Resurrection Hope: Faith’s Connection To Future Glory (1 Peter 1:6-9)
English Standard Version Chapter 1
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Last week, we explored our inheritance in Christ that was sealed for us when we were born again through his resurrection. We learned that it is our union to Jesus through faith that secures every one of God‘s promises. Since the living and immortal Christ is seated on his throne in heaven, our salvation hope is unshakable. It is kept in heaven for us. Yet we wait for it be ours fully.
Let’s look at again at verse 5: who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Verse 5 tells us that God is guarding us by his power for that coming salvation, and the means he uses to guard us is our faith in Jesus.
So there is a connection between our faith in our waiting and our future glory. That’s what I want to explore today.
The Journey Home
Before we go further in our text, I want to paint a mental picture for you of this faith journey. Remember Peter calls us elect sojourners. We are not yet home, but on a journey home.
I want you to picture Christ on his throne. He’s holding in his hands new clothes for you representing your righteousness; he’s holding a ring designed uniquely for you, showing your position in the family; he’s holding the deed to your new land in the new heaven and earth; and his arms are opened wide with a smile on his face eager to embrace you and welcome you home and say “well done”. That’s your imperishable inheritance kept in heaven for you now as we speak. That’s home. That’s what you were made for and what Christ purchased for you and is already yours.
But I want you to think about yourself far from home. You’ve awoken to the reality of your sin, you’ve awoken to the truth that Jesus is the only Savior and Lord, and you’ve begun the journey home, but it’s a long way home and the journey is filled with trials. Yet you know deep down that the journey is worth it. You’ve heard the promises of this inheritance and you’ve experienced tastes of it even now, so you press on.
Friends, that’s faith.
Faith heeds the call of Jesus: “Come to me all who are weary, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). Faith comes. Faith receives. Faith in Jesus is the link to future glory.
Peter says in verse 5 that it is “through faith” that God is powerfully guarding you for that future salvation.
Faith puts you on the journey home and faith keeps you on the journey, but God’s power guards you all the way home. Don’t take this analogy too far and think that getting home is really up to you.
No, God’s power is at work in you by the Holy Spirit that he poured into our hearts. God has already inseparably tied you to himself by his Spirit in Christ. You are not yet with him, but at the same time you are already joined to him by the Spirit who will guide you home.
Remember Jesus’s words about this before he went to the cross. “I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you…I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you…13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
Have you ever seen the videos of the Everest climbs, where these climbers tether onto a line that keeps them safe in treacherous parts of the mountain? Our faith journey home is kind of like that. It’s like there’s a safety rope tied to you via the Holy Spirit that will lead you all the way home. Your job is to not disconnect from the rope. That’s faith. But the prize is far greater than reaching the peak of Everest and living to tell about it. And the bond is far greater than a little metal clip. Your very being has become one with Christ in God through the Spirit.
But there is a reason you need to be guarded by God on the journey. This journey is full of trials and temptations. This faith journey is not a walk on the beach, but often more like climbing Everest. Let’s look at verse 6.
Rejoicing Despite Trials
English Standard Version Chapter 1
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
Verse six starts with rejoicing. Everything leading up to this verse is worth rejoicing over, and we’ll find everything in the coming verses is worth rejoicing over too.
Various Trials
But Peter explains the current situation, “for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.”
On this journey, we are grieved by various trials. This road is full of difficult times, which the famous Pilgrim’s progress depicts so well, where Christian is faced with difficult terrain and temptations, enemies within and without.
These trials are real and difficult. They grieve us. Grieving is awful. It’s heavy. It’s earth-shattering, life-altering kind of stuff.
I appreciate the broad sweeping description that various gives to our suffering. Trials can include anything from a painful working life. It can include the pain of singleness. It can include physical pain, difficulty in parenting, difficulty with friendships. It can include Barrenness or hair loss or sickness. It can include difficulty in decision-making. It can include intense temptations. It can include breakups and hard marriage situations. It can include fear and anxiety about the future. It can include depression and mental instability. It can include war. It can include loss in the family. It can include deconstruction of the faith of your friends or family.
Yet, Peter adds two interesting descriptions of this journey filled with trials. “For a little while” and “if necessary”
For A Little While
It doesn’t feel like a little while when you’re in it, but I think it’s important that Peter qualifies it this way. We need to know that our trials in this life are not worth comparing with eternity. Compared with eternity, our trials are very small. Eternity makes “a little while” more than fitting as a description.
