Back in 1969 Dr. Laurence J. Peter introduced The Peter Principle. By that he meant: "In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence." I won't say anything further about Dr Peter's very observant and realistic analysis. Instead, I'm going to recast his book title and draw your attention to The Principal Peter.

The Apostle Peter wrote two letters. Whenever I come to either one of these God-breathed epistles I think of two Peters. Actually, I think of one person who used to be one kind of Peter as recorded the four Gospels, who became quite another kind of Peter when he wrote his two letters. Of course, Peter the writer, is the one I'm calling The Principal Peter.

I don't want to get side-tracked from the purpose of this message by spending time on contrasting what Peter once was with what he became. So I'll make one contrast that I find very striking. It's a drastic and dynamic contrast between a mini disciple and a maxi apostle.

Hear something Peter blurted out the night he disowned Jesus: "I do not know the man" (Matt 26:74). Now contrast this with his instruction on the knowledge of Jesus as he owns Him as "our Lord and Savior" in his second letter:

"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord" (1:2)

"For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1:8).

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (3:18).

The Principal Peter has shifted from denying his personal knowledge of Jesus to posting knowledge of Jesus as Lord and Savior for us in large neon lights. We must attribute such a remarkable change to the Holy Spirit of God, which began when He came on the Day of Pentecost.

But that's not all. We should not only attribute Peter's remarkable change to the Holy Spirit but also realize what the Holy Spirit came into the world to do in you and me. The Spirit of the Lord came to free us from all our hang-ups, hand-me-downs and hindrances to spiritual success. He came to transform us into the image of the Lord in a process of daily renewal in our inner nature (2 Cor 3:17-18; 4:16).

Jesus commissioned Peter to feed His sheep (Jn 21:17). So in my first four messages I count on Peter to feed you.

Reiterating his own words, through them "May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord" (2 Pet 1:2). May the spiritual foods he feeds you with be "yours and increasing." When they are, "they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1:8). May your heart's desire and daily satisfaction of it be to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ"(3:18).

"We'll start with BORN AGAIN TO A LIVING HOPE, exploring 1 Pet 1:3-4 as our text.

The opening words are very important. They are full of meaning that prepares our hearts for the contemplation we're launching into. "Blessed" here means to speak well of." It comes from the Greek word that we get eulogy from. To give a eulogy at a funeral is to speak well of the departed person.

With a great debt of gratitude we should acquire a pattern of regularly speaking well of "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." When we speak well of Him we praise Him.

We praise Him "according to his great mercy." Just think! His Son is "our Lord Jesus Christ!" Through the one Mediator between God and men, (1 Tim 2:5) God, "according to his mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope." He fathered us, giving us what we call our new birth, our second birth, our spiritual birth or our rebirth.

God caused us to be reborn "through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." As the result we we're born again "to a lively hope" and "to an inheritance, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for" us.

God, Who has caused us to be born again and provided us our heavenly inheritance, is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And by giving us rebirth He is our Father too.

Through His creating activity God is the Father of all humanity (Mal 2:10). As the Cause of our rebirth He is the Father of all who trust in His Son Jesus Christ as their Savior.

He is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ in a unique sense. In oneness with the Father Jesus belongs to the Godhead. They share common Godhood. The Holy Spirit also belongs to the Godhead. The Godhead is the Trinity, with each of the three Members sharing equality in Godhood and deity. The Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). God is the Father and Jesus is the Son of God, which is clearly equality of deity. God the Father charges His own angels to worship His unique Son and addresses His Son as God (Heb 1:5-8).

Conversely, Jesus calls His Father "My God," on the cross, after His resurrection and after His ascension (Matt 27:46; Jn 20:17; Rev 3:12). For Jesus had taken on humanity, first as the same flesh we live in, then as the glorified flesh.

So God is the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew Henry states this relationship simply but precisely: "This God, so blessed, is the God of Christ according to his human nature, and his Father according to his divine nature."

When Jesus was here the common name that He called Himself was "the Son of man." J.C. Philpot said that "the Son of God became the Son of man in order that the sons of men might become the sons of God." As born again children of God we too "become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4).

In pointing out the details of our text to you I'm assuming that you've been born again. But wait a minute. Am I assuming too much in your case?

But just in case I am, let me further define the new birth. It is not a natural birth but a spiritual birth. Its recipients "were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God" (Jn 1:13).

This second birth takes place in a flash and grants us "the right to become children of God." It's an instantaneous infusion of the life of God into us when we take the all-important step of receiving God's Son, Jesus Christ, believing in His name. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 1:12; 3:16).

