1 Peter 1:20-21
Answer the Call to Live a Holy Life
God has a plan; He has always had a plan. That sounds sort of silly to say. On the one hand, why would the One who knows all, before whom past, present, and future, are one, before whose eyes nothing is hidden—why would such a Being need a “plan” at all? Who needs a plan who knows everything all the time? On the other hand, it is evident that if He knows it, whatever it is must be part of His plan—or we might just say, “will,” for what he foreknows must come to pass. God’s plan is the result of His knowledge and will, and He can never be without either one.
These two verses speak of God’s plan. Christ was part of that plan; he was foreknown before the foundation of the world—not the Son, for He is the second member of the Trinity, but his Incarnation as the Anointed One who would deliver and redeem those chosen by this Triune God—this one, this Christ was foreknown and planned from eternity past. And it was God’s plan that this Christ who was prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures should one day, in the fullness of time, be “made manifest in the last times.” And the manifestation of the Christ is the supreme manifestation of God’s love, for he was made manifest for our sakes “who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that [our] faith and hope are in God.”
And this was God’s plan “in the beginning,” before time was brought forth, that has been revealed to us in these last days before the end of time and the beginning of eternity—our eternity, that is; God ever abides eternal. And please mark that it is “through him” that we are believers in God at all, not of ourselves, our will or our wits. It is the miracle of faith God works within us to believe in his manifestation, his resurrection, and his return.
And it is this miracle of faith along with hope and love that blossoms forth in the holy life for which God has saved us. It was ever His plan to have a holy people—and not just His plan but His desire, we might even say His passion, if such is not inappropriate to credit God. “For this is the will of God—your sanctification,” the Apostle Paul said (1 Thessalonians 4:3). And living a holy life unto God is what this letter of Peter is about. So rejoice that God has fulfilled His plan, and that He has set you apart unto Himself to mold and shape you after the image of His Son. There is no higher calling you shall ever attain in this world. So make the most of it, for the days grow short and the hour is at hand. Answer the call to live a holy life.
