Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Peter 1:20
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
20. who verily was foreordained ] Literally, foreknown, but the foreknowledge of God implies the foreordaining. Here also we note the coincidence with St Peter’s language in Act 2:23; Act 3:18. The Greek for “these last times” is literally the end of the times. The Apostle’s language was determined probably in part by the prophecy of Joel which he cites in Act 2:17, in part by his belief that with the manifestation of Christ in the flesh, the last period of God’s dealings with mankind, the duration of which it was not given to him to measure, had actually begun. In the thought that the foreknowledge of God was “before the foundation of the world,” we have the very phrase which St Peter had heard from our Lord’s lips in Mat 25:34, Luk 11:50, Joh 17:24, and which he may have read with the same force as in this passage in Eph 1:4.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world – That is, it was foreordained, or predetermined, that he should be the great stoning Sacrifice for sin. On the meaning of the word foreordained, ( proginosko,) see Rom 8:29. The word is rendered which knew, Act 26:5; foreknew and foreknow, Rom 8:29; Rom 11:2; foreordained, 1Pe 1:20; and know before, 2Pe 2:17. It does not elsewhere occur in the New Testament. The sense is, that the plan was formed, and the arrangements made for the atonement, before the world was created.
Before the foundation of the world – That is, from eternity. It was before man was formed; before the earth was made; before any of the material universe was brought into being; before the angels were created. Compare the Mat 25:34 note; Joh 17:24 note; Eph 1:4 note.
But was manifest – Was revealed. See the notes at 1Ti 3:16.
In these last times – In this, the last dispensation of things on the earth. See the notes at Heb 1:2.
For you – For your benefit or advantage. See the notes at 1Pe 1:12. It follows from what is said in this verse:
(1)That the atonement was not an afterthought on the part of God. It entered into his plan when he made the world, and was revolved in his purposes from eternity.
(2)It was not a device to supply a defect in the system; that is, it was not adopted because the system did not work well, or because God had been disappointed. It was arranged before man was created, and when none but God could know whether he would stand or fall.
(3)The creation of the earth must have had some reference to this plan of redemption, and that plan must have been regarded as in itself so glorious, and so desirable, that it was deemed best to bring the world into existence that the plan might be developed, though it would involve the certainty that the race would fall, and that many would perish. It was, on the whole, more wise and benevolent that the race should be created with a certainty that they would apostatize, than it would be that the race should not he created, and the plan of salvation be unknown to distant worlds. See the notes at 1Pe 1:12.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. Who verily was foreordained] . Foreknown; appointed in the Divine purpose to be sent into the world, because infinitely approved by the Divine justice.
Before the foundation of the world] Before the law was given, or any sacrifice prescribed by it. Its whole sacrificial system was appointed in reference to this foreappointed Lamb, and consequently from him derived all its significance and virtue. The phrase , foundation of the world, occurs often in the New Testament, and is supposed by some learned men and good critics to signify the commencement of the Jewish state. Perhaps it may have this meaning in Mt 13:35; Lu 11:50; Eph 1:4; Heb 4:3; Heb 9:26. But if we take it here in its common signification, the creation of universal nature, then it shows that God, foreseeing the fall and ruin of man, appointed the remedy that was to cure the disease. It may here have a reference to the opinion of the Jewish doctors, who maintain that seven things existed before the creation of the world, one of which was the Messiah.
Last times] The Gospel dispensation, called the last times, as we have often seen, because never to be succeeded by any other.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Who verily was fore-ordained; by Gods decree appointed to the work of redemption, and to be that Lamb that should take away the sins of the world, Eph 1:9.
Before the foundation of the world; from eternity; there being nothing before the world began but what was eternal, Joh 17:24.
But was manifested; not only by his incarnation, 1Ti 3:16, but by the preaching of the gospel. See these Scriptures: Gal 4:4; Eph 1:10; Heb 1:2; 9:26.
In these last times; last, in comparison of the times of the Old Testament; the same as the fulness of time, Gal 4:4.
