Born Into Hope | 1 Peter 1:1-12 | Confidence for Exiles

Watch This Sermon on 1 Peter 1:1-12

In the opening verses of 1 Peter, the apostle writes to believers who feel the tension of not belonging. He calls them “elect exiles”—chosen by God but scattered in a world that often opposes their faith. In this sermon, Born Into Hope, Pastor Mark Groen explores what it means to live with gospel confidence in a world that feels like exile.

Through 1 Peter 1:1–12, we see that our identity is rooted in God's sovereign grace, our inheritance is secure and unfading, and our faith—even when tested by fire—is more precious than gold. This passage is a call to hope, not because life is easy, but because the resurrection of Jesus has secured our salvation and our future.

Whether you're walking through hardship or simply longing for home, this message invites you to anchor your life in the living hope we’ve been born into.

📖 Click to Show the Transcript of this Sermon

Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon from First Reformed Church in Edgerton, Minnesota. Each week, we dig into God's word, trusting that the Holy Spirit will continue the good work of sanctification in us.

Back in February, when I was in Ethiopia, as you can imagine, it was really obvious that I didn't belong there. I was taller than most people. I dressed differently. And my low level of melanin made me stand out even more. It was obvious I wasn't from there. In fact, my friends Samuel and Baru said, "It's really obvious that you're not from here. If certain people approach, they may be friendly, they may just be panhandlers, but they might also be pickpockets." On the streets of Addis Ababa, I had my hands in my pockets, holding on to my wallet on one side and my mobile phone on the other, aware of that type of danger.

That's not my point. I was warmly welcomed. I really enjoyed being there. But if you've ever been gone from home for an extended period of time, you feel that pull of home. You understand that this is not where you're from, where you belong. I missed home. I was aware that I was a foreigner everywhere I went.

While I was there, it was interesting how important my passport became to me. I had put it someplace safe. I knew it was there. I knew it was safe, but at least once a day I checked to make sure it hadn't disappeared somehow. I had made copies of it and laminated them before I left and kept those in separate safe places. I checked on those as well. I knew I wasn't in my home country. I knew I needed that document to return home. And it was also a reminder of where I did belong.

So Peter opens his letter with a reminder kind of like that because he calls his readers elect exiles. They are chosen by God but very much they are not at home in this world. And just like I clung to my passport for identity and security, Peter shows us that our hope and our belonging come from something far greater. It's from a living hope secured by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The authority with which this message is being delivered to us comes from Peter, not only the one who walked with Jesus and learned at his feet, but the one who denied Jesus and betrayed him. This is Peter who was changed by the truth of the resurrection and what happened. We saw it last week. He spoke boldly on the day of Pentecost. So what we're about to encounter is more than just words on a page. This is a message from someone who has been transformed by the message that he is going to tell us.

As he sends this letter out, he has a specific group in mind. He says he is writing this to the elect exiles in the dispersion. So the message of this letter goes out to those that God has brought to faith in Jesus throughout the Roman Empire. We see this idea of the dispersion throughout the New Testament. I brought it up last week when we were looking at the story of Pentecost. Because throughout the generations, the people of God, because of their unfaithfulness, were scattered into exile. The people were brought back to the land. They had been deep in sin and idolatry. They were scattered, but God brings them back.

Well, when God brought the people back, not every Hebrew person came back to Israel. They had lives in the places where they had been scattered to. Many were born there and didn't know any different. And by the time the New Testament starts, there are Jewish folks all over the Roman Empire. And then at Pentecost, the message of the gospel goes back to these areas with all these people who had come to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost.

So Peter's message is to these people, and we see that it is a message that they are chosen by the foreknowledge of God. And remember, this isn't that God had foreknowledge that these were good people. That's not the idea of foreknowledge. Foreknowledge is about God knowing someone, revealing himself to them, putting himself in relationship to them. God has come to know them. When God knows someone, the idea is that he is bestowing grace upon them. They are being made holy by the work of the Spirit in them.

And then he says that it's for a purpose. This is the progression here. The purpose is obedience to Christ. They are called to a different life. They are called to a life that is set apart for him. And then he says something else here, that they are sprinkled by his blood. And this is significant. It was sealed by God. They would sprinkle blood on the people. And that sounds gross to us as modern people, but remember, blood used in these rituals of the old covenant wasn't extracted with a needle. Thanks for giving us the blood, Bessie. We're gonna go use this in our rituals. No, death happened. The blood of the animals that was sprinkled on the people was from a sacrifice. And this showed that life had been taken to pay the price for sin. And establishing that this relationship that they have with God, through Jesus, is a covenantal relationship of the promises of the Old Testament. And it is secured by the precious death of his elect people that he has bestowed this.

Peter's statement, "May grace and peace be multiplied to you," is a prayer from Peter to the people who are receiving this. Many of the readers may have been despised and were facing persecution, and he knows that they're going to need this knowledge of God's grace if they're going to persevere. This isn't just a good prayer for first-century Christians who've been dispersed throughout the Roman Empire. We need this prayer too. We need confidence because this world is going to persistently remind us that we're not at home, that we don't ultimately belong here.

Peter continues then by reminding us that even though we are exiles in this world and in this life, this is all a work of God. It's all about mercy. And he states that he has caused us to be born again. That language really couldn't be more clear. Not only does he say that God has caused this to take place, but the imagery used with the language "born again" also drives home that this is a work of God. Did you have anything to do with your birth? No. This is through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That is the victory that makes all of this possible.

