We Are Working Up To The Final Reveal!

By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Herein is the final part of the promise, its ultimate fulfillment.  This is about the end of time.  It does not contain the complex imagery or final battles described in the book of Revelation.  The new birth, the living hope, the inheritance kept in heaven, protected by the power of God through faith, these are the elements of ‘salvation’. 

Being saved, being born again, gaining our salvation, having new life in Christ, however we want to say it, Peter has brought together all the elements in one sentence.  In bringing about our salvation, it begins in the mercy of God.

It is ready to be revealed in the last time.  Not now, then, sometime…we are still waiting.  This is the stuff of the Second Coming, of Jesus’ final return.  Then, everything will be fulfilled. 

In the present, we are building toward that.  The resurrection of Jesus has happened, the mercy of God is ours, a new birth to a living hope, they are promised.  The work of today is to prepare for the final revealing.  This is the reason for Peter's letter.  The work to that final achievement is going forward.  This letter is a step along the way.