Reclaimed by God <> 1 Peter 1:17-19

Reclaimed by God                               

    —1 Peter 1:17-19

Reclaim means to retrieve or recover something previously lost, given away or purchased; to obtain the return of or to regain something.* Another meaning is, “to restore to a previous natural state.”**

These days we hear about the reclaiming of things such old wood. Craftsmen and do-it-yourselfers take old wood items or structures and use the reclaimed wood to make beautiful furniture and home decoration items. Old wood pallets are currently very popular for this purpose.

But have you considered the idea that followers of Jesus are people who have been reclaimed by God. Let’s search this out in Peter’s letter.

My recent blog posts have covered 1 Peter 1:1-16. I hope you’ll go back and read those if you’ve not already done so. 

Now let’s move on and look at 1 Peter 1:17-19 (NKJV):

“And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Beginning in verse 13 Peter talks about our conduct. Our behavior needs to reflect Christ. Our goal is to be holy as God is holy (v.15). Jesus is our example, our motivation, and our inspiration.

Our Heavenly Father is asking a lot and expecting a lot from us. This is why it’s so important for us to stay tight with Jesus. Our daily time alone with Him is crucial. Our time in prayer, Bible reading, Bible study, meditating on Him (with praise and worship) and His Word are essential if we are serious followers of Christ.

Peter wants us to know that Father God is going to judge our conduct and we can be sure that He is impartial. Only God can be a righteous judge. No matter how hard we may try, people cannot perfectly judge one another—or even ourselves—without partiality. We all have opinions, motives, and influencers. 

Think about it—do we really want another person to be our judge? God alone is fair and impartial in every aspect of evaluating a person. Only He is perfect and knows every detail about us—not just what is seen and heard on the outside—but also our thoughts, motives, and the intentions of our hearts.

Peter is right when he says, “conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear.” God, the righteous judge, is One to be honored, respected, awed, worshiped, esteemed, and, yes, feared. This is a good kind of holy fear that recognizes who I am next to who God is.  

I find Peter’s words interesting when he says, “throughout the time of your stay here.” It’s as though we’re here for a visit and will be moving on soon. Well, yes, that’s exactly what we’re doing here on this planet. 

We’re just a passin’ through, as the old song says. We are truly sojourners, traveling through life. A sojourner is a person who resides in a place temporarily and will be moving on before too long. 

I’m reminded of the 1980s Petra song, “Not of This World,” which says, “We are strangers. We are aliens. We are not of this world.” You might enjoy finding it on U-tube and hearing the lyrics. I believe you’ll identify with its message.

Peter then transitions in the next verses: “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Peter strongly reminds us from whence our redemption comes. Therefore we need to act like it. He is reinforcing his encouragement that we behave like born-again individuals. After all we were not redeemed by material riches nor by man-made traditions, passed down by our forefathers. Our redemption—our salvation—was purchased with the priceless and precious blood of Christ Jesus.

Peter goes on to point out that the sacrifice of Jesus was as a lamb without blemish or spot. His Jewish audience knew the meaning and significance of the lamb.

The Passover lamb was the first sacrifice commanded by God to the Jewish people. It was a part of the meal, along with unleavened bread, prior to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt (Isaiah 12:3-8). It represented death passing over God’s people and its remembrance was later established as a yearly festival commemorating deliverance, new life, and marking the beginning of a new year.

This feast of hope for a new life and hope-filled future represents the deliverance and new beginning we receive when we are born-again into God’s Kingdom. Jesus was the ultimate Passover Lamb. His shed blood was the once for all sacrifice required to redeem Mankind back to full relationship with God. 

I’d like to share the explanation of redemption found in the Spirit Filled Life Bible commentary, “Bought Back By the Blood, THE BLOOD. ‘Redeemed’ means ‘bought back.’ The redeemer pays a worthy price to reclaim something previously owned. Mankind was once God’s, by creation, but became lost through sin. The blood of Christ is the price paid for our purchase, or redemption. God offers Christ’s blood to us as our substitutionary sacrifice and accepts it when we offer it back to Him. Our transaction with God is therefore not a gold-and-silver economy; it is a life-and-death economy. Christ gave His life’s blood to buy us out of sin and death. His blood was a worthy price and provides an imperishable bond between God and man.” (Eph. 2:13/John 6:53, 54)***

We who have trusted in and received Christ Jesus as our Savior and Lord are therefore reclaimed. Our Heavenly Father—Creator God—has reclaimed us as His own and brought us back into His Eternal Kingdom. 

Rejoice with me. AMEN.

Your comments are welcome.

©Copyright 2017 Connie Wohlford

*Google dictionary   **merriam-webster.com

***Spirit Filled Life Bible, Thomas Nelson Pub., Nashville, TN, 1991, “Kingdom Dynamics,” page 1908.