1:20
Jesus was chosen to be the Lamb before the creation of the world, but was revealed two thousand years ago. God’s plans were not made up on the spur of the moment, He is not reacting to events. Everything is under control. But the plan was only revealed in recent days. Now we tend to have problems with this, with predestination and all that is associated with it. However, nowhere does the Bible teach that God’s sovereignty equals fatalism. The Bible consistently teaches that what we do matters, our lives count and make a difference. So we may not understand how it all fits together, but that is not our first concern. Our first concern should be to lives lives of faith and obedience.
1:21
Through Him we have faith in God. What does this mean? Jesus is the reason we have faith in God. It is only through Jesus, by what He said, what He did, and the Father raising Him from the dead, that we have faith in God. Otherwise judgement is all we could rationally expect from God. Jesus shows us that God loves us and offers forgiveness and new life. The Father showed that Jesus and Him were working together in complete harmony throughout His ministry, eg at His baptism and at the transfiguration where God explicitly said Jesus was His Son and He was pleased with Him. Supremely at the resurrection. Jesus was raised to the right hand of God and has all power and authority. So we have faith in God. We know that the creator of the universe is for us and not against us. Every action of God is consistent with Him loving us.
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