THE FOCUS AND RESULT OF REDEMPTION. 1st Peter 1:20-21 Before there was water in all seven seas, before there were animals, birds – even trees, before man walked in Eden, God had a plan. Christ would come to earth to redeem fallen man. The redemption of lost souls was not an act of desperation to salvage something that had gone awry in God’s eternal plans; it was a major part of His plans. It was God’s way of making it possible for intelligent creatures, with their own free will, to respond to God’s love and grace with love and holy fellowship.
God desires “all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth,” but He does not force that on people. He offers faith, forgiveness, and fellowship by His grace. He did not decide to address sin and seek a way of redemption after the world had deteriorated into chaos and was completely out of control. By His grace, He offered salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom He sent to be the Savior of the world.
God foreordained the One who would bring salvation and knew those who would gladly and gratefully receive the salvation offered to them. God’s redeeming work was planned in former times. Now, “in these last times,” at the end of the dispensation of the law, our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth and was “manifest” in His suffering, death, and resurrection. In most places in scripture, the last days refer to the period between the birth of Jesus and His coming again. It happened just as the prophets had foretold. Christ came to earth, sleeping among the sheep in their fold. The place of His birth, the town where He grew, was exactly what God planned – before creation, He foreknew. People watched His life and heard the words He spoke. They kept their eyes on Him, whom we know as “The Way.” He was God in human flesh, who came to redeem and bring back to God those who believed in His name.
These provide strong motivation for holiness: the blessed hope [v.13], the commandment of the Word [v.16], the judgment of God [v.17], and the price paid on the cross [vs.18-19]. “Reverent fear” is respect for the Judge of all. We dare not ignore Him. God has redeemed us, and our motivation to be holy is not based on corruptible things. We have been redeemed from aimless conduct and set free from a life without purpose that leads to nothing. We have a higher motivation: the perfection of the sacrifice and the price of redemption. The blood of Christ has the highest possible value.
This motivation comes from knowing the plan was set before the world’s foundation; the presentation in these last days (from the birth of Christ to the Second Coming of Christ). Through Him we believe in God; through Him (His resurrection and glory) our faith and hope in God result. We are not left in darkness, wondering who He was. Light now reveals who Jesus is to us. The reason we now know is that Jesus came to earth. God manifested Himself so we know the Redeemer’s worth.
It seemed to those who lived in such dark times that things had finally gone out of control. The trials they endured and the strange laws of men attacked not only their bodies but their souls – until they could see things, as it were, from above, from God’s perspective. They saw that the law had a purpose; it still condemned sin and revealed Christ’s purity. For He was perfection in person and in life; sin had no claim on Him. He is the one in whom we must believe; He was never contaminated by sin from “the fall.” Through Him we believe and can come to God, who raised Christ in power from the dead; now in full life at the throne in heaven, our Lord Jesus continually pleads for us.
The truth of the matter is – the law is good. By it, we are condemned and brought to God. And in faith, I see that Christ has died for me. I know God’s eternal plan by faith in God’s Word. Christ is not dead; He rose from among them. The hope I have is based on God Himself, who gave the law to condemn sin in the flesh and then sent Christ, who in His fullness did bless.
The focus of His attention and redemption was “for your sake.” The prophecies of the Old Testament were intended to instruct us, so we learn that the object and purpose of redemption were for us. We were the focus of eternal redemption and redeeming love before the world was even created. Knowing this motivates us to live by faith in reverential fear of God as pilgrims in this world. We are not the focus of God’s judgment but of His grace and redemption.
The result is that God is glorified and our faith in Christ is sure, solid, and eternal. We who believe in Him have a healthy fear of God and yet full confidence in Him who planned and provided redemption for us. Our “faith and hope” is in God, who is the Judge and the One in whom we have placed our trust. A reverential fear of Him, the awesome, eternal, one-and-only God, is the appropriate way to approach Him and live for Him.