Receiving Jesus Christ and believing in His name means accepting Him, the Person, as your own Lord and Savior. In accepting Him you are getting in on the benefits of the Gospel, that is, the good news.

The historical facts of the Gospel are "that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:1-4).

All you need to do is believe in Christ Himself. If you haven't done that, are you ready to do it now? If so, just tell God you know you are a sinner and you know that Christ died for your sins and rose again from the dead. Then tell Him you are now trusting Christ as your Lord and Savior and receiving Him for eternal life.

If you have now made a genuine profession of faith in God's Son as your Savior you can claim your right to be included among the children of God. "…for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith" (Gal 3:26). And you can include yourself among those who have the hope of an inheritance in heaven.

And here's a thrilling thing! Once you have been born again you can never become unborn! "You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God" (1 Pet 1:23). The seed of the Word of God that God planted in you would have to be perishable before you could become unborn. But since His Word is imperishable and lives and abides forever your new-birth life is imperishable and will last forever. In fact, it is eternal life. And there's only one way to have eternal life, that is, eternally.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Peter writes about "a living hope." But I'm calling it our living hope. Here's why. Because Peter says that this living hope belongs to those who have been "born again."

But now, what does it mean to have a living hope? Perhaps thinking of living as being alive might help us answer this. In 1 Pet 2:4 Jesus is called "a living stone." In Rev 1:17-18 He testifies, "I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore."

It seems to me that the living part of the expression "living hope" means that our hope should be alive in us. Our hope should be full of life. Full of vitality. Full of expectation. Full of excitement in our hearts and Christian experience.

Jesus used the word living to describe the rivers of water that would flow out of the hearts of believers in Him after His glorification and the descent of the Holy Spirit (Jn 7:37-39). We've been born again by the Spirit and the water of the Word of God (Jn 3:5; Eph 5:26; 1 Pet 1:23). We're also indwelt by the Holy Spirit Who can enhance the capacities of our spiritual nature with such power that Jesus describes its display as rivers of living water.

Now see how this living display relates to our living hope. "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope" (Rom 15:13).

The verse begins with "the God of hope" and ends with "abound in hope." Sandwiched in between we see the fullness of the Spirit that Jesus promised would be in us who are believers in Him.

The benediction at hand expresses this dynamic experience as our being filled with "all joy and peace in believing." We have potential for all joy and peace and through faith we can know them as living joy and living peace. I think the word "all" attached conveys that very idea.

We would readily identify such vitality of spiritual life as "the power of the Holy Spirit." But notice that the reason this power is given to us is to make us "abound in hope." Abounding in hope. That's "living hope."

God, Who is called many names in Scripture, is here specifically called "the God of hope." In such a capacity He gives the filling of all joy and peace to believers with the specific intent that the power of the Holy Spirit will cause us to "abound in hope."

Just like the imperishable seed of the Word of God in us, we have an imperishable inheritance waiting for us in heaven. The substance of our hope is given as "an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you." From this description it's easy to jump back to the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus spoke in the same descriptive character. (Matt 6:19-21)

Let's join thoughts from one verse with comparable thoughts from the other. We have an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. These are "kept in heaven" for us as "treasures in heaven." By application of our living hope, "where [our] treasure is there [our] heart will be also."

In vs 3 of our text Peter tells us that our spiritual birth is "through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," to our inheritance that is kept in heaven for us. Compare this with "through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God" (1 Pet 3:21-22).

Our living hope focuses on "an inheritance" that is "kept in heaven" for us, and the fact that Jesus Christ has "gone into heaven." .

Think of His going into heaven as our forerunner. There's a splendid commentary on this in (Heb 6:17-20).

This text holds some precious things for us to consider about our hope as Christians. To set your mind in a personal mode, notice the words, "we have this" and "on our behalf." The personal pronouns, we and our, refer to Christians. If you have received Christ as your personal Lord and Savior you are included.

Take the words, "on our behalf." This speaks of Jesus Who has done something as our Representative. He has gone to heaven as a forerunner. That's what He has done on our behalf.

A forerunner goes ahead of someone. After His resurrection He went to heaven ahead of us. His entrance into heaven was on our behalf. It guarantees that we will follow Him there.

Back in my Bible school days I posted a brief poem on my desk shelf at eyelevel. It came from the pen of C.H. Spurgeon. It went like this:

And when I shall die, receive me I'll cry,
For Jesus has loved me, I cannot tell why;
this thing I find, we two are so joined,
He won't be in heaven and leave me behind.

We have "an anchor for the soul, a hope." Specifically: "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul." We used to sing about it: "We have an anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast and sure while the billows roll." Think of our hope. Notice what our hope does. It "enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf."

