Every week, an Australian missionary friend of ours, Frank Tottingham, emails an article he has written. I think he sends them out on his Monday morning, but I get it on Sunday night. The one I received three days ago, led me toward these few thoughts this evening. Brother Tottingham began with I Peter 1:8 – “Whom having not seen, ye love…” Then he wrote: “Wow! What a statement. Could this be said of me? This week starts the New Year – the Year of our Lord 2025, and I must ask myself, Do I love the Lord Jesus Christ?’ ‘Whom having not seen, ye love.’ Even though I have never seen Him, do I love Him?”
After briefly tying together the New Year and what should be our well-seasoned love, my mind wandered off in a slightly different direction.
But first let’s remind ourselves of what Peter is saying.
Verse 1 – Peter was writing to Christians and churches in what is now the country of Turkey. Without naming them, this included the churches in the first chapter of Revelation – Philadelphia, Ephesus, Sardis and the four others. It also included cities and churches started by Paul – Lystra, Derbe and Antioch in Pisidia. Peter called his readers: “pilgrims of the diaspora” – the “scattered strangers.” They were probably strangers to Peter, but even more importantly they were strangers in the world. They were pilgrims on their way to the better land where they were already documented citizens.
Verse 2 – even though recipients of this letter were strangers in the world, they were not strangers to God. They were saved, sanctified and obedient to the gospel – bec they had been chosen by God in eternity past. They were foreknown to God in a way which parallels how Adam knew his wife – intimately, not intellectually. “Greetings, Pilgrim. May grace abound toward you. May you be filled with peace during your heavenly journey.”
Verse 3 – Praise be to the triune God who, by His grace and mercy, has regenerated our sin-dead spirits. Because our Saviour lives we have life – a living hope, guaranteed and eternal in the heavens.
Verse 4 – That hope we have in Christ includes an incorruptible, spotless inheritance with our name on it. You could say that it is locked away in a safe-deposit box which requires two keys to be opened. One of those keys was put in our hand the day we were born again, but the other is held by the Lord Jesus. Not only is our Saviour invincible and fully prepared for our eventual arrival… We ourselves “are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in last time.”
Verse 6 – While looking ahead to the beautiful mountains of Heaven, we find ourselves still living in the valley. We’ve been here through a few seasons now, and it looks as if we may have to pass through a few more. In some years, the seasons pass quickly, but in other years they seem to go on without end. Furthermore, some seasons are filled with heaviness and crushing problems seemingly without end. But “there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful…” – I Cor 10:13. Who determines if those temptations and trials are “needed?” It is the same God who loved us and gave Himself for us.
Verse 7 – “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” In the escape from any trial – any temptation – there are potential blessings for the escapee. Think about Peter when he was in Herod Agrippa’s jail cell, expecting to be beheaded. The Lord’s angel made a way for him to escape. That deliverance made life much more precious than it had been before, both for Peter and for the church. And now for two millennia that trial and escape, have been a part of Peter’s joy and praise to God. And Peter tells us, “Your trial… might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearance of Jesus Christ.” Peter may have personally expected death, because of something Jesus told him. But he seems to think that many of these pilgrims would not die, being present at the reappearing of Christ.
Verse 8 – It is unlikely that any of those Asian pilgrims had personally seen Jesus of Nazareth. Like ourselves, they hadn’t had the privilege to lay the eyes of their flesh upon their Saviour. But yet believing, they rejoiced in Him and in their highly anticipated deliverance from sin and wrath. And along with their faith in Christ, they possessed an undying love for the One who died for them. “Whom having not see, ye love… with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” As Brother Tottingham asked himself – “Do I love the Lord Jesus? Even though I have never seen him, do I love Him?” We should ask ourselves the same question. Also, even while I remain in the valley of the shadow of death, am I filled with praise to Christ, “rejoicing with joy unspeakable and fully of glory?”
