Life is difficult. Yet this harsh truth has not always been understood by those following Jesus Christ [or by most Americans in particular]. Many Christians today have trouble sorting out the complexity of their identity and calling in Christ. They have been reared to believe that a Christian should only experience the joys of being one of God's elect. Yet they have been taught nothing of our exilic state. With three simple words as Peter opens his letter he gives us a profound clue for finding life's true horizon. We are the elect exiles of the dispersion [1:1].
How exactly did this phrase come to describe the true state of Christians in every age? "According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His blood" [1:2]. Our soul rises in joy and falls in sorrow on the same day "according to the foreknowledge of God the Father." We are God's beloved, and yet we can be carried off into exile like Daniel of old "in the sanctification of the Spirit." We remain outside of the world in which we live "for obedience to Jesus Christ." And we are all these things as a fragrant offering in Christ's blood. According to Peter, we owe our full identity as "elect exiles" to the mysterious plan of God.
Throughout the Scriptures, the way up comes by going down; restoration comes after trials [5:10]. It is this inversion in attaining glory that marks Peter's theme throughout his letter. Our future inheritance and exaltation as believers -- our eternal share in the glory of Christ -- will be awarded to us on the day of His appearing. But that promised day comes only after this brief season of present-day sufferings. For suffering always precedes glory. As it was for God's Son, so it will be for us who are in Him.
This bringing together of two seemingly incompatible truths -- our status in Christ and our sufferings on earth -- is how Peter begins his letter [1:1, 2]. And in the body of the letter, these incompatible ideas are continually linked to one another. In 1:3-12 we see that an eternal inheritance is joined to various trials ... in other words salvation's future goal is built upon our present struggles as well our past glories.
Ultimately, the divine principle of "true grace" [5:12] is this: God has established our salvation, given us our identity, confirmed our present-day calling, and secured our future inheritance by means of an inverted irony -- namely, the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ. Therefore, just as the exaltation of Jesus followed a season of humiliation, so too our share in His eternal glory will appear only after we have learned to follow in His true and gracious ways.
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