‘And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.  To him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen’ (1 Peter 5:10-11).

The letter of 1 Peter may have been written from Rome around about AD 60-68.  It was written to Christians who are scattered through six Roman provinces in the area known today as Asia Minor.  In this letter the Apostle Peter has three main themes which are covered by Peter’s overall exultation to these Christians to follow Christ’s example which is highlighted particularly in 2:4-10.

The themes are as follows. Firstly, living in exile.  This is a theme that runs throughout the letter, but is particularly highlighted right at the end in 5:13.  ‘Babylon’ is often used in scripture as a symbol of exile and the oppression of God’s people.  Its use here may also indicate that Rome is the place from which Peter is writing while spending some time with the Church there.  The second theme is suffering as believers.  There’s no indication that there was any systematic persecution against these Christians, of the kind that was from time to time instigated by the Romans state.  But, undoubtedly these Christians were faced with suspicion as the only ‘Christ’ they recognised was Jesus Christ and not the Emperor, who was often referred to as ‘Christus’ which means Christ.  Hence they were suspected of being a seditious element and therefore enemies of the state!  This led to harassment, insults, beatings and social ostracism.  The last theme is Christian behaviour, especially in the light of the day to day persecution that these Christians were suffering.  Here, Peter holds up the example of Christ (2:19-25).  This example has all the markings of a first-hand account, Peter having observed, at a distance, Jesus’ extraordinary example of patient suffering during his trial.

Although the letter ends with a short traditional blessing, just before this, and various greetings, Peter includes a blessing with the aim of encouraging these suffering Christians by getting them to focus on the hope they have in Christ in the future.  Yet Peter’s prelude to this blessing concerns itself with the here and now.  In the light of these sufferings, Peter calls on these Christians to humble themselves: ‘under the mighty hand of God so that at the time he may exhort you’ (5:6).  The following verses urge them to leave any anxiety’s they have with the Lord and to be: ‘sober minded’ (v8) while urging them to resist temptation and other attacks of the devil.  After all, their experience is not so different from many other of their fellow Christians at that time in the Roman world.

The word: ‘And’ (v10) at the start of the blessing links it directly to these former verses.  Peter wants to assure them that this suffering is temporary.  It is the Lord who sets the agenda and controls their destiny, not the Roman Empire or those who were making life so hard for them.  The phrase the: ‘God of grace’ illustrates the undeserved nature of a Christian’s status.  They bring nothing to their salvation, the faith involved in coming to Christ is a free and undeserved gift and they contribute nothing to it (Ephesians 2:8-9).  This is emphasised again with the phrase: ‘Christ will himself will himself restore, confirm strengthen and establish you.’  They are being given strength in the meantime, through God’s grace, to endure all the difficulties of living as exiles in the world.  It’s not their home as that is the: ‘eternal glory in Christ.’  So, Peter wants them to be heavenly minded, as that is their future, but he also wants them to realise that Christ can provide everything they need in their living for him from day to day, even in the hostile environment of the Roman Empire!  Now that is grace indeed as it sustains them in their present trials in living for Christ!

But in the closing doxology of verse 11 Peter also gets these Christians to focus on the Lord’s sovereignty. It is he who rules over the world not the powers and authorities of the Roman Empire.  So, for Christians, he sets the agenda, even in a world where so much evil is present. What an encouragement that is for Christians in any day and age!  In many ways Peter seems to be echoing Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 4:17-18: ‘For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.’