Verse 9 – Peter says, “Brethren the end of your salvation is guaranteed – it is more than guaranteed.” At the end of your faith is the salvation of your souls. Don’t be worried about the strength of your faith; just continue to look at the end of your faith. Remember that faith too is the gift of God, and it is guaranteed by HIS authority not YOUR strength. It is not about your faith, it is about the One in whom you have placed your faith – and your love.
This is the gist of the introduction to Peter’s introduction.
But now let me repurpose these words for a short lesson appropriate to the beginning of the New Year.
Despite our election to salvation and the sprinkling of the blood of Christ upon our souls… Despite our daily feasting on divine grace, and our access to the peace of God in Christ… Despite all the Lord has laid up for His people – an incorruptible inheritance reserved in heaven for us… Despite the fact we are kept by the power of God ready to be revealed at the appropriate time… Despite that we will enjoy our more Saviour intensely when He comes for us in the not too distant future… The Lord, in His wisdom and providence, has brought us to the shore of the ocean we call 2025. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy has begotten us – and ordained – that we enter into a new year.”
None of us have the gift of prophecy, which means we have no idea what is going to befall us in 2025. It could be that this year will be much like last year with the same blessings and the same trials. Or the Lord might test our integrity by giving us an earthly inheritance beyond our wildest dreams. This may end up being the happiest, wealthiest, most exciting and joyous year of our lives. But many people do not know how to handle sudden extremely blessings – blessings like huge wealth. Since no Christian in this room has ever experienced it, we can’t know for sure if the temptations of those blessings might not overcome us. We probably think we would do just fine, but that is not the testimony of human history. On the other hand we may suffer unimagined loss – health, wealth, family members. In this year to come, your faith may be put to the greatest trial of your Christian life. You may be “tried with fire” in this year which has just begun.
What if a loved one was murdered right in front of you? How would you respond? What if our church building was firebombed or an insane man came into our Sunday service firing an automatic rifle? Do you remember when a man did that in an Amish school in 2006. Would we handle it as well as those people did? What if your closest friend turned on you, accusing you of unspeakable things – criminal things? What if you were stricken down with an untreatable, debilitating disease, making your life unbearable? Would you be able to say “this is more precious than gold that perisheth?”
Having not yet seen what the Lord has in store for you in the coming year, you may enter it with joy and faith. But can you say, “It doesn’t matter what the Lord has planned, I will praise Him for it all?” Can you say, “If the Lord will, I will live and do this or that?” It is fine to make plans, and even a few resolutions, but hold them with loose hands. Be willing to drop them the moment the Lord tells you they are not in His plans.
Look at verse 8. Isn’t the word “him” in italics in your Bible? That indicates that “him” doesn’t come from a specific Greek word; it has been applied by the translator. I believe it is absolutely appropriate, and wouldn’t ask anyone to remove it. But for the sake our lesson, let’s skip the first part of the verse and then also omit “him.” When we do that it says, “Though now ye see not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” Looking at the year ahead of us, we see not; we are blind.
What don’t we see in 2025? Just about everything. We see through a glass darkly. Is 2025 in an ugly, grey fog before your eyes, or is it enveloped in a great, white beautiful cloud? Can you enter the year with joy and full of expectation? Do you expect to stay that way no matter what God might permit, or will you quickly crumble into Christian agnosticism?
Verse 8 begins with – “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” I go back to our friend’s question: “Do I love the Lord Jesus? Even though I have never seen Him, do I love Him?” Sure I do. Yes, I love my Saviour. But here is an appropriate question for the first day of the year: “Will I love Him as the year continues?” Will I love the Lord Who permits even horrendous trials, and Who sometimes permits pain? Can I say in faith and in surrender to His help… “Yes, I’ll love Him in the midst of His blessings and in the midst of the negative trials as well. And I will love Him every moment until I receive the end of my faith and the completion of salvation?”
Here is a suggested resolution and a promise to make to the Lord on this first day of year. But don’t think for a moment you’ll be able to keep it without the extraordinary gift of Holy Spirit help. If by God’s grace you love the Lord at this moment, thank Him. And tonight during prayer ask Him to enable you to love Him tomorrow, next week, and next month until that day when you “receive the end of your faith even the salvation of your soul.”