered saints. According to 1:1, this Epistle was written to “the chosen pilgrims of the dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” All the five provinces mentioned in this verse were in Asia Minor, between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The fact that the believers to whom this Epistle was addressed were scattered in these provinces of Asia Minor was a significant part of the background of Peter’s well-speaking concerning God.
At the time this Epistle was written, both Peter and the recipients of this book, the chosen saints scattered in Asia Minor, were under the Roman government. In A.D. 64, the approximate time of the writing of 1 Peter, the Roman Empire was very strong. About thirty years before the birth of Christ, Julius Caesar defeated Egypt and established the Roman Empire in full. Probably there has never been a stronger government in history than the government of the Roman Empire in the first century A.D. The Roman Empire controlled the entire region around the Mediterranean Sea, including territory in Asia, Europe, and northern Africa. As a strong government, the Roman Empire also had very strong laws. It is common knowledge that western culture is built on three pillars: Roman law, Hebrew religion, and Greek culture.
The recipients of the Epistle of 1 Peter not only were under the Roman government, but they were also under the influence of Hebrew religion and Greek culture, in particular, Greek philosophy. The well-speaking concerning the Triune God in 1:3-12 is altogether different from both Hebrew religion and Greek philosophy. In these ten verses there is nothing of religion or philosophy. In other words, Peter’s writing here is neither religious nor secular. Here we cannot find any religious thought or any secular concept or philosophy. According to what, then, were these verses written? They were written according to God’s revelation. This revelation, however, is not merely objective. On the contrary, it is a subjective revelation. This means that Peter’s composition of these verses was according to his spiritual experiences.
Because Peter wrote according to his spiritual experience, he covers a great many points in these ten verses. Let us consider how many points are in verse 3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead.” One major point is the title “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This title has nothing to do with either religion or philosophy. The matter of blessing is another important point. Other matters are God’s great mercy, regeneration, living hope, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead. None of these points is religious or philosophical. Instead, they all are aspects of the divine revelation.
In reading the Bible we should not take anything for granted. We should not assume that we understand what we read. We need to drop the traditional way of reading the Word, the way that causes us to take it for granted. When we come to a word such as “blessed” in 1:3, we need to say, “What does this word mean? I know this word in my native language, but what does it mean in this verse? What does it refer to?” If we read the Bible in this way and pray regarding what we read, we may find that a chapter such as 1 Peter 1 may occupy us for an entire year. I urge you not to take for granted Peter’s words, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We need to find out what Peter means by “blessed.”
Writing this Epistle according to his spiritual experiences, Peter intended to annul Jewish religion and Greek philosophy. I believe that if Peter were with us today, he would say strongly that this was his intention. He might say, “The intention in my heart when I wrote the first book was to knock down Hebrew religion and to destroy Greek philosophy.” Many phrases in this chapter indicate that this was Peter’s intention.
Peter’s words “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” were a severe blow to Jewish religion. The Jews would say that such speaking is blasphemy. Furthermore, these words were altogether contrary to Greek philosophy, myths, legends, and superstitions. With Jewish religion and Greek philosophy as the background, Peter declared, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” If the rabbis and the philosophers had read these words, the rabbis would have said, “This is blasphemy!” and the philosophers would have asked, “What is this?”
In verse 4 Peter goes on to say, “Unto an inheritance, incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, kept in the heavens for you.” The major point in this verse concerns the inheritance. Three subpoints related to the inheritance were also included here. The inheritance is incorruptible in essence, undefiled in condition, and unfading in expression. I believe that this description of our inheritance implies the Trinity. “Incorruptible” refers to the Father’s nature; “undefiled,” to the sanctifying work of the Spirit that keeps the condition clean and pure; and “unfading,” to Christ as the expression of God’s glory which never fades. Two other points related to this inheritance are that it is kept in the heavens and that it is for us. Therefore, in this verse we have one major point with five subpoints. None of these points is either Jewish or Greek. In other words, nothing in this verse is either religious or philosophical. Everything here is according to the divine revelation.
Verse 5 says, “Who are being guarded by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time.” Here Peter tells the believers that they are being guarded, garrisoned, by the power of God. They are not guarded by religious rituals or philosophical reasonings, but are guarded by the power of God through faith. Once again, this is not common language; it is not an ordinary way of speaking. Rather, this is something extraordinary. The first point in this verse concerns being guarded; the second is the power of God; the third is “through faith”; the fourth is “unto salvation”; and the fifth is “ready to be revealed at the last time.” Again we see that in a single verse Peter covers many points.
