Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God. I Peter 1:21
At the time Peter wrote this letter the church is 35 years old and Paul has just been martyred. Nero has declared war on Christianity and by his example the torture and persecution of Christians reached across the entire Roman Empire. It was brutal. Silas was tasked to carry this letter to the many churches Paul established with Peter’s love and encouragement to remember the hope you find only in the Resurrection of Jesus. Peter felt with great certainty that he and his wife would soon be martyred for their commitment to the perpetuation of the Gospel but their salvation was sealed by Christ’s ultimate sacrifice so they had comfort rather than terror.
Peter was a front row witness to Jesus’ miracles, the crucifixion, the empty tomb, Christ’s fellowship before the ascension, the ascension AND Pentecost. Of course his hope was in the Savior he knew personally, but this letter is a testimony to those who had not seen and heard as Peter had.
It was not silver and gold, man’s most precious commodity, that secured eternal life, but the very thing that flows through a body and sustains life, that was the most wonderful gift. Jesus’ blood was given to ransom and redeem our souls. Peter saw it in living color and wants us to know with total assurance that it is true.
Love,
Gretchen