1 Peter - Following Jesus Sample

'Precious’. We reflect on this word today. ‘Precious’ means more than just ‘valuable’. It means valuable to you personally. Something precious is something very dear to your heart.

• What does Peter describe as precious (v. 19)?

This is a strange thing to say about the violent death of a friend, but Peter wants his readers to see just how precious Jesus’ blood is and why. It will help them live ‘in reverent fear’ (1:17).

• What has Christ’s blood done (vv. 18–19)?

Jesus’ blood has redeemed us. To redeem means to buy or to buy back. Peter seems to have the Old Testament story of the Passover in his mind here. God redeemed his Old Testament people out of slavery in Egypt by the death of the Passover lambs. This pointed forward to Jesus’ saving death on the cross.

Jesus’ blood has now bought these believers out of an ‘empty way of life’ (v. 18). That does not mean Peter’s readers used to have blank diaries and nothing to do. They were probably very busy, doing life the way it had been done in their families for generations. But they did not know the God who made them. They were slaves to their own evil desires. They were trapped in a way of life which would end only in God’s judgment on their sin. Back then they were not God’s children. Back then they had no glorious future. But things are very different now.

How much do you think you are worth? Jesus was willing to pay an enormously costly price to buy you out of spiritual slavery and make you his own. Jesus paid with his own blood. In Bible times, slaves were usually redeemed with silver or gold. We think of silver and gold as valuable, yet their value is fleeting; it won’t last forever. But the future God has planned for believers will never perish; it will last for eternity. All the silver and gold in the world could not buy what Jesus’ blood bought for us. No wonder Peter calls Jesus’ blood ‘precious’!

Peter’s point is very clear. His message is: look what it cost Jesus to buy you freedom from that old way of living. Don’t take Jesus’ blood lightly. Don’t go back to your old ways. Live your new life. Live it in reverent fear!

Pray

Ask God to help you see how precious Jesus’ blood is and to live the new life his blood has bought for you.