First Christian Church

Pastor By Bruce Humes

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ”(1 Peter 1:13).

The apostle Peter is writing to those early church Christians of the dispersion. In verse 1 he calls them the pilgrims of the dispersion, meaning sojourner. They were temporary residents in a foreign country, forced out of their homeland because of the persecution they were experiencing for their faith in Jesus Christ. We see this in verse 6 where it says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, grieved by various trials.”

We must look back to verses 3-5 to understand the “In this we greatly rejoice” part, which refers to the living hope that we have in Christ Jesus. God the Father, in a show of overwhelming mercy and love, sent his son to suffer death on the cross. But on the third day, God raised him from the dead.

In 1 John 4:10, the apostle John writes, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.” The word “propitiation” means atonement, or paying the price, redeeming us from the curse of sin, and justified us by the act of raising him from the dead. This verified that Jesus is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29b) Through his resurrection from the dead, we gain an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, won’t fade away and reserved for us in heaven. Peter goes on to tell us that by the power of God we are kept, meaning watched over, or guarded, which is something to greatly rejoice about.

When Peter writes, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind,” in verse 13 he is referring to when people in ancient times wanted to move quickly and without restraint they would gather up their robes to run. Peter uses it metaphorically for our thoughts. Our minds should be composed, strong, void of panic and not easily rattled or distracted from the various trials and persecution that will last only for a short while.

Next, Peter urges them to focus their heart and minds on Christ, resting their hope fully upon the grace, the unmerited favor of God that is to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ. This speaks of nothing less than Christ’s second advent, his second coming to earth to glorify his church, bring judgement on the unsaved, and then reign for 1,000 years on earth into eternity. Paul