Click Here to Read 1 Peter 3:8-4:6

“Not returning evil for evil but blessing, knowing that you were called to this that you may inherit a blessing.” (1 Peter 3:9 NKJV).  This verse reminded me of the very beginning of Peter’s letter when he called us the “elect”, or the chosen.  In the same way that I believe that every single person was chosen by God to be called by His name, I believe every single person has been called to inherit a blessing from God.  But just like we must choose to give our hearts to God to belong to Him, we must choose to give blessing recognizing what we have been given.  The Passion Translation says, “respond by speaking a blessing over them – because a blessing is what God promised to give you” (1 Peter 3:9 TPT).  I must see to it that the grace that has been extended to me is also what flows from me to others.

I was reading this in my Amplified Bible and it referred me back to a scripture in Matthew where Jesus talks about this inheritance of ours.  “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’” (Matthew 25:34-36 NKJV).  It is the desire of God’s heart that all would enter the kingdom He has prepared for us.  Luke tells us that the kingdom of God is already within us: “Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.’” (Luke 17:20-21 NKJV).

We as believers are already the “blessed of our Father” and we have already received our inheritance, the kingdom that has been prepared for us.  Right now it is contained within us and in the fullness of time it will be the only reality that we will know.  But until then we have the privilege and the responsibility to showcase His kingdom by how we love others, even those who may have evil intended for us.  This doesn’t always make sense in my head but I know it is true, evil has no recourse against love.  When we love it breaks the power of evil and makes a way for God’s healing and restoration to flow right in.  Verses 10-12 tell us exactly what this looks like: “He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.  Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.  For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:10-12 NKJV).

I took 2 things away from these verses.  We must turn away from evil in our thoughts, words, and actions and replace it with good, seeking and pursuing peace.  If we live this way, then God’s ears are always open to our prayers.  The second thing I took away was that if God’s face is against those who do evil, we, being righteous, can stand in the gap for them.  When we pray and intercede for those who come against us or cause us suffering, we can activate God’s love and blessing in their life because God will respond to our prayers for them.  I always think of the prayer Jesus prayed when He was hanging on the cross: “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  (Luke 23:34 NKJV).  Countless times I have prayed something like, “God, if they knew You they wouldn’t live like this, will You give them a revelation of Your love so they can taste and see that You are good?”  They still have to be the ones to choose but I believe that our prayers can be a gateway through which God can make Himself known to them.  

Even in the midst of suffering, Peter encourages us to sanctify God in our hearts.  “But give reverent honor in your hearts to the Anointed One and treat him as the holy Master of your lives” (1 Peter 3:15 TPT).  In every instance so far that Peter speaks of suffering he gives us an image of Christ to reflect on: the stone that the builders rejected (1 Peter 2:4-8), He was reviled and suffered but did not revile or threaten (1 Peter 2:21-25), Christ suffered once for sins that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18-22).  In one sense I think Peter is hoping we can take comfort in knowing we are not alone in suffering; when we feel rejected by man, we remember that our Savior was also rejected by man.  When we feel like we are the only one living differently and the world is against us we remember that the world hated our King.  When we are persecuted even though we are innocent we remember that our Redeemer committed no sin and yet bore our sins in His body and died a criminal’s death. 

But I don’t think he is wanting us to just look at Jesus’ suffering as much as the result of His suffering.  He says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God…” (1 Peter 3:18 NKJV); and in verse 22 he says, “…Jesus Christ who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.” (1 Peter 3:22 NKJV); “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins might live for righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24 NKJV).  The suffering that Jesus endured, though He was innocent and righteous, and His obedience to the Father’s will resulted in providing us with a way to get to God; awarded Him the highest authority and a name that is above any other which we now carry; it resulted in death to sin and life for righteousness.

If we go back to the beginning of Peter’s letter, we see he started off by pointing out the promises that we have been given.  We have been born again to a living hope, to an inheritance that is incorruptible and reserved for us in heaven, and we are kept by the power of God through faith (1 Peter 1:3-5 NKJV).  Then he tells us that it is in these promises we can “greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-9 NKJV).  Peter is encouraging us to believe the promises that we have been given, let those be what is set before us.  Any suffering that we must endure for living righteously and in obedience to God at the hands of man will produce great faith, purification, authority, and a refining that will bring praise, honor, and glory to God.  Suffering will not have the last word.  We must look beyond it and hold tightly to the hope of what is to come.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV).     

Let’s pray:

Father, we thank you not only for the promise of things to come but also for what you have already given to us, that we may showcase your love in the earth; that we may influence this world with the culture of heaven.  We thank you for the countless testimonies time and again that what the enemy means for evil, You will turn for Your glory.  We thank You that we can always look to Jesus when we feel the weight and pressure of this world that is against us, and we can be encouraged by all that was accomplished through what He endured.  You have given us an eternal inheritance that this world has no power over, and we will stand firm in our faith of what is to come.  We will not be shaken by what is right in front of us.  We thank You for presence that is always with us, that even in the valleys You have prepared the way for us.  That even in the presence of our enemies You have prepared a table for us, a feast of provision.  We will set our eyes on things above, we will turn from evil and do good, we will bless, we will love.  Amen.