But know that this description does not diminish the pain. It does not diminish the grief. God does not diminish it either. He wept with Lazarus’s family at the tomb. And he weeps with you and calls us to weep with one another in our grief. Faith in this eternal glory that’s coming for us does not diminish our need to grieve properly with one another. We must. God invites us to do so, especially in the psalms. Grief is real in this fallen, broken, death-ridden world, and so we must grieve. We must lament and pour out our burdens at the feet of the Lord and with one another. We must let him know how we feel, how we ache, how we hurt. And we should do that in community because it is a gift for us.
I know each of you has been grieved by various trials. But you can rejoice in this fact. It’s just for a little while.
But notice the second description around these trials that gives reason for more rejoicing.
If Necessary - God Gives Us What We Need
Please don’t skip over those two words “if necessary”. Those two words give meaning to your suffering. Those two words put suffering, not in an uncontrollable, fate category, something that comes at us just because, but rather those two words massage purpose into our trials by the hands of our heavenly Father.
“If necessary” wraps every single one of our trials up into the heart of a loving God who sees his children right where they are and understands everything they need. God knows what we need, and sometimes if necessary, if needed, that is if God believes that certain trials are fitting for our maturity and salvation, he allows us to pass through them.
Think again of that Holy Spirit rope image that I shared a moment ago. Sometimes, in God’s wisdom, that path will lead you in places you don’t want to go. Sometimes staying connected to the path and the rope feels more difficult than would seem necessary, like choosing to be single and waiting for a godly man rather than choosing the world’s easier path, or like choosing to accept financial loss or reputation rather than being dishonest at work or choosing to deny your Savior in what you do or say at school or with friends. Staying on the path often includes risk, loss, pain. Jesus described the path as taking up your cross. It will often feel like a path of death not life even as it did for Christ when he was led into the wilderness or led to the cross.
Either way, we can rejoice because our trials are not haphazard but purposeful. We can rejoice because there is no trial or sorrow or pain that hasn’t passed through our Father’s hands. He understands all things. He knows all things and he wills all things for the good of his children. All things must work together for good for those who are in Christ Jesus. That can cause us to rejoice even in our trials. Rejoicing is a form of faith. It is a faith-filled emotion.
But what is the good God is accomplishing for us through our trials?
Trials That Prove Your Genuine Faith
Verse seven says this: “you have been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith… may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” I’m skipping over the clause and coming back to it.
But this verse is tied to God’s purpose for trials in your suffering. God’s good plan for your suffering is to test and prove the genuineness of your faith. God’s good plan for you and your trials is to bring about praise and glory and honor to you when Jesus comes again.
When you don’t understand the awful trials that you are going through, please hold on to this truth: God intends all of this for your future praise and glory and honor as you finish the race trusting in Jesus.
Peter says that this is more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire. Gold is precious in this world. But Peter says gold is incomparable to the value of genuine proven faith. When your faith is tried by trials, even as gold is tested by fire, and your faith stands in the midst of those trials, you can be sure that future glory is waiting for you. You can be sure that the streets of gold will be yours. When you pass through depression or despair, loss or pain, but come through holding fast to the rope in faith, you should rejoice because it proves that you are truly united to God in Christ and will receive everything he’s promised in just a little while. All glory and honor will come to you as all the pain and tears and suffering is wiped away at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
So God‘s good purpose in trials for every single one of us is the tested genuineness of our faith. God, our Father, wants you to have assurance of salvation. He wants you to know that all of this is purposeful and preparing you for future glory with the Lord. These trials, necessary for a little while, are working for you an assurance of your coming glory, which is cause for great joy.
Faith Producing Joy Filled With Glory
Look at verse eight with me: it says “Though you have not seen him you love him, though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.“
Again, this is Faith. We do not now see him, but our love for him is aflame. We don’t see the rope, but we are confident that the Spirit is leading us in truth and will lead us home. We don’t see him, but we experience even in our trials love for God and an inexpressible joy.
Inexpressible Joy
Christian Joy is different than fleeting pleasure or happiness. It is not tied to our circumstances, but is tied to our faith in Jesus and our eternal future glory. Joy can last even when gold and health pass. There’s something about a Christian Joy that is inexpressible. Janet shared a story with me about her friend Sherri Holt, who felt even as she was nearing death that her heart would explode with excitement as she approached the day she got to see her Lord Jesus. This is inexpressible. It was hard for her to explain, but she felt it deeply. Only a Christian can understand that trials cannot shake this joy. Yes, we will be grieved with sorrow. We will not act like nothing is wrong. But even in the midst of it, we get glimmers of inexpressible joy that is “filled with glory.”
