I Peter 1: 3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, --
All blessing, glory and power belongs to God.
Who according to His great mercy --
His mercy is His not giving us the wrath and punishment we deserve for our our sins.
Has caused us to be born again --
This is the being "born anew" that Jesus told Nicodemus about, that is the miracle that God performs in each person He calls to faith in Jesus Christ, causing them to be born spiritually into His own Family.
To a living hope --
Hope in the world is an "I hope so," but hope in God's word is a certainty that has not yet taken place. This hope is alive in us.
Through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, --
Jesus was not resuscitated from a temporary death, like someone who "dies" on the operating table and is brought back; He raised Himself from the death all mankind is destined to suffer, with a new kind of life, a Resurrection Life, far superior to our natural, physical life. This proves that God accepted His payment of our debt in full.
To obtain an inheritance --
Now as God's children born into His family, we will receive an inheritance from Him.
Which is imperishable --
Which means it cannot ever perish, or go bad, or decay.
And undefiled --
Which means that it is perfect, with nothing about it that is damaged or not right in any way.
And will not fade away, --
It will never grow old or get lost or wear out.
Reserved in Heaven for you, --
Reserved, held, like a reserved table at a restaurant, for each of us.
Who are protected by the power of God --
We are safely in God's hand, to never again be lost, held by the greatest Power in the Universe.
Through faith --
By means of our trusting God to have done and will do everything He says, in His word, the Bible; believing that He sent His own Son, God the Son coming to Earth as a Man, the eternal Person to pay the eternal debt we each owe, and a genuine member of the race of Man, to suffer the human death we all deserve and are destined to die; and rising from the dead to prove that He didn't deserve to die and that God the Father accepted His payment on our behalf.
For a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. --
This Salvation, this Redemption, is what we have a down-payment of now, in this world, Who is the Holy Spirit, given to us as the guarantee that we will receive the whole Redemption in the future, at the last time.
In this you greatly rejoice, --
Knowing this, we can be happy and have joy in living;
Even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, --
Even in the midst of troubles, trials and sorrows, if that is what we are facing now.
That the proof of your faith, --
Showing that our faith is genuine, being maintained even through being tested by things not going the way we expect; not blaming God, but still relying on Him in gratitude for all He provides.
Being more precious than gold --
Our faith is worth more than the most precious substance in this world.
Which is perishable, even though tested by fire, --
Gold is refined by fire to make it more valuable, but will one day be destroyed when this Earth is destroyed; and we are tested by the fires of adversity and grief.
May be found to result in praise and glory and honor --
Our faith, our trusting in the Lord, will bring us compliments, credit and rewards.
At the Revelation of Jesus Christ; --
At the end of this Age, when Jesus returns to Earth to Rapture His church and set up His 1000-year Kingdom, He will also sit at His Bema Seat, to hand out the rewards to His Saints, who are us, for all the things we have accomplished in His power.
And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, --
We do not need to see Him with our physical eyes in order to know Him, and to know Him is to love Him; and although we cannot see Him in the flesh in the world today, we still put our faith in Who He is and What He has done and will do for us and in us.
You greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, --
Not seeing Him with our eyes, we still can have joy and happiness and fun in a way that is much deeper and satisfying than any the World is able to give, not being tainted by the World, so is pure and wholesome.
Obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. --
So the outcome, the result of our having faith, putting our full trust in God, will be this joyfulness that is so rich that we cannot express it in words. And our spiritual parts, our soul and spirit, are ransomed and cleansed and purified now, to be Resurrected in glory with our bodies at that last day.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
