- We Can Enjoy the Glory: (1:8-12)
Peter gave four directions for enjoying the glory now, even in the midst of trials.
- Love Christ: (1:8). Our love for Christ must not based on physical sight, because we have not seen Him. It must be based on our spiritual relationship with Him and what the Word has taught us about Him. The Holy Spirit has poured out God’s love into our hearts (Rom.5:5), and we return that love to Him. When you find yourself in some trial, and we are hurt, immediately lift our hearts to Christ in true love and worship, this will take the poison out of the experience and replace it with healing medicine. If we love ourselves more than we love Christ, then we will not experience any of the glory now. The fire will burn in us, not purify us.
- Believe Him: (1: 8). We must live by faith and not by sight. Faith means surrendering all to God and obeying His Word in spite of circumstances and consequences. Love and faith go together: when you love someone, you trust him. And faith and love together help to strengthen hope; for where you find faith and love, you will find confidence for the future. Our fellowship with Christ through His Word not only strengthens our faith, but it also deepens our love. It is a basic principle of Christian living that we spend much time in the Word when God is testing us and Satan is tempting us.
- Rejoice in Him: (1:8). Each experience of trial helps us learn something new and wonderful about our Saviour. Abraham discovered new truths about the Lord on the mount where he offered his son (Gen.22). Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego discovered the presence of the Lord when they went through the fiery furnace (Dan.3). Paul learned the sufficiency of His grace when he suffered with a thorn in the flesh (2 Cor.12).
- Receive from Christ: (1:9-12). “Believing and receiving” is God’s way of meeting our needs. If we love Him, trust Him, and rejoice in Him, then we can receive from Him all that we need to turn trials into triumphs. Peter says we can experience today some of that future glory (1:9). Charles Spurgeon used to say, “Little faith will take your soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your soul.” It is not enough that we long for heaven during tunes of suffering, for anybody can do that. What Peter urged his readers to do was exercise love, faith, and rejoicing, so that they might experience some of the glory of heaven in the midst of suffering now.
The amazing thing is that this “salvation” we are awaiting – the return of Christ – was a part of God’s great plan for us from eternity. The Old Testament prophets wrote about this salvation and studied closely what God revealed to them. They saw the sufferings of the Messiah, and also the glory that would follow; but they could not fully understand the connection between the two. In fact, in some of the prophecies, the Messiah’s sufferings and glory are blended in one verse or paragraph.
God told the prophets that they were ministering for a future generation. Between the suffering of Messiah and His second coming, we call the time period as “the age of the church.” The truth about the church was a hidden “mystery” in the Old Testament period (Eph.3:1-13). The Old Testament believers looked ahead by faith and saw, as if it were, two mountain peaks: Mount Calvary, where Messiah suffered and died (Isa.53), and Mount Olive, where He will return in glory (Zech.14:4). They could not see the “valley” in between, the present age of the church. Even the angels are interested in what God is doing in and through His church!
If the Old Testament prophets searched so diligently into the truths of salvation, and yet had so little to go on, how much more ought we to search into this subject, now that we have a complete Word from God! The same Holy Spirit who taught the prophets and, through them, wrote the Word of God, can teach us the truths in it (Jn.16:12-15).
Furthermore, we can learn these truths from the Old Testament as well as from the New Testament. You can find Christ in every part of the Old Testament Scriptures (Lk. 24:25-27). What a delight it is to meet Christ in the Old Testament Law, the types, the Psalms, and the writings of the prophets. In times of trial, we can turn to the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, and find all that you need for encouragement and enlightenment.
Yes, when we love Him, trust Him, and rejoice in Him, we experience the glory here and now.