Introduction
Are you learning to hold joy and sorrow at the same time, to greatly rejoice in Christ while still being grieved by real trials? The central teaching of 1 Peter is that God gives His people a living hope in Jesus’ resurrection that outweighs present suffering and steadies us as chosen exiles in a world that doesn’t feel like home. We’ve finished our journey through Proverbs, and now we’re beginning a new series: Living Hope: A Study in 1 Peter. Peter writes to first-century churches scattered across the Roman Empire, and he writes to us, too, because the gospel always lands in the real soil of our actual lives. And in this letter, Peter teaches us how to live faithfully when life delivers “good news and bad news” at the same time. Peter opens like this:
- 1 Peter 1:1–2 , “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion… elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.”
- 1 Peter 1:3–6 , We are born again to a living hope, kept by God’s power, awaiting an inheritance that cannot fade, and yet we may be “grieved by various trials.”
That dual reality, rejoicing and grieving, will frame everything we learn.
Main Points
Are you learning to hold joy and sorrow at the same time, to greatly rejoice in Christ while still being grieved by real trials? The central teaching of 1 Peter is that God gives His people a living hope in Jesus’ resurrection that outweighs present suffering and steadies us as chosen exiles in a world that doesn’t feel like home.
We’ve finished our journey through Proverbs, and now we’re beginning a new series: Living Hope: A Study in 1 Peter. Peter writes to first-century churches scattered across the Roman Empire, and he writes to us, too, because the gospel always lands in the real soil of our actual lives. And in this letter, Peter teaches us how to live faithfully when life delivers “good news and bad news” at the same time.
Peter opens like this:
- 1 Peter 1:1–2 , “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the Dispersion… elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.”
- 1 Peter 1:3–6 , We are born again to a living hope, kept by God’s power, awaiting an inheritance that cannot fade, and yet we may be “grieved by various trials.”
That dual reality, rejoicing and grieving, will frame everything we learn.
Living In Dual Realities
Life often hits us with layered realities: good and bad in the same moment. That’s not just a storytelling device, it’s a spiritual reality. Peter says it plainly:
- “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Peter 1:6).
I want you to hear the honesty and the hope: Peter doesn’t deny grief. He doesn’t shame sorrow. But he insists the good news is heavier than the bad news. The gospel doesn’t remove every trial right now, but it gives you a hope so strong that your trials don’t get the final word.
As we walk through 1 Peter together, we will learn to praise, even sometimes through tears, because our joy is anchored in something deeper than circumstances.
Hope Stronger Than Circumstances
Peter immediately overwhelms suffering with worship:
- “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (1 Peter 1:3)
Why? Because God has done something decisive:
- He “has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
- He has given us “an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4).
- And we are “kept by the power of God through faith” (1 Peter 1:5).
Let me disciple you gently here: your hope is not mainly that your life will get easier soon. Your living hope is that Jesus is alive, you are born again, you are kept by God, and you have an inheritance that cannot be stolen, stained, or exhausted.
That is why Peter can say there is far more reason to rejoice than to be grieved, even when the grieving is real.
Exiles In A Pressurized Empire
Peter calls these believers “pilgrims of the Dispersion” (1 Peter 1:1). That word dispersion echoes Israel’s history of being scattered under conquering empires. Peter uses it to help the church interpret their moment under Rome.
Rome was powerful, wealthy, expanding, culturally and religiously diverse, and pulled at the seams with competing visions of life. In that setting, Christians became socially marginalized because they didn’t fit the expected patterns: they wouldn’t bend the knee to Caesar as lord; they wouldn’t join in the pagan religious festivals; they lived with moral conviction that looked “rigid” to their neighbors.
If you’ve felt pressure rising against Christian conviction, if you’ve felt like you don’t fit neatly into the competing “tribes” of the culture, Peter is speaking directly to you. He’s not calling us to panic, grasp for status, or merely grit our teeth and survive. He’s calling us to lift our eyes and ask: “God, what are You doing in this time to produce living hope and faithful witness?”
Chosen And Rejected Together
Peter gives us two identity markers at once:
- You are pilgrims/sojourners/exiles (1 Peter 1:1).
- You are also elect, chosen by God (1 Peter 1:2).
This is the tension we must learn to live in: you may be rejected by people, but you are chosen by God. Later Peter says it like this:
- “Rejected by men, but chosen by God” (implied from 1 Peter 2:4).
So yes, being an exile can feel unstable. You may feel like you can’t fully “settle” in this world. You may feel misunderstood, sidelined, or unwanted. But I want you to hold the other truth just as tightly: God chose you.
And being chosen is not cold or mechanical. Peter ties election to God’s intimate love:
- “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father” (1 Peter 1:2).
