To Encourage You

1 Peter 1:20-21 “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who 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.”

Do you like personalized gifts?  I do. Many years ago, my wife gave me such a gift that I still think about today. It wasn’t expensive, but it was so very meaningful because of its personal nature. It was a personalized calendar that she had made using photos of our children.  As I perused these pictures, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for my wife’s thoughtfulness, but more than that for the love of a God who had given us these wonderful children.  It brought tears to my eyes.  Which brings me to the verse above which also speaks of a personalized gift that’s been given to believers from the very hand of God.  It’s talking about Jesus, Who is here described as one who was “foreknown (by God the Father) before the foundation of the world.” This phrase points to the eternal nature of the Son of God and the intimate relationship that existed between the Father and the Son from before time existed.  But beyond that, in the context of these verses, it points to the fact that God had determined to send His Son into the world to die for the sins of mankind before the universe even existed.  It’s an incredible and wondrous thing, as is anything about our incredible and wondrous God.  

But perhaps even more incredible and wondrous than all of it is how this was all done for you and me, PERSONALLY.  Notice how it says that Jesus was “made manifest,” which is just another way of saying that He entered our world to be seen with our own eyes and heard with our ears. The apostle John put it this way in 1 John 1:1-2: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us.”  

But why did this all happen? Why did the eternal Son of God come into this temporary world where we live our temporary lives? It was “for the sake of YOU.” Do you realize that you and I can put our own names in for the word “you,” for that’s exactly what it means? And so, at times like Christmas, we should try to grasp that this holiday and all it represents is a very personal and intimate thing.  It’s about how “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever (again, you can put your name in here) believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  It’s a very personal thing. It’s a wondrous thing.  It’s something that the apostle Peter, who wrote the words above, knew full well. You see, the name that Peter had been given by his earthly parents was Simon.  But the way he introduces the letter from which the text above is excerpted is “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:1). It was a name that had been given to him personally by Jesus (John 1:42), and so any time that Peter said this name, his mind would go to the great God who had come into the world for him personally, and who had so personally given him this name.  

And you know what? There is a day coming when all who have believed in Jesus will receive the very same gift.  Listen to the words of Revelation 2:17 that points to the time when believers will personally and intimately meet the very Son of God: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” 

You see, Jesus’ love for the world isn’t some impersonal thing.  It’s a very intimate thing.  It’s personal, for you and for me.  He’s the good Shepherd Who has given His life for his sheep.  And He loves every one of them intimately, not just ninety-nine out of 100, but every single one (Matthew 18:12-14).