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1 Peter 1:17-21 ESV

            17And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

              Two days ago, we went over 1 Peter 1:13-16 and the first part of “A New Way of Life,” which taught us to live a life of holiness. According to vv. 13-16 living a life of holiness includes being obedient children, refusing to turn back to our old and sinful ways, and setting our hopes in our perfectly holy God. Today, we will be continuing this series with vv. 17-21 to learn a very short, but important command: Revere/Honor your Heavenly Father.

            Like in vv. 13-16, it is very important to keep the message of our precious salvation (vv. 1-12) in mind, because it is this precious salvation that transforms our lives into a new way of life. We will see today how Peter beautifully described the gospel, repeated the message to emphasis how important the gospel is for our transformation. Our precious salvation is precious because it is our hope, joy, and privilege, but it is salvation because of God’s plan for Jesus and us.

            Our passages starts by referring to our Heavenly Father, who is fair and just. He does not show favor, but judges all equally. It is in this first verse we find our command, “conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.” We will expand on the word “fear” later, but first I want to explain what “the time of your exile” means. This does not mean that Peter’s audience’s cities were taken down and their enemies took them as captives. Peter was speaking metaphorically here, which means “your time as ‘foreigners in the land’” (1 Peter 1:17 NLT). If you remember v. 1, Peter said “To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion…” Peter’s audience was all over the place, living in foreign land and away from their homes.

            Now, when Peter said, “conduct yourselves with fear,” he did not meant that you live with unreasonable and irrational fear. When Peter said with fear, he means with respect, honor, and reverence. In the Old Testament, the Fear of the LORD was a popular phrase that describes “proper relationship with Yahweh.” If one does not fear Yahweh, he does not have the proper relationship with Him. Fearing Yahweh does not mean one is too scared to approach Him, however, it does mean to approach Him with respect and honor. It is to know who He is and as v. 16 states, Yahweh is the perfectly holy God.

                        Not only do we have to know who God is when we fear Him, but also what He has done for us. Peter helpfully informed us what God has done for us in vv. 18-21. He beautifully reminded us of the gospel. We were ransomed! We were bought with a price, not with gold or silver as if earthly and perishable things could save us. No. We were bought with a heavenly and imperishable price: the precious blood of Jesus. It was planned, not after the birth of Jesus, not after the exodus, not after the call of Abraham, not after the flood, not after the Fall, and not after even after creation! But “before the foundations of the world.” And the plan was only foretold to us during the time of the prophets for our sake.