I am very thankful to men like N.T. Wright and Dallas Willard who through their careful interpretation of the Bible have helped me understand better the immediacy of what it means to live in the present moment with the frecognition of the present reality of Jesus' rule. N. t. wright has stressed the reality of the new creation, a new condition of things inaugurated through the resurrection of Jesus. I live in a new hope, a blessed participant in a new reality,, even a fellow worker with God in cultivating or building a bright and beautiful world.
But it is also important to realize the here but not yet character of our salvation and the revelation of Jesus' command of the new world. We still are looking forward to receiving an inheritance while we look forward to seeing Jesus' rule fully inaugurated in his second coming. I think that this is what Peter calls our living hope in his first letter.
Our hope is really important. Peter helps us to see just how important it is from the beginning to the end of his letter. Our hope is living. I think that means that it is something that stays with us, that it makes a difference right now to us in how we live. And it is ours because of or through Jesus' resurrection. In other words, without God's mercy, shown to us through the resurrection of Jesus, we would not have this hope (1:3).
So, what exactly is the thing we hope for? Peter says that the hope is that we have an inheritance. This inheritance is like the one that Jesus talked about in the sermon on the mount. It cannot be destroyed; it cannot rot away; it never loses its sheen; it cannot be stolen from us. (Paul talks about us having a deposit of this inheritance right now, the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 1). (1:4)
This inheritance is our salvation that will be revealed "in the last time," and it is protected by God's power "through faith." In other words, we believe, we put our trust in! Him that he will bring us and give us our salvation. Right now it may seem like there is no inheritance, no god that protects it, nothing that will be revealed. Instead, it seems like we just have a lot of problems: we have to struggle. There are different things, various things, that cause us to struggle, but the effect of going through these struggles is to refine our faith. And coming through these struggles in faith is a beautiful thing since it will mean or it will result in, us giving God praise, glory and honor as he give us praise, glory, and honor, when Jesus is revealed finally to all that he is God's King. (1:6-7).