For you; that you, with other believers, might partake of salvation by him. The fruit of Christs redemption reacheth all ages, but much more abundantly the times after his coming in the flesh. The sum of the argument is, Christ was ordained from eternity, promised to the fathers, but manifested to you: your privilege therefore being greater than theirs, Mat 13:17; Heb 11:39,40, you should be the more holy.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. God’s eternal foreordinationof Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, and completion of it in theselast times for us, are an additional obligation on us to ourmaintaining a holy walk, considering how great things have been thusdone for us. Peter’s language in the history corresponds with thishere: an undesigned coincidence and mark of genuineness. Redemptionwas no afterthought, or remedy of an unforeseen evil, devised at thetime of its arising. God’s foreordaining of the Redeemerrefutes the slander that, on the Christian theory, there is a periodof four thousand years of nothing but an incensed God. God choseus in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph1:4).
manifestin Hisincarnation in the fulness of the time. He existed from eternitybefore He was manifested.
in these last times1Co 10:11, “the ends ofthe world.” This last dispensation, made up of “times”marked by great changes, but still retaining a general unity,stretches from Christ’s ascension to His coming to judgment.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Who verily was foreordained,…. Or “foreknown”; that is, by God; and which intends, not barely his prescience of Christ, of what he should be, do, and suffer; but such a previous knowledge of him, which is joined with love and affection to him; not merely as his own Son, and the express image of his person, but as Mediator; and whom he loved before the world was, and with a love of complacency and delight, and which will last for ever. It includes the choice of him as the head of the election, and the pre-ordination of his human nature, to the grace of union to his divine Person, and the pre-appointment of him to various things. The Syriac version adds, “to this”; that is, to be the lamb for a sacrifice, to be a propitiation for the sins of his people, to be the Saviour and Redeemer of them by his precious blood. The allusion is to the taking of the passover lamb from the sheep, or from the goats, and keeping it separate, from the tenth to the fourteenth day of the month, before it was slain; so Christ, as man, was chosen out from among the people; and as Joseph’s antitype was separated from his brethren, and that
before the foundation of the world; for all God’s decrees and appointments, relating either to Christ, or his people, are eternal; no new thoughts, counsels, and resolutions, are taken up by him in time. The affair of redemption by Christ is no new thing; the scheme of it was drawn in eternity; the persons to be redeemed were fixed on; the Redeemer was appointed in the council and covenant of peace; and even the very Gospel which proclaims it was ordained before the world, for our glory. A Saviour was provided before sin was committed, and the method of man’s recovery was settled before his ruin took place; and which was done without any regard to the works and merits of men, but is wholly owing to the free and sovereign grace of God, and to his everlasting love, both to the Redeemer and the redeemed. The Jews h reckon the name of the Messiah among the seven things that were created before the world was; in proof of which they mention, Ps 72:17 but was manifest in these last times for you; he was before, he existed from everlasting; he lay in the bosom of his Father from all eternity: and was veiled and hid under the shadows of the ceremonial law, during the legal dispensation; but in the fulness of time was manifest in the flesh, and more clearly revealed in the Gospel, and to the souls of men; his manifestation in human nature is principally intended, and which was in the last times of the legal dispensation, at the end of the Jewish world or state, when a new world, or the world to come, took place. It is a rule with the Jews i, that whenever the last days or times are mentioned, the times of the Messiah are designed: and this manifestation of Christ was for the sake of some particular persons, even for all God’s elect, whether among Jews or Gentiles, and who are described in the following verse. The Alexandrian copy reads, “for us”; and the Ethiopic version, “for him”.
h T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 59. 1. & Nedarim, fol. 89. 2. i Kimchi in Isa. ii. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Who was foreknown indeed ( ). Perfect passive participle (in genitive singular agreeing with ) of , old verb, to know beforehand (Rom 8:29; 2Pet 3:17). See in verse 2.
Before the foundation of the world ( ). This precise curious phrase occurs in Joh 17:24 in the Saviour’s mouth of his preincarnate state with the Father as here and in Eph 1:4. We have in Mt 25:34 ( omitted in Mt 13:35); Luke 11:50; Heb 4:3; Heb 9:26; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8. (from ) was originally laying the foundation of a house (Heb 6:1). The preincarnate Messiah appears in the counsels of God also in 1Cor 2:7; Col 1:26; Eph 1:9; Eph 3:9-11; Rom 16:25; 1Tim 1:9.
But was manifested ( ). First aorist (ingressive) passive participle of , referring to the Incarnation in contrast with the preexistence of Christ (cf. John 1:31; 1John 3:5; 1John 3:8).
