Ⅳ
The grace on which the believers set their hope perfectly will be brought to them at the revelation of Jesus Christ—1 Pet. 1:13:
A
The grace being brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ refers to the salvation of the soul as the consummation of God's full salvation—vv. 5, 9-10:
１
The grace given to us in Christ was bestowed on us before the world began—2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 2:11.
２
God, who was in the beginning, became flesh in time as grace for man to receive, possess, and enjoy—John 1:1, 14, 16-17.
３
The processed Triune God, who has been consummated as the all-inclusive, life-giving, and indwelling Spirit, has become the Spirit of grace with our spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17; Heb. 10:29b; Gal. 6:18; Phil. 4:23.
B
Day by day we should be open vessels to be continual receivers of grace and set our hope wholly and perfectly on this grace—Rom. 5:17; 1 Pet. 1:13.
Morning Nourishment
1 Pet. 1:13 …Set your hope perfectly on the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.2 Tim. 1:9-10 Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling,… according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages but now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus…
First Peter 1:13 speaks of the grace on which the believers set their hope perfectly. Nearly every day, I pray that my soul will be saved at the Lord’s coming back…This is the saving of the soul in the next age for those who enter into the enjoyment of the Lord to feast with Him [Matt. 25:20-23]. This grace will come by the revelation of the Lord Jesus at His second coming. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 458-459)
In 2 Timothy 1:9 and 10 Paul tells us that the grace of God, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages, now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. Grace is God’s provision in life given to us so that we may live out His purpose. This grace given to us in Christ was bestowed on us before the world began. God’s grace was given to us in eternity, but it was manifested and applied to us through our Lord’s first coming, in which He nullified death and brought life to us (Heb. 9:26). Because this grace was manifested through the appearing of Christ, Old Testament saints such as Abraham and David did not experience it. The grace destined to be given to us came with the appearing of the Lord Jesus. This grace is not merely a blessing; it is a person, the Triune God Himself given to us to be our enjoyment. This grace came when the Lord Jesus appeared, and now it is with us today. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3675-3676)
Today’s Reading
In 1 Peter 1:13 Peter also charges us to set our hope completely on the grace. This hope is the living hope which has issued from regeneration (v. 3). We need to set our living hope completely on the grace that is being brought to us at the unveiling of Jesus Christ…This grace… refers to the salvation of the soul (vv. 5, 9-10), which will be the consummation of God’s full salvation. The grace has been brought to us by the Lord’s first coming (John 1:17). It will be consummated by His second coming. On such grace we should set our hope.Whatever we enjoy of the Lord today is, comparatively speaking, a small portion …This age is an age of foretaste. But when the Lord Jesus comes back, we shall enjoy the full taste… The coming full taste will be the consummation of this unique grace.
Toward the end of 1 Peter 1:13 Peter speaks of the revelation, the unveiling, of Jesus Christ … At present, we are enjoying the Lord Jesus as a foretaste under the veil. But the time is coming when the veil will be taken away.
Because we are under a veil with the Lord, others may not be able to understand what we are doing. We may try to tell them that we are enjoying Christ. However, they may say that this is nonsense. Our enjoyment is concealed, and others who do not share the same experience cannot know anything about it. But one day the Lord Jesus will be unveiled. Then others will be able to understand that we have been enjoying the Lord Jesus. This unveiling will be the coming grace as the consummation of the full salvation of the Triune God.
If we are not enjoying the Lord Jesus as the foretaste, we shall not have the hope that He will be unveiled as our full taste …When we enjoy the foretaste, we have such a hope. We need to set our hope completely on the grace being brought to us at the unveiling of Jesus Christ. (Life-study of 1 Peter, pp. 89-90)
Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 11; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” chs. 22-24