In the death and resurrection of Jesus, we see that there is living hope. Why? Because he has defeated death. And this means that those who are in Christ have an inheritance that is better than any possible earthly inheritance because it's imperishable, it's undefiled, it's unfading, it's secure. And so the situations being faced by these elect exiles around the Roman Empire are difficult, but Peter wants them to know that the hope that they have is eternal. It's kept in heaven. It cannot be destroyed by tribulation that they face here on Earth. It is a hope beyond this life. It's guarded by God. And this all comes to them through faith, and their salvation is going to be revealed, we read, at the last time.

So Peter is making sure here that they understand the confidence that they can have because God is in control. He is in control of all of this. While it is not evident to them at this point in their life, he says that it'll be revealed fully in the last time. When Christ returns at the end of history, this unfading inheritance will be made known. So the resurrection makes all the difference as they face these trials. Because the worst thing that they can experience is martyrdom, is death. But when the one who saved you by his grace has victory over death, then you can live with confidence, knowing the trials are worth it.

And so this is where the passage comes home for us as well. No matter the chaos that we experience in this life, we have a secure hope. No matter the headlines, no matter the diagnosis, no matter the uncertainty that happens in this world, the hope that we cling to is not merely wishful thinking. Why? Because it's guaranteed by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. The inheritance that you have in heaven can't slip away from you because of a fire, because of a stock market crash. Your inheritance is kept by God. You didn't earn it in the first place, and so you can't lose hold of it. And that's a truth that we need to hold on to when life gets hard. And let's be honest, life is hard.

Peter knows that. He has experienced trials, and we can see this with the way he speaks plainly about what can happen in this life. He tells them that they've been born again into a living hope, but he also acknowledges that this hope will shine brightest when they hold tightly to it while they are tested in the fire. And so Peter makes it clear here that God is glorified through their trials. This runs contrary to the way that we think. We see riches. We see fame, and we think that's a sign of a blessing from God. Persecuted believers and blessings are the last thing that you think of. But Peter insists here that through the sufferings of the people of God, glory is brought to Jesus. He is refining them. He is making them holy through the trials that they face.

The point of persecution is to get people to renounce their faith, right? So to stand strong is to stand up to the world. It's to stand up to the pressure being put on you to step away from the faith in the one who bought you. And Peter acknowledges how rare and strange endurance like this is. When he says that even though they have not seen Jesus, they love him. And they believe in him and rejoice with joy. Of course, Peter has faith. But those who trust in the testimony of the gospel message, they, without seeing, prove that this is a work of the Spirit. They haven't seen, yet they believe. And they love Jesus for the salvation he's delivered to them. And what a spectacular testimony to the work of the Holy Spirit this is.

And it's true of us. We have not seen, yet we love. We do not now see him, but we believe, and we come here today to worship as a testimony to the salvation that he has blessed us with. This isn't about earning points towards a flight to heaven. That's not why we're here. We come to praise him for the faith he has given us and for the salvation that is the outcome of that faith he has blessed us with. That outcome is the salvation of our souls. We are grateful people filled with joy.

The faith that those had in the first century and the faith that we have today is what the prophets spoke of. The people who heard the words of the prophets probably didn't understand them, especially when it talked about how the promised one was going to suffer as a servant for his people. That would have absolutely flummoxed them. We see testimony of that in the New Testament. And Peter tells us that the prophets were not delivering a message in service to themselves. Instead, it was for new covenant believers who had come to faith in the resurrected and ascended Jesus.

This is the message that had been announced to them. Peter says that this was preached to them from heaven, from the Holy Spirit. He's not suggesting that somehow the story of the gospel blasted via a heavenly loudspeaker. That's not what he's saying. The message came to them by the means of faithful servants of God, and the Holy Spirit gave them the gift of faith to believe despite their not having seen. And so, with the last seven words of our passage for today, he tells us that these were things into which angels long to look. He is telling us that this message is so glorious that heavenly beings desire to see it. The ones who we perceive to have the best understanding of the glory of God, angels, they are amazed at the way God is glorified in the redemption of his people. How amazing is that?

So as we find ourselves reflecting on the truths of this passage today, I think there's a question that rises to the top for us here. What does this living hope that Peter talks about here actually look like in our lives? Peter is writing to people who feel out of place in this world, who are under pressure to compromise their faith. These people are misunderstood. They're rejected. They're persecuted for their faith in Jesus. Yet what does he call them to? Rejoice. Not because God has put them on the fast track to easy street, but because they have been given something that the world cannot take away from them: a salvation that is secure because of the work of Jesus. And that isn't just their story, that's our story.

So let me leave you with two questions to ponder as you remember this passage in the coming week. First, what are we holding on to for security that doesn't actually last? In what ways are we clinging to what is perishable, defiled, and fading? Things that the world tells you will give you peace, but those things can't deliver true peace. What are we clinging to? Second, how would your life look differently if you fully rested on this living hope of salvation in Christ? How would your conversations change? What would your prayers sound like? In what way would you respond differently to the stress in your daily life?

The invitation then in this passage is for us to anchor our lives to the hope of the resurrection and the promised inheritance that we have in heaven. This is the hope that we've been born into. So may we depart from here, letting that hope influence our whole being, that our lives might witness to this living hope that we have in Jesus. That he might be glorified in our lives. We pray that we would cast aside those things that fade that we cling to, and we would cling to Christ alone. It's in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.

Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon. For more information about First Reformed Church, head to our Facebook page or website edgertonfr.org.

📖 Looking for a way to reflect more deeply?

Read the 5-day devotional companion here: Born Into Hope | 1 Peter 1:1-12 | 5 Devotions on Identity and Inheritance

Want to explore more from 1 Peter?

Visit our Living Hope series page for all sermons, themes, and resources as we walk verse by verse through this powerful letter of hope and holiness.