At the end of the times (‘ ). Like ‘ (Heb 1:2). The plural , doubtless referring to successive periods in human history until the fullness of the time came (Ga 4:4).
For your sake (‘ ). Proof of God’s love, not of their desert or worth (Acts 17:30; Heb 11:39).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Foreordained [] . Lit., and better, foreknown, as Rev. Manifested [] . Observe the difference in tense.
Foreknown is the perfect participle, has been known from all eternity down to the present : “in reference to the place held and continuing to be held by Christ in the divine mind” (Salmond). Manifested is the aorist participle, pointing to a definite act at a given time.
In these last times [ ] . Lit., as Rev., at the end of the times.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1 ) “Who verily was foreordained.” (proegnosmenou) Before having been known one (with the Trinity) Gen 1:26-27.
2) “Before the foundation of the world.” (Gk. pro) to or toward, from the (kataboles) downcasting of the world order … the universal chaos wrought by Satan’s fall. Eze 28:11-19; Luk 10:18.
3) “But was manifest.” (de phanerothentos) moreover was made manifest, made to be recognized, in person. Gal 4:4-5.
4) “In these last times for you.” In the last of the times, (di humas) on account of or because of you of human kind. Joh 3:16-17; Joh 20:31.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
20 Who verily was foreordained He again by a comparison amplifies the grace of God, with which he had peculiarly favored the men of that age. For it was not a common or a small favor that God deferred the manifestation of Christ to that time, when yet he had ordained him in his eternal council for the salvation of the world. At the same time, however, he reminds us, that it was not a new or a sudden thing as to God that Christ appeared as a Savior; and this is what ought especially to be known. For, in addition to this, that novelty is always suspicious, what would be the stability of our faith, if we believed that a remedy for mankind had suddenly occurred at length to God after some thousands of years? In short, we cannot confidently recumb on Christ, except we are convinced that eternal salvation is in him, and always has been in him. Besides, Peter addressed the Jews, who had heard that he had already been long ago promised; and though they understood nothing true or clear or certain respecting his power and office, yet there remained among them a persuasion, that a Redeemer had been promised by God to the fathers.
It may yet be asked, As Adam did not fall before the creation of the world, how was it that Christ had been appointed the Redeemer? for a remedy is posterior to the disease. My reply is, that this is to be referred to God’s foreknowledge; for doubtless God, before he created man, foresaw that he would not stand long in his integrity. Hence he ordained, according to his wonderful wisdom and goodness, that Christ should be the Redeemer, to deliver the lost race of man from ruin. For herein shines forth more fully the unspeakable goodness of God, that he anticipated our disease by the remedy of his grace, and provided a restoration to life before the first man had fallen into death. If the reader wishes for more on this subject, he may find it in my Institutes.
But was manifest, or manifested. Included in these words, as I think, is not only the personal appearance of Christ, but also the proclamation of the Gospel. For, by the coming of Christ, God executed what he had decreed; and what he had obscurely indicated to the fathers is now clearly and plainly made known to us by the Gospel. He says that this was done in these last times, meaning the same as when Paul says,
“
In the fullness of time,” (Gal 4:4😉
for it was the mature season and the full time which God in his counsel had appointed.
For you He does not exclude the fathers, to whom the promise had not been useless; but as God has favored us more than them, he intimates that the greater the amplitude of grace towards us, the more reverence and ardor and care are required of us.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) Who verily was foreordained.There is a sharp contrast intended between the two clauses of this verse, and in the Greek the tenses are different. Who had been foreknown, indeed, before the foundation of the world, but for your benefit was (only) pointed out at the end of the times. St, Peter is returning once more to the great argument of 1Pe. 1:10-12, Do not treat your share in the gospel liberation as if it were, at best, a piece of good luck, and so learn to despise it. Neither think of it as if Paul and Silvanus were preaching to you a novel invention at discord with the spirit of the old covenant, under which you were bred. God knew from all eternity who was to be His Messiah and His Lamb, but for your sakes the particular and personal declaration of Him was reserved till now. For you has been kept the revelation of a secret which underlay the whole Old Testament system. The grammatical antecedent of the relative who verily is not lamb, but Christ; and the word for foreordained is, literally, foreknown, only as in 1Pe. 1:2 (see Note), with the additional notion of coming to a decision. We see that St. Peters doctrine has not changed since the great day of Pentecost (Act. 2:23). The foreknowledge (as that passage would show) includes not only the knowledge and decision that Jesus should be the Christ, but that the Christs history should be what it was; and this seems to involve not only the doctrine that the Incarnation was no mere episode, consequent upon the Fall of man, but also the doctrine that, before the foundation of the world, God had foreknown, and predecided to allow, the Fall itself. The same doctrine seems to be involved in Rev. 13:8, but only indirectly, because there the words from the foundation of the world, are to be attached, not to the word slain, but to the word written.
