God's divine calling
The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. To him be dominion forever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:10-11 CSB
Peter concludes his epistle with a benediction that is eloquent and at the same time touching. He speaks from the heart and from the personal experience of suffering. Peter wraps up the main portion of the letter with these two verses, focusing on God’s grace and power. He introduces a fitting prayer at the conclusion to the epilogue. In this prayer Peter calls upon “the God of all grace.” The wording occurs only here in the New Testament, with the exception of a parallel in 2 Corinthians 1:3, where Paul writes, “the God of all comfort.” Peter intimates that God is the source, the possessor, and the giver of all grace. He mentions the concept grace repeatedly in his epistle. The apostle teaches that God’s grace is rich and varied (4:10) and is given to those who are humble (5:5). Then, Peter reminds the believers that they have received God’s divine calling. It is a royal command which the recipient must obey and cannot ignore. Several times, he tells the believers the nature of these calls. Peter reveals that God calls us to holiness (1:15), to his wonderful light (2:9), to serve (2:21; 3:9), and to eternal glory (5:10). This calling is powerful and is the consequence of God’s choosing us, by which God sanctifies and summons us to obedience (1:2). Throughout the entire letter, we saw that Peter was focused on writing a letter of encouragement to believers who were scattered abroad due to intense persecution and suffering. Peter writes these verses to remind these believers that God is all powerful and will “restore, establish, strengthen and support” the believers, being able to restore what is damaged, will establish and confirm that the believers will be able to stand, strengthen and support when wavering, If the believers are grounded in the truth of the character and ability of the God they serve, they will be able to withstand the suffering and trials and deem them as “a little while.” Through all of this, Peter ends with adoration of praise to the Lord saying “to Him be dominion forever. Amen.” The kingdom of God will never be destroyed. Although Nero tried his best to eliminate Christians and Christianity, thousands of years later, the church and body of believers still exists today, globally. Though persecution still continues, and the devil still tries to wage war against believers, through it all, the Lord still reigns supreme and is victorious.
Blessings,
Isaac De Guzman
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