People often get stuck arguing the mechanics of foreknowledge. But Peter is aiming at something pastoral: God’s choosing is not detached; it is purposeful love. Consider how God describes His choosing of Israel:
- “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number… but because the LORD loves you” (Deuteronomy 7:7–8).
Here’s the comfort I want you to take: God didn’t choose you because you were impressive. He chose you because He loves you, and He chose you knowing what your life would require.
Foreknown Love Like Adoption
To help you feel what “foreknowledge” means, picture adoption. A mother and father see a child with deep needs, surgeries, therapy, lifelong care, and they say, “Knowing what this will cost, we choose you to be ours.”
That is a beautiful picture of God’s electing love. He chose you with full knowledge:
- He knew your fears.
- He knew your weaknesses.
- He knew the trials that would grieve you.
- He knew the sins you’d battle.
- He knew the moments you’d fall.
And He still said, “I will be your Father.”
And notice who is writing this: Peter, the man who denied Jesus, who was still chosen, restored, and sent. God’s foreknown love includes not only your future usefulness, but also your future failures and His future mercy.
Sanctified For Obedient Witness
God doesn’t just give us identity; He gives us purpose:
- “In sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience… [to] Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:2).
This is why God chose you for this time: sanctification and obedience.
Sanctification means the Holy Spirit is changing you from the inside out, making you holy, setting you apart for God’s glory. That happens personally (your desires, your habits, your repentance), and it happens corporately (God forming a distinct people in the middle of a watching world).
Peter will say it later:
- “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).
This is part of why we gather weekly, why we sing, pray, and submit ourselves to the Word. The church is being trained and reshaped into a people who belong to a different kingdom.
Then comes obedience, not as legalism, but as allegiance. Peter will press us to live differently in the empire:
- “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles…” (1 Peter 2:11–12).
The goal is that even when we are spoken against, our lives would cause observers to glorify God. That means we don’t borrow the empire’s playbook. We don’t let cultural outrage disciple us. We don’t follow whatever becomes fashionable or permissible. We belong to Jesus, and our obedience becomes part of our witness.
Conclusion
You and I live in the same kind of tension Peter addressed: powerful cultures, competing loyalties, social pressure, and real trials that can grieve us deeply. But we are not left without an anchor.
In 1 Peter, God teaches us to interpret our lives through two unshakable realities:
- We are exiles, not fully at home here.
- We are elect, fully chosen and loved by God.
And He gives us what we need to endure: a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, an inheritance that will not fade, and a Spirit-driven purpose, sanctification and obedience, so that our lives proclaim His praise in a watching world.
So I want to disciple you into this simple, steady posture: when trials come, don’t pretend they aren’t grievous. But also don’t measure reality only by what hurts right now. Measure it by Christ crucified and risen, by your adoption into God’s family, and by the inheritance reserved for you.
Father in heaven, blessed be Your name. Thank You for Your abundant mercy and for causing us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we are grieved by various trials, strengthen our faith and steady our hearts with the joy of what You have promised, an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us.
Teach us to live as Your chosen people and as sojourners in this world. Sanctify us by Your Spirit. Make our worship sincere and our conduct honorable. Grow our obedience to Jesus so that our lives proclaim Your praises and point others to the true Lord and King. Multiply Your grace and peace to us, and help us rejoice with hope until the day our salvation is fully revealed. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
You and I live in the same kind of tension Peter addressed: powerful cultures, competing loyalties, social pressure, and real trials that can grieve us deeply. But we are not left without an anchor.
In 1 Peter, God teaches us to interpret our lives through two unshakable realities:
- We are exiles, not fully at home here.
- We are elect, fully chosen and loved by God.
And He gives us what we need to endure: a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, an inheritance that will not fade, and a Spirit-driven purpose, sanctification and obedience, so that our lives proclaim His praise in a watching world.
So I want to disciple you into this simple, steady posture: when trials come, don’t pretend they aren’t grievous. But also don’t measure reality only by what hurts right now. Measure it by Christ crucified and risen, by your adoption into God’s family, and by the inheritance reserved for you.
Closing Prayer
Father in heaven, blessed be Your name. Thank You for Your abundant mercy and for causing us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we are grieved by various trials, strengthen our faith and steady our hearts with the joy of what You have promised, an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us.
Teach us to live as Your chosen people and as sojourners in this world. Sanctify us by Your Spirit. Make our worship sincere and our conduct honorable. Grow our obedience to Jesus so that our lives proclaim Your praises and point others to the true Lord and King. Multiply Your grace and peace to us, and help us rejoice with hope until the day our salvation is fully revealed. In Jesus’ name, amen.