Kept Protected

1 Peter 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in Heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 
 
YOU might summarize 1 & 2 Peter as “Keep the Faith for Your Future.” Many of Peter’s words urge believers to stay focused on the eternal life inheritance the gracious God has given them. No one or no thing can take that gift from them. Their task is to receive a born-again life and live in the fullness of God’s grace.
   A good way to keep and grow your faith is to continually praise God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  With this name of God, Peter summarized the gospel. He taught and reminded the church that God had mercifully given us new life into a living hope through Jesus. This is the New Covenant of grace in one name.
   To the Jews, of course, this name of God as Jesus Messiah’s father was entirely new. Their ancestors had given God many names that pointed to God’s diverse character. But now the Christians know God as Father, Son and Spirit. Our inheritance of faith by grace reveals that Jesus is the Son of God and Messiah. Believers know the historical Jesus is God incarnate. His life marks the gift of eternal life.
   Because faith in Jesus is a living faith, it grows and gains strength as we learn more about our Lord. Properly nourished with God’s Word, faith grows in the Spirit’s power to create a hope that eagerly looks forward to God’s will being done on earth as it is in Heaven.    
   Rejoice, too, the gift is forever. Know it is kept in Heaven for you. It is an inheritance that can never perish – disappear, pass away or come to ruin. The inheritance will never spoil to become unfit for us or corrupted by sin.
   When Peter wrote our faith is shielded by God’s power, he is assuring us no earthly power can destroy it. His language is rooted in the military protection within a walled city. An army garrison was formed inside a city as an inner sanctuary to be a second defense if the walls were breached. Or you can say our inheritance is within an impenetrable safe inside a fortress. Even if the outer walls are attacked and reduced to rubble – as it seems to happen too often to the persecuted and false churches, our faith is secure under God’s protection.
   One reason the epistles speak to our everyday challenges is because Peter, Paul and the others experienced those same daily challenges and more. Their letters are testimonies to God’s power to protect their lives, so they could live into the blessing of salvation into eternity. They knew Jesus was their hope. Now they are with him, living the promise. This is our future, too, as we daily praise God for the life he has given us.