Was manifest.Better, was manifested, i.e., unambiguously shown, pointed out. The context shows that it does not simply mean the visible life of the Incarnate Word among men, as in 1Ti. 3:16; 1Jn. 3:5; but that the Messiah and Lamb of God was pointed out as being identical with the Man Jesus. And this was the work of John the Baptist, to say of the particular Person whom he saw walking by Jordan, Behold the Lamb. So St. John Baptist himself described his mission: The whole purpose of my coming was that He might be manifested, singled out and shown to Israel, as the Person round whom all their Messianic hopes were gathered (Joh. 1:31).
In these last timesi.e., not merely in modern times, lately, but at the end of the times, showing St. Peters belief that the end of the world was not far distant. (Comp. once more Dan. 12:4; Dan. 12:9; Dan. 12:13.) Almost exactly the same phrase is used in Heb. 1:2; 2Pe. 3:3.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. Foreordained Rather, foreknown. In itself the word means nothing else. St. Peter, in his speech on the Pentecost, speaks of Christ as “delivered by the determinate counsel (or decree) and foreknowledge of God,” (Act 2:23😉 but here he speaks only of the foreknowledge. Most assuredly it was the purpose of God, framed before the creation of the world, to save men through Christ’s voluntary sacrifice; but it is not so stated here, nor was there occasion for it. Evidently the apostle is replying to a supposed objection, that this redemption by Christ is a new thing a remedy that, after ages of sin and woe, suddenly came into the mind of God; and, to the confirmation of believers and confusion of sceptics, he meets it by saying that God had known it all along, even from eternity, as he also foreknew man’s fall and wretchedness. Christ was, in the mind of God, foreknown and certain as the lamb of sacrifice, although but lately made manifest to the sight and knowledge of men in his incarnation. This fills out the contrast, and furnishes perfect stability for faith.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of times for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.’
And this act of redemption was not some last minute action made in despair. For the coming of Christ as the Lamb to be slain was foreknown before the foundation of the world. That is, it was planned and entered into by God before the beginning of time. Even before He created the world He faced up to the cost of redeeming His own (compare Act 2:23; Eph 1:4; Rom 8:29), and knew in experience what it would involve. Thinking in terms of the Passover, He set apart the Passover Lamb before the foundation of the world. ‘Before the foundation of the world’ was a phrase that Peter had heard on the lips of Jesus when He had said to His Father, ‘You loved me before the foundation of the world’ (Joh 17:24).
And its manifestation was planned so as to occur at ‘the end of times’ for our sakes who through Him are believers in God. This is a reminder to us that while to us two thousand years may seem a long time, to Him it is simply ‘the end of the times’, ‘the last days’ (Act 2:17). Compare ‘God — has at the end of the days spoken to us in His Son’ (Heb 1:2), ‘once now at the end of the ages has He been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself’ (Heb 9:26). Compare also how Paul writes of believers as those ‘on whom the end of the ages has come’ (1Co 10:11). Pentecost and what followed is seen as commencing the consummation of the ages.
‘For your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.’ And all this was done ‘for your sake’, that is, for those who ‘through Christ are believers in God Who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory’. It is because of the coming of Christ, and because of His manifestation to us, and because of His resurrection and His taking His place in glory, that we have come to believe in Him. And it was all God’s foreknown, actively worked out purpose from the beginning, and all carried through by Him, so that our faith and hope might be in God and in His mighty working.
