THE FIRST LETTER FROM ST. PETER
A LIVING HOPE
A voice cries
out, “Proclaim a message-“What message shall I proclaim?” I asked. “Proclaim that all mankind are like grass, they last no longer than wild
flowers.” (Isaiah 40 : 6)
Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Because of His great mercy, He gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from
death. This fills us with a living hope,
and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his
people. He keeps them for you in heaven
where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away.
They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God’s power for the
salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time.
Be glad about this, even though it may now be necessary for you to
be sad for a while, because of the many kinds of trials you suffer. There purpose is to prove that your faith is
genuine. Even gold, which can be
destroyed is tested by fire and so your faith, which is much more precious than
gold must also be tested, so that it may endure. They you will receive praise and glory and honor
on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed.
You love him although you have not seen him, and you believe in him,
although you do not now see him. So you
rejoice with a great and glorious joy which words cannot express, because you
are receiving the salvation of your souls which is the purpose of your faith in
him.
It was concerning this salvation that the prophets made careful
search and investigations and they prophesied about this gift which God would
give you. They tried to find out when
the time would be and how it would come.
This was the time to which Christ’s Spirit in them was pointing in predicting
the sufferings that Christ would have to endure and the glory that would
follow. God revealed to these prophets
that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours as they spoke
about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announce
the good news by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would
like to understand.
So then have your minds
ready for action. Keep alert and set
your hope completely on the blessings which will be given you when Jesus Christ
is revealed. Be obedient to God and do
not allow your lives to be shaped by those who desires you had when you were
still ignorant. Instead be holy in all that you do just as God who called you
is holy. The scripture says, “Be holy
because I am holy.”
You call him Father, when you pray to God who judges all people by
the same standard according to what each one has done. So then spend the rest of your lives here on
earth in reverence for him. For you know
what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by
your ancestors. It was not something
that can be destroyed such as silver or gold, it was the costly sacrifice of
Christ who was like a lamb without defect or flaw. He had been chosen by God before the creation
of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake. Through him you believe in God who raised him
from death and gave him glory, and so your faith and hope are fixed on God.
Now that by your obedience to the truth you have purified
yourselves and have come to have a sincere love for your fellow believers, love
one another earnestly with all your heart.
For through the living and eternal word of God you have been born again
as the children of a parent who is immortal, not mortal. As the scripture says, “All mankind are like
grass, and all their glory is like wild flowers. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but
the word of the Lord remains forever.”
This word is the Good News that was proclaimed to you.
(1 Peter1:3-25)
This is the
Word of the Lord
Thanks be to
God.
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"Blessed shall be when you enter & blessed shall be when you go out"