Joy Filled With Glory
Why is our joy filled with glory? I believe it is filled with glory as it provides us with glimpses of eternity. There is something so heavenly and other-worldly about our joy in the midst of suffering. When we rejoice in the hope in the resurrection of Jesus, rejoice in our union with Christ, experiencing peace and joy that passes understanding, Christ’s glory is flowing through us in an inexpressible way.
And Brother and Sister, when you find yourself there, believing even without seeing, trusting him even in trials, rejoicing even in the waiting, your faith is proven genuine and your future glory is assured. That should provide even more reason for rejoicing!
Ben’s Testimony
I had a conversation with my older brother a year ago after he found out that his 10 year old son had stage 3 cancer. Beyond that trial, he had already endured horrendous trials that I hope none of us have to endure. But he testified to me that he would not trade any of the trials, that he would not trade this life for another one because of what it has done for his faith. He described that his closeness to the Lord was not diminished, but grew stronger, that he felt the nearness of Jesus in the brokenness of his marriage and in the sight of his cancer-ridden son. My brother celebrated and rejoiced even in horrible trials because it drew him closer to the Lord. I would add, it showed him and everyone watching even more clearly the glory coming to him soon. It has given him a greater assurance of faith producing inexpressible joy.
Already Obtaining Salvation
I love how verse nine connects our faith to our future glory. “obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls”.
Peter says the outcome of our faith is salvation. The end of this journey is a glorious salvation and inheritance in Christ. But get this, he says that as your faith is proven genuine that you have already begun to obtain the salvation you long for! Do you see the present reality he describes. You already are obtaining what your faith longs for.
When your faith is proven genuine through the many trials of this life, you can be assured that you are saved and that you will be saved. There is a true assurance that can be yours now.
Gospel: Jesus walked this road and walks with us now.
Many of you have experienced and are currently faced horrible trials and sorrow and suffering. For some of you, heaven feels far away. The idea of you being honored with praise and glory at the revelation of Jesus feels like a dream.
Jesus walked this road and walks with us now.
I want you to know that Jesus our Lord was also tested by unbelievable sorrow, even being called the man of sorrows. He was poor, a refugee, hated from his birth; He watched loved ones die. He was rejected, betrayed, and ultimately murdered. He’s walked this road before you. He knows what it’s like to cry out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” He also experienced glimpses of glory when he watched faith click for his disciples, when he saw people turn and believe in him. He experienced deep inexpressible joy knowing that the Father would be glorified through his death and that he would win his bride.
And now he has obtained the glory and exaltation that he hoped for. He is seated at the right hand of God and exalted above every other name so that every name in heaven earth and under the Earth will bow their knee to him and confess that he is Lord. From that place he waits to receive you.
Because Jesus is raised and exalted, and because he sent his Spirit into our hearts, you can be sure as you put your faith in him that he will keep you and you will be raised and exalted and glorified with him.
And when you are, you will agree with Peter that these trials are just for a little while. You will agree with James the brother of Jesus who said “count it all Joy when you are faced with various trials (Jm 1:2). You will agree with the apostle Paul, who said these trials are not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed to us (Rm 8:18).
I pray that even now your faith would be strengthened so that you would be able to rejoice in your trials and rejoice that our God is purposeful and good in every trial, strengthening our faith and preparing us for future glory.
Application: Set Your Hope and Faith on Jesus
Set Your Hope Fully On The Coming Of Jesus
English Standard Version Chapter 1
13 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.
Brothers and sisters, keep your eyes on Jesus. Set Your Hope and Faith on Jesus. With sober minds, stay on the path, stay connected to the safety rope, and set your hope fully on the Grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Peter exhorts us: don’t set your hope on your circumstances changing, though we should ask for them to change. Don’t set your hope on your own ability to stand. But rather, set your hope on the revelation of Jesus.
He says he’s coming soon for you. He invites us to come to him for rest, but it’s him who first came to us and him is coming soon to us to rescue us all, kind of like the father running to his prodigal son. So, put your faith in Jesus, your living hope. Rejoice today if you are still holding on to him in faith and your faith is proven genuine. Rejoice that he is coming soon and every trial will soon be over.