‘And gave Him glory.’ Compare ‘the God of our fathers has glorified His Servant Jesus’ (Act 3:13; compare Isa 52:13; Isa 53:12. See also Act 7:55-56). This was the glory which He had had with His Father before the world was (Joh 17:5).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Pe 1:20. Who verily was fore-ordained All the former dispensations, from the beginning of the world, were carried on with a view to the coming of Christ, under whom was to be the concluding dispensation; and in this view, the Bible takes in a large and extensive plan. What our translation has rendered fore-ordained, properly signifies fore-known; and seems to relate to the predictions of the ancient prophets concerning the coming of Christ, together with his sufferings and death mentioned in the preceding verse; or, rather, to God’s foreseeing, before this world was created, that the consequence of his Son’s coming among men, with such a view, and in such circumstances, would end in his undergoing a violent death; and yet, though he foresaw that event, he did not therefore forbear to send him. See Eph 1:4. Joh 17:24.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Pe 1:20 . ] is indeed not simply and at once: praeordinatus (Beza), but the foreknowledge of God is, with respect to the salvation He was to bring about, essentially a providing, cf. 1Pe 1:2 : . In regard to Christ it was provided ( refers not directly to , but to ) that He should appear ( ) as a sacrificial lamb to redeem the world by His blood. The passage does not say that Christ would have appeared even though sin had never entered.
] a frequent designation of antemundane eternity, Joh 17:24 ; Eph 1:4 . This nearer definition specifies the sending of Christ as having originated in the eternal counsels of God, in order thus to give point to the exhortation contained in 1Pe 1:17 .
] here of the first appearing of Christ, which in this passage is represented as an emerging from the obscurity in which He was (chap. 1Pe 5:4 , of His second coming); it is incorrect to refer to the obscurity of the divine counsels (as formerly in this commentary), since applies as much as to the person of Christ. Between the and the lies the , 1Pe 1:10 . Rightly interpreted, testifies to the pre-existence of Christ. [94] The sequence of the aorist participle on the participle is to be explained from this, that by an historical fact is mentioned.
] : a substantival use of it, “ at the end of the times .” This of the times is here conceived as the whole period extending from the first appearance of Christ to His second coming; in like manner Heb 1:1 ; otherwise 2Pe 3:3 , where by is meant the time as yet future, immediately preceding the second coming of Christ; in like manner 1Pe 1:5 . [95]
Note the antithesis: . . and . . : beginning and end united in Christ.
] refers in the first instance to the readers, but embraces at the same time all . Believers are the aim of all God’s schemes of salvation; what an appeal to them to walk ! There is as little here to indicate any reference to the heathen (Hofmann) as there was in , 1Pe 1:10 .
[94] Schmid rightly says ( bibl. Theol . II. p. 165): “ does not deny the actual pre-existence, because includes a designation which is not yet realized in the actual pre-existence, but will be so only in virtue of the .”
[95] It is indeed correct that, as Schott says, the end of the times is so, through the manifestation of Christ; but it is an arbitrary assertion to say that serves to give more prominence and precision to this thought.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 2389
THE FATHERS PART IN THE WORK OF REDEMPTION
1Pe 1:20-21. Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
THE salvation of man is with great propriety ascribed to Christ, because he laid down his own life a ransom for us. But we shall have very imperfect views of this mystery, if we do not trace it up to God the Father, and see him concurring with Christ in every part, and performing, as it were, an appropriate office in the economy of redemption. Indeed a distinct knowledge of the Fathers work is highly conducive to our progress in the divine life. This being intimated in the text, we shall endeavour to shew,
I.
What part the Father bore in the work of redemption
He ordained his Son to his mediatorial office from all eternity
[As the prophets frequently speak of the Messiah as sent and qualified for his office by the Father [Note: Isa 42:1.], so our Lord himself constantly acknowledged that he received his commission from him [Note: Joh 8:28; Joh 8:42.]. Nor was he first appointed when he became incarnate: he was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world. The time of his incarnation, the manner of his death, together with every the minutest circumstance relating to him, were fixed in the Divine counsels [Note: Act 2:23; Act 4:28.]. Hence he is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world [Note: Rev 13:8.].]
In due season he manifested his Son to the world
[The Father prepared him a body in the Virgins womb; and by a preternatural star conducted the Magi to him as soon as he was born. He afterwards bore testimony to him repeatedly by an audible voice from heaven, and by causing the Holy Ghost to light visibly upon him with the hovering motion of a dove. In all the miracles which he wrought, the Father bore witness of him [Note: Joh 5:36.]even in the hour of his dissolution, when most of all his divine mission might seem doubtful, even then did the Father so testify of him, as to make the Centurion, who superintended the execution, exclaim, Truly this was the Son of God [Note: Mat 27:54.]!]
