If a member of an evangelical church was asked, “What are we redeemed from?”, I hope most would answer something like “sin”, “death”, “judgement” or “hell”. All good answers!
But Peter has another answer: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18-19). The exodus and passover imagery is clear.
Here is the picture Peter is trying to paint: our society and culture, the way of life that we find normal because it has been handed down across generations, is an Egypt from which we need to be redeemed. It is empty, vain, and futile.
A challenge and a blessing
At times, this emptiness may be obvious to many. Perhaps the exciting signs of a new interest in Christianity in the UK today comes in part because even non-Christians feel the hollow, shallow and pointless nature of a society enthralled to individualism, sexual so-called liberation and the meaningless consumption of goods and experiences.
But at other times in history, those who come to Christ may find His way a real challenge, precisely because we are being set free from the accepted norms. A culture with deep respect for the fathers/ancestors, for “the way it has always been done”, may require Christians to look closely at their traditions, through the lens of Scripture, to see the emptiness that was not apparent to them before their conversion.
Embracing the fullness we have in Jesus
In verses 17-19 of 1 Peter 1, the apostle gives a few contrasts (some implied) to help us reject emptiness and embrace fullness.
1. God the Father or our culture’s ‘fathers’?
Books like The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (Carl Trueman) show the intellectual forefathers (and foremothers) whose thinking has shaped our culture. Yet none of these have chosen you for salvation. None of these sent their son to give you new birth into a living hope. Surely it is better to live by the word of our good Father!
2. Our Father’s impartial judgement or shifting standards?
Do our choices and actions have value, and who decides? So often we assess our actions by the opinion of others. We join a new community and quickly determine what defines ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ by the response of those around us. And in five, 15 or 50 years time culture will change and will look with scorn at opinions that were correct in the present. What emptiness! Better to give fear and reverence to a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, by standards that have been revealed and will not change. Better to live as a “foreigner” or “sojourner” through the wilderness of this passing age, knowing that we are secure citizens of an eternal kingdom.
2. Perishable treasures or the precious blood of Christ?
When life feels empty we might look for a change, but do we have the resources for such a change? If we had more money we could move to a better house. If we had better qualifications we could change job. If we had that relationship then life would be full rather than empty. We look to treasures to redeem us, but even silver and gold will perish.
Our redemption is a gift of God through the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect (v19). There is no greater treasure than the blood of the lamb whose death brings redemption into a meaningful life, into a church treasured by God Himself, into a pattern of living that brings glory, and into the hope of resurrection and an inheritance. All the world offers is empty compared to this.
So, reject emptiness and live for your unchanging Father who has redeemed you with the blood of Christ.
