Rejoicing in a Secure Hope
11/5/25 Bible Thought (1 Peter 1)
The Christian has a reason for rejoicing, no matter what life may throw at them.
As we open the first letter of Peter, we see that he is writing to a group of believers undergoing trials, most likely some form of persecution. Yet, even while persecution could take a believer’s life, no trial can take our joy unless we let it.
For the Christian has a secure hope of glory:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Pet. 1:3-5).
The Christian has a heavenly inheritance rooted in the confounding mercy of God that is not going anywhere!
Unlike earthly treasures that rot, rust, or fade with age, our treasure in heaven is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. Even more, God preserves His own so that they will one day obtain it! (1 Pet. 1:5). The inheritance is secure, and so is the believer.
Then Peter brings this home a step further:
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Pet. 1:6).
In this, Peter writes—that is, in our secure heavenly inheritance we can rejoice, even if down here things are not going so well.
Now, remember, Peter is writing to believers persecuted for their faith, something that far surpasses the oftentimes menial trials that believers in the west face. In America we can be upset when our Amazon packages are delayed, or a restaurant gets our order wrong. Any number of “first-world problems” seem even more ridiculous when compared to the persecution of the early church.
Regardless, every trial of this life is merely a light momentary affliction that pales in comparison to the weight of glory that is coming for us (2 Cor. 4:17).
This joy with which the Christian can rejoice is called “inexpressible” for words cannot tell the whole (1 Pet. 1:8).
We have probably all heard a pastor or Bible teacher at one point or another reference the original language of Scripture and a nuance that does not always translate clear into English. Here, what is so beautiful, is that in the original Greek this still means, “what cannot be expressed in words.”[1]
Peter says, “I don’t have Greek good enough to describe this joy.” English translators concur, “We don’t have English that cuts it to describe this joy.”
Human language fails in its communication of the glory of our salvation. It can scratch the surface but never plumb its depths.
As if this is not enough, Peter goes on to show us that the source of the Christian’s joy is the envy of both prophets and angels.
The Old Testament prophets prophesied about the coming grace (1 Pet. 1:10) but they did not have the whole picture. Isaiah knew He would be a suffering servant, Daniel knew He would be the Son of Man, Micah knew He would be born in Bethlehem, Zechariah knew He would come into Jerusalem atop a donkey and yet none of them knew the name of Jesus.
Even more, these are things that the Scripture says angels long to look into (1 Pet. 1:12). Angels do not know the experience of redemption, for Christ came to save sinful people. There is an old gospel song that says:
“I’ve got a song holy angels cannot sing! Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. I’ve got a song holy angels cannot sing! I once was lost, but now I’m found.”
Knowing the grandeur of our salvation and the security of our hope, we can and should rejoice with inexpressible joy filled with glory, even when trials may afflict us.
One day we will be with Him who ransomed us, the One whom we believe in and love by faith, and that will make every hardship of this life in serving Him worth it.
[1] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996) 399.