1 Peter 1:17-23
If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.
Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
Reflection
We weren't saved by human standards, like the paying of a debt. We were saved by the blood of God through Jesus as a sacrifice. A salvation that came to us when we were at the end of it all. The end of ourselves and the end of our time.
This passage reveals God's love that is so deep that God planned for a way of salvation before the foundation of the world. Sure, we have a choice. God has given us the freedom to act. But now God has revealed in Jesus a choice for salvation also. God has revealed the Truth in Jesus for all the world to be able to make this choice.
I remember from catechism days, Luther's explanation to the Second Article of the Apostle's Creed...
“I believe that Jesus Christ -- true God, Son of the Father from eternity, and true man, born of the Virgin Mary -- is my Lord. At great cost he has saved and redeemed me, a lost and condemned person. He has freed me from sin, death, and the power of the devil -- not with silver or gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.”
Reciting this in front of the confirmation class and Pastor Bergdall set into my mind just a hint of the depth of the love God has for me and for all people, past, present and future. That God would come through eternity and become flesh in order to save me... a lost and condemned person. What love! And with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death at that!
How deep the love of God for me, for us, but also how deep the love and trust I now have for God. A trust that as I see my perishable body age and decay and die; I can rest assured that through Jesus' resurrection, I still have a spirit that will live in the love and life of God with Christ Jesus my Savior. And the hope and trust that some day... some day... there will be that wondrous resurrection of the dead to follow Jesus into his Kingdom. And all of this has begun here and now. All of eternity with God is available and present here and now and forever to those who believe and follow Jesus. Thanks be to God!
Song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP0tEceh8Bg
Prayer
Lord, what a great cost you have paid for me and for all people. May we all come to see and place all of our trust and hope in this great Love that we become your disciples and follow you in trust, faith, hope and deep faith in what you have already done for us... at a great cost to Jesus. You are God, Father, Savior, Advocate.. today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen
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