1 Peter 1:13-21

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.  He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Christ is the key to survival in the face of exile.  We may not be experiencing the persecution and Peter’s readers face in their dispersion; but remaining faithful in a world that has turned it’s back on God requires the same focus on Christ.  We need to be vigilant in our lives to make sure that the world does not influence us instead of us influencing the world as we are called to do.  Only looking to Jesus will help us be successful in that pursuit.    

BE SOBER MINDED AND HOPE IN THE REVELATION: So much of the Christian life is in the mind.  Attention is needed as there are so many lies that come from the deceiver, the world in which we live, and our own hearts.  Preparation for focus and discernment is necessary if we are to be successful in our walk with the Lord.  It is easy to have misplaced hope with all the things this world tries to offer.  The distractions that come from offers of comfort and prosperity coupled with the persecution that accompanies obedience can cause us to put our hope in all the wrong places.  God calls us to a life of hope in Christ and the knowledge that everything on this earth is temporary.  Discipline of the mind is necessary to fix our hope on the coming of Christ instead of on present circumstances whether pleasant or difficult. 

BE HOLY AND REMEMBER THE INCARNATION: God calls us to a life of obedience.  This requires turning from the way we used to live in ignorance of God and His ways while giving into the passions of our own hearts.  God has demonstrated His righteous standard of holiness through the incarnation of Christ.  Jesus shows us exactly what the standard of holiness is and then empowers us through His Spirit to be able to follow His example.  He is perfectly holy and as we fix our eyes on Him, He becomes the example we follow instead of the sinful pattern produced by this world.

BE FEARFUL AND CONSIDER THE CRUCIFIXION: Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  Fearing the Lord is a reverent and ardent desire to please Him.  Man naturally seeks to please himself and promote His own well-being.  God did not create us to please ourselves but to please Him.  Seeking to please ourselves will only result in futility and ignorance as the children of Israel experienced.  One day every knee will bow before Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.  He will judge us on whether we lived to please Him or if we lived to please ourselves.  The only way anyone will ever live to please the Lord is because of salvation through faith in Christ.  He has purchased us with His own blood.  Faith in Him and His sacrifice on our behalf is the only means by which we can be saved from our own selfish desires and find forgiveness.

BE HOPEFUL AND BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION: We can have hope because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but He did not stay dead.  God raised Him up from the grave and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father.  Through faith in Him, we can have that same hope that we are reconciled with the Father and will be welcomed into His presence because we are in Christ and partake of His righteousness.  God’s plan of salvation was determined from the foundations of the earth, but Christ has been revealed to us in amazing clarity.  The patriarchs and prophets looked forward to the promised Messiah, but we look back on His incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven.  We also look forward to His glorious revelation.

APPLICATION: Be prepared to face challenges in this fallen world.  Understand we are in a battle and our minds must always be alert and prepared.  Imitate Christ in all we do and say as we are called to know Him and live how He lived.  Live to please the Lord because He died to ransom us from the futility of our own sin.  Trust in His death and hope in His resurrection because He is our only source of eternal life.

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