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In a Peanut’s cartoon Lucy and Linus were sitting in front of the television set when Lucy said to Linus, “Go get me a glass of water.” Linus looked surprised, “Why should I do anything for you? You never do anything for me.” “On your 75th birthday,” Lucy promised, “I’ll bake you a cake.” Linus got up, headed to the kitchen and said, “Life is more pleasant when you have something to look forward to.”

Yesterday we contrasted our hope from other hopes because exile hope is rooted in the past, not the future. But Peter is careful to explain that even though our hope is rooted in the past, it does not ignore the future. On the contrary, our hope is focused on the future.

Peter mentions two future promises for God’s people that we cling to in hope. We'll unpack the first today, and the second tomorrow.

God is Keeping an Inheritance for Us

In 1 Peter 1:4 the Apostle explains that we have been born again “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” Notice that believers are promised an inheritance, not a paycheck or a dividend. You don’t work for an inheritance. You don’t deserve it. You receive it as a gift. Often an inheritance is received not because you worked hard, but because one of your ancestors worked hard and applied the rewards of their labors to you. So too for the believer’s inheritance. You don’t deserve it, and you didn’t work for it. It was earned and deserved by Christ, and He has applied it to you.

Notice also how Peter describes this inheritance. The exile’s inheritance is imperishable. It’s not like the food in your fridge that begins to go bad when the power goes out. Your inheritance in heaven will never perish.

The exile’s inheritance is undefiled. Imagine you received a phone call from an attorney explaining you were the beneficiary of a massive inheritance from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate. That would be a defiled inheritance. It’s tainted by evil, guilt, and shame. But your inheritance in heaven is unstained by anything undesirable.

The exile’s inheritance is unfading. It is not affected by the ravages of time. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-20—Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, (20) but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Peter’s description of this inheritance is immensely comforting to Christians throughout the world and throughout church history. Christians have often been forced to forfeit some sort of earthly inheritance if they would choose to follow Christ. Just a few weeks ago, news came out of China that the government was threatening to withhold financial aid from Christians who would not renounce their faith. A Christian widow in Weihui (why-we) city started receiving a minimum living allowance from the government in 2016. In early April, a village official ordered her to sign a statement renouncing her faith and to destroy all Christian symbols in her house. Since she refused, her government assistance was canceled. An elderly woman from Shangqiu (shahng-choo) city had her minimum living allowance canceled on April 14 because government officials found a cross image posted on her front door.[i] To Christians facing that type of persecution, Peter’s words would be an incredible comfort.

But what about you and me? What does it say about us if we can yawn at the promise of an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading? Could it be that these promises seem less glorious to us because we’re already stockpiling an inheritance here? There’s an old saying that some Christians are “so heavenly minded they’re no earthly good.” Could it be that for many of us, the problem is that we’re so earthly minded we’re no heavenly good?

If that's true of you, perhaps you need to focus your hope on your future inheritance.

[i] Zhang Feng, “People on Social Welfare Ordered to Worship CCP, Not God,” Bitter Winter, July 16, 2020, https://bitterwinter.org/people-on-social-welfare-ordered-to-worship-ccp-not-god/.