lion rebel

FIRST PETER
CHAPTER ONE: VERSES 1 – 2

I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours! 

In these two opening verses, two things stick to me: Peter knows who he is without a doubt, and he knows God’s heart for everyone else. These two things should be central to the faith of every follower of Christ.

I say this because I know what it means to struggle with knowing who you are in Christ and living that out whole heartedly. Peter, at this stage, had no doubt. He was an apostle, one of those personally commissioned by Jesus the Christ to take the word of testimony to the nations. In this letter he is fulfilling part of that commission. And, it’s not without doubt that Peter has reached this status of knowledge about himself in Christ. Without too much detail provided, you can draw into your mind the reality of Peter in the days during and after Jesus as man was crucified. First the denial of his personal relationship which followed so closely his sworn allegiance – then his return to the old way of living for him: fishing as if he had never known Christ and the magnificent things he had done.

I want to respond with ridicule at this point: who would go back to just fishing as a way of life when you had experienced the power of the resurrection of the dead (multiple times!)and the instantaneous healing of people without even a touch (and those who had been touched)?!? Peter most definitely experienced a stage of deep grief in wondering who he was in Christ. But, thankfully for us, we need to go through a crisis of identity to be able to stand firm in our knowledge of who we are in Christ. Some of us do not have to go through the drastic state that Peter went through – complete denial and utter retrograde of living. But it manifests in everyone’s life at some point.

And Peter knows that too, because the first thing he mentions about those he is writing his letter to is that they are exiles spread throughout the earth, but that they are not missing or forgotten. That God, the Father of all, is watching every single one of us, keeping a careful eye and willing his Spirit to work in us.

If you’ve gone through or are going through what I am experiencing, you know how important this is for your life’s breath. The distance, the ache, the emptiness you feel when you do the things you’ve always done that have gotten you close to God. Strangely enough, I have intense moments of intimacy with God – but in an instant they vanish and my heart remains longing, wishing for a longer embrace, praying for a revitalization of my spirit with the Spirit.

And that is exactly what God is at work doing: by the Spirit, keeping us obedient through the sacrifice of Christ, the Messiah. This takes patience from God, the great Patient One; and this takes discipline from us, the Undisciplined Ones. Listening to the Spirit takes great effort – you won’t grow by going through the motions and not paying attention; but we will grow by being attentive and allowing for a greater measure of his breath in our spirits.

And finally, Peter wishes that all would experience the good things God has to offer. This isn’t riches or worry-less freedom; this is the life and breath of God. Knowing who you are and who everyone else is, is one of the keys to maintaining a firm balance of life in the chaotic balance beam world in which we live. God’s heart is for us, the extended, the lost, the depraved.