Recently, I have been doing some study of the first chapter of 1 Peter and it has truly been wonderful to see the text come alive. When studying these texts and reading the commentaries, I remember once again why I decided to come here to seminary: the love of the scriptures.
I have only covered verses 1-6 but each verse is packed with biblical imagery and language that I have been enjoying each word and how they are connected. Today while studying verse 6, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials (NIV, emphasis added)." So what is this? Calvin observes that it is the "whole subject of the hope of salvation laid up in heaven" for the chosen foreigners in this world. The faith that God has given to his elect through divine grace has caused us to be alienated from this world because we do not subscribe to its values or ways of life.
All Christians can relate to this. I look on my Christian walk and immediately see how I have never been able to fully feel as a "native" or the opposite of a foreigner. I'm very familiar with how it feels to be a foreigner because I am a Korean-American. Full assimilation into American society cannot take place because I look Korean. Full assimilation into Korean society cannot happen because my American upbringing. In some sense, 1 Peter speaks to those people who know what it means to feel as aliens. In the end, all of us are foreigners in a world enslaved by its prince, Satan.
No comments:
Post a Comment