1 Peter - Following Jesus Sample

God’s plan to save us is simply extraordinary. Peter has been telling his friends about the precious blood of Christ which has redeemed them, and he has more to say.

• What does Peter call Christ (v. 19)?

A ‘lamb without blemish or defect’ was sacrificed in each household on Passover night. God planned the Passover Lamb to be a visual aid, pointing forward to Jesus and his death for sins. Like the Passover Lamb, Jesus was perfect. He did not deserve any punishment. Jesus died for our sins; he had none of his own.

Long ago in Egypt, careful preparations had to be made for the Passover. The lamb had to be chosen seven days before the night of God’s great rescue. But Jesus, the true Passover Lamb, ‘was chosen before the creation of the world’ (v. 20). Jesus’ death was not God’s ‘plan B’. God has been planning our rescue through Jesus since forever.

With the coming of Jesus, God’s plan has gone public. God has revealed his Messiah to the world. Jesus walked the streets of Palestine. He taught great crowds. He died in front of Roman soldiers. His resurrection was witnessed by hundreds. If you had been alive then, you could have seen it all. God has made it perfectly clear that Jesus is his chosen Messiah and he has done it for our sake (v. 20). Just as in Egypt long ago, Christ, God’s perfect Passover ‘Lamb’, has brought freedom from slavery and a glorious inheritance to God’s chosen ones.

• In the next verse Peter tells us more about this new life and new future. What does Peter say about how we live now (v. 21)?

This is all about trust. Who or what we trust will shape how we live. Peter’s readers used to have faith in the ideas their ancestors passed down to them. But this way of life was empty; it had no future.

Christ’s death has brought us to trust in the only person who is fully trustworthy. Now we trust God and this trust will shape everything we do.

This is the God who raised Jesus from the dead and glorified him. Because of Jesus, we can look into the future with great confidence. After Jesus had suffered, God ‘glorified him’ (v. 21). God will do the same for us too.

Pray

Praise God for Christ, our perfect Passover Lamb, and for God’s eternal plan to save us through his precious blood.