Moment With The Master
“Finishing Strong”
Categories: Moment With The Master"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;" (1 Peter 1:13)
Prior to verse 13 Peter speaks of the great salvation and inheritance God had promised to his children. The anticipation of such a wonderful, heavenly home brings “inexpressible joy” (1:8) to these suffering pilgrims. But what are they to do in the mean time? The rest of the letter is devoted to this very proposition. I want to focus on the admonition found in verse 13: rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
The word “therefore” is the transition word that moves the reader from thoughts about salvation to the application section. God emphatically commands duty! Among the many duties is the command to live in hope! Hope is our attitude toward the future. It involves believing and trusting! It is a confident expectation of the fulfillment of God’s promises.
Peter says: “ rest (fix) your hope fully” – i.e. completely- upon the God’s promises. This is not a half-hearted endeavor, but “to the hilt!” It means selling out to God, to place their lives unreservedly in the hands of God and the better things he has promised! God provides sufficient evidence to give them such confidence. In verse 3 he states that their living hope is based upon the resurrection of Christ.
Next, Peter tells them they must look forward to the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. He also alludes to this in chapter 4:13: but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. (1 Peter 4:13) Do you really look forward to that day? What a great day it will be when Jesus comes in all of his glory. “Heaven will surely be worth it all”.
God emphatically commands us to fully believe in better things to come. Such confidence is spiritually healthy. It lifts us up above the mundane, doom and gloom of this world. By this hope we glorify God, because we tell the world that we really believe in his promises! Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
(Colossians 3:2-4)
By George Slover
