Two thousand years and the experience of millions have confirmed the wisdom of Peter’s first-century letter. The persecutions that came into the lives of his readers with such blinding and deafening impact have long since been replaced by the goodness of an eternal God. The eyes of those who first read and circulated this letter now see what we are still learning.

Although Peter was a member of Jesus’ inner circle, the lessons he learned did not come easy. He knew the feelings of fear. He is the one who repeatedly denied his friend and teacher after Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane by Judas. But Peter came to the place where he could say:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (1:3-5).

This is the life worth dying for. Nothing is more important than to know God through a personal faith in Jesus Christ (see Jn. 3:16; Rom. 3:23; 4:5; Eph. 2:8-9). Nothing is more important than to be able to cast all your cares on Him, “because He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7).