Jesus has gone to heaven before us and our hope should go to heaven before us too. I want to excite your hope with heightened anticipation of being with Jesus in the place He's gone to. And I want to invigorate your hope so that you'll know the habitual joy of sending it into heaven ahead of you. A living hope has a living view. Hope alive means view alive!

May Jesus be our Example. He sent His hope into heaven ahead of Him. Day by day we should be "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb 12:2).

While Jesus endured the cross He entertained the hope of taking His seat at the right hand of God. Oh, how He anticipated being restored to the glory He had shared with His Father in heaven before the world began! We find that in a prayer He made the night before His crucifixion (Jn 17:5).

But there's something else in that prayer. He prayed that those the Father had given Him would be with Him to behold His glory (vs 24).

While Jesus endured the cross He had hope. His hope entered heaven ahead of Him. He anchored His hope in heaven. He anticipated being there, not just after His ascension but ultimately when we will be there with Him!

What an incentive for us to do likewise! Let's keep "looking to Jesus" as our example of a joyful anticipator. Let's keep imitating Him daily, anchoring our hope in heaven. Let's keep sending our hope ahead of us into heaven day by day until He comes back to take us to be there with Him enjoying His presence and our inheritance forever.

God has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance." Notice "through" and "to." These words bring together the backward and forward aspects of our view.

We've just been giving some thought to this connection in terms of Christ's resurrection and ascension into heaven ahead of us and our hope as an anchor that we should be sending into heaven ahead of us. But there's another dimension of spiritual reality to bring into the picture here. While in one sense we await our entrance into heaven in another we are already there in the ascended Christ. "When we were dead in our trespasses" God "made us alive together with Christ." Notice "together." When God raised up Jesus from the dead He raised us up with Him (Eph 2:4-5).

And, get this! When God raised Jesus up into heaven He "raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (vs 6). This fact calls for an upward aspect of our view.

In this regard the Apostle Paul tells us to "seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God," and to set [our] minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth" (Col 3:1-2).

When our kids were growing up there used to be a children's program on TV called "The Friendly Giant." The program always began with the camera panning an area of miniature props, including a room of furniture. Then a large boot would appear in the picture and a voice would invite: "Look up. Wa-a-a-ay up." Then, by the upward panning of the camera, the audience of little TV watchers would scale up the friendly giant from foot to face where they'd meet his pleasant eye to eye welcome.

In two imperatives Paul says, "Look up. Wa-a-a-ay up." Our look up is meant to be a heart-fixed, mind-fixed look. There is nothing casual about it. And when we look up we look into the face of Christ and fix the spiritual eyes of our hearts and minds "on the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Cor 4:6).

With that heaven-ward gaze in view we're ready for the inward aspect of our view. We find it in 2 Pet 1:3-5.

The connection with our main text is this: God caused us to be born again and with that regeneration we received "all things that pertain to life and godliness." Having these things potentially we "may become partakers of the divine nature" practically.

In our cross-reference at hand connect the two "has granted" statements.

"has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness"
"has granted to us his precious and very great promises"

Now notice the first grant with more detail: "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence."

The pronoun "his" at the beginning of vs 3 must refer to the Person just mentioned before it in vs 2, namely, "Jesus our Lord." He is the Source of the Divine power that makes the first grant to us.

The Divine power of Jesus our Lord makes that grant to us "through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence." The pronouns in this statement must refer to God the Father.

In vs 2 the knowledge stems from both Persons in the Godhead: "the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." The knowledge belongs to the Father and the Son.

In the transference of its benefits to us, in vs 3 Peter gives us the picture of God the Father as the Source and Jesus our Lord as the Agent of deliverance.

Thus Jesus our Lord acts as the Mediator between God and man. On the God side its "his divine power" making the grant; on the man side Jesus Himself is man. I like to capture the picture as the Son of God mediating to us as the Son of man.

By His mediation we have the knowledge of "all things that pertain to life and godliness." That's the first grant.

The words "by which" connect this knowledge with the second grant. It's this knowledge "by which [God] has granted to us his precious and very great promises." The intent of these promises finds fulfillment as we "become partakers of the divine nature."

What this knowledge does is make us aware that all things that pertain to life and godliness have been granted to us. Being born again is one thing; being aware of this potential is another. Being born again we have a new nature with godly desires. Knowing that we have been given the potential for active godliness leads us to escape "the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire," and having done that, to appropriate the divine nature in practical Christian living.

Both our rebirth nature by the Spirit and the indwelling of the Spirit have potential and practical aspects. Divine power has granted us everything we need for the victorious Christian life of godliness. This potential can issue practically in our lives rivers of living water. Thus we'll become partakers of the Divine nature in an experiential way.