In verse 6 Peter continues, “In which you exult, though for a little while at present, if it must be, you have been made sorrowful by various trials.” The word “exult” is stronger than the word “rejoice.” To rejoice is to be joyful in an audible way; to exult is to rejoice with a full and complete release. When we exult, we are beside ourselves with rejoicing. In addition to exulting, Peter speaks here of being made sorrowful for a little while, if it must be, by various trials.
In verse 7 Peter goes on to say, “That the proving of your faith, much more precious than of gold which perishes and is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the unveiling of Jesus Christ.” This verse does not speak concerning the preciousness of our faith; it talks about the preciousness of the proving of our faith. In 2 Peter 1 precious faith is mentioned. What is precious in this verse, however, is not the faith itself; it is the proving of our faith that is more precious than the proving of gold. Peter’s desire is that this proving would be found unto praise, glory, and honor at the unveiling of Jesus Christ. The proving tests out our faith. At the judgment seat of the Lord, this proving may be found unto praise, glory, and honor. Peter concludes this verse by referring to the unveiling of Jesus Christ. Here he does not use the words “manifestation” or “revelation.” He deliberately selects the word “unveiling.”
Verse 8 says, “Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, not seeing at present yet believing, you exult with unspeakable and glorified joy.” The relative pronoun “whom” refers to Jesus Christ. Although we have never seen the Lord Jesus, we love Him. At present we cannot see Him, yet we believe in Him. Furthermore, according to this verse, we exult with unspeakable and glorified joy. This is a joy that it is beyond our ability to utter. Things that are wonderful are also unspeakable. In this verse Peter uses a special expression — “glorified joy.” Glorified joy is joy immersed in the expression of God.
In verse 9 Peter says, “Obtaining the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” Here Peter indicates that the end of our faith, the consummation of the process of our faith, will be the salvation of our souls.
Verses 10 and 11 say, “Concerning which salvation the prophets, who prophesied concerning the grace unto you, sought out and searched out, searching into what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ in them made clear, witnessing beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories after these.” Here Peter says that the prophets prophesied of the grace that is unto us, that they sought out and searched out, and that they witnessed beforehand the sufferings of Christ and His glories. Peter seems to leap from one point to another. In verse 12 he concludes this section by saying, “To whom it was revealed that not to themselves, but to you they ministered these things, which have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven; which things angels long to look into.”
The writing of these verses is not according to religious or philosophical knowledge. These verses were written according to Peter’s spiritual experiences. For this reason, Peter’s composition is not common, not ordinary. This should strengthen our belief in God. If there were no God, how could such words be written? These words testify not only that there is a God, but also that there must be One, the Son of God, whose name is Jesus Christ. Furthermore, there must be One who is called the Holy Spirit. This Triune God has surely worked in Peter, the writer of these verses. Therefore, Peter had experience of the Triune God.
The source and the ground of Peter’s writing are not religion or philosophy. The source and ground of Peter’s writing are the experiences of the Triune God operating in him. Peter gathered together much of his experience and put the various points of his experience into writing. Peter did not care for literary style; he cared only for the genuine points of his experience of the Triune God.
Although I am short of utterance in speaking about this, I hope that this brief word will help you understand that 1:3-12 is indeed the divine revelation. This revelation is different from anything religious or philosophical. It is altogether divine. But although it is divine, it is something experienced by a human being through the Trinity of the Godhead. Therefore, Peter’s well-speaking of our Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — came from his own experience.
As Peter was writing his first Epistle, he was surely inspired by God. No human mind is capable of producing such a work. No philosopher or ethical teacher would write in such a way. No one else in history has written such a thing, and no one today can write such a thing. Who could possibly invent all the terms used by Peter? Who would think up all the different points? The answer is that no one can invent these terms or think up these points. Not one of the Greek philosophers would even imagine them. All these points have their source in the very God Himself.
God not only originated these terms, but He also wrought Himself into a fisherman such as Peter so that, although he was not a learned person, he could write this composition with all its wonderful points. As we read chapter one of 1 Peter, we need to touch Peter’s spirit as it is expressed in his writing. If we do this, we shall see that his writing is not human. Peter’s writing is spiritual and divine. Here we see the divine revelation expressed through humanity.