After suffering him to be put to death, he raised him up again from the dead
[Jesus was able to raise himself, and is often said to have risen by his own power [Note: Joh 2:19; Joh 10:18.]. But we are expressly told here, and in many other places, that the Father also raised him [Note: Act 2:32; Act 4:10; Act 5:30.]. Indeed, as the Father, to whose justice he paid the debt, gave, as it were, the commission, by virtue of which he was imprisoned in the grave, it was necessary that he should also give him his discharge, when the demands of justice were fully satisfied. Accordingly, his restoration to life is spoken of as the strongest evidence of his Messiahship, and of his having finished that work which the Father had given him to do [Note: Rom 1:4.].]
Lastly he exalted him to heaven, and invested him with all the glory thereof
[Jesus, in his obedience, had looked to the joy that was set before him; and when that obedience was fulfilled, his Father gave him the promised reward. He placed that very person, who was crucified, at his own right hand. He seated him upon his own eternal throne, and committed the government of the universe into his hands [Note: Php 2:9-11.]. He has commanded all to honour him even as himself; and to all eternity shall that adorable Lamb of God be the medium of his peoples happiness, as he has been the Author and Procurer of it.]
That this is not a matter of mere speculation will appear, if we inquire,
II.
What effect the consideration of it is intended to produce upon us?
The ultimate end, for which the Father has thus interposed on our behalf, is, to glorify himself in the salvation of man. But there are other and more immediate ends, which the knowledge of his interference is intended to accomplish:
1.
It should confirm our faith
[We are called particularly to believe that Christ was the true Messiah; that he performed every thing that was necessary for our salvation; and that the Father is willing to be reconciled to all who come to him by Jesus. Now it is not possible to entertain a doubt of any one of these points, if we duly consider what the Father has done for us. Would God have so frequently, and in such a wonderful manner, borne witness to Jesus if he had been an impostor? Would he have liberated him from the prison of the grave, and have exalted him to glory, if the work assigned him had been left unfinished Would he have sent him into the world to redeem us, and have so gloriously rewarded his services, if, after all, he were not willing to accept returning prodigals? Can we suppose that God has done all these things only to mock, and to deceive us? Far be it from us to entertain the thought one moment. Let us rather conclude, that, as it is impossible for God to lie, so it is most injurious to him to question one jot or tittle of the record which he has given us of his Son.]
2.
It should enliven our hope
[Many are the grounds upon which we are apt to indulge fear and despondency: but there is not one, which a due consideration of what God has done would not instantly remove. Do we suppose ourselves to have been overlooked by God? He gave his Son to be a propitiation, not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world; and has asserted with an oath, that he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and live. Do we imagine ourselves to be too vile? It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that he sent his Son to save sinners, even the chief. Do we fear lest, notwithstanding we do believe, we should by some means or other be left to perish? Behold he has exalted his Son as our Head, our Representative, our Forerunner, in whom we are already accepted, and with whom we shall assuredly be glorified in due season: yea, he has made his Son to be Head over all things to his Church, in order that HE may put all his enemies under his feet, and secure the purchase of his own blood. Let us then yield no more to gloomy apprehensions, but ask of God the gift of his blessed Spirit, through whose powerful influence we shall both abound and rejoice in hope [Note: Rom 15:13.].]
In conclusion let me tell you
1.
Who they are that are especially interested in this great mystery
[It was manifested for those who by Christ do believe in God: these are the persons interested in it, these universally, and these alone. Shew me a poor self-condemning sinner, one who under a sense of his utter guilt and helplessness comes to God through Christ, renouncing all dependence on himself, and hoping for acceptance solely through the merits and mediation of the Lord Jesus, he is the person for whom God sent his only-begotten Son; he is the person for whose benefit God raised up and glorified his Son, and for whose complete salvation he has invested his Son with all power in heaven and in earth. A man who feels not his own guilt and danger has no interest in all this; nor has the man who relies in any measure on his own righteousness or strength for his acceptance with God. It is the penitent believer, and he alone, that can derive any comfort from this stupendous mystery. Dear brethren, let this sink deep into your hearts; you must come to God through Christ, and believe in God in and by Christ. I pray you, do not forget this: for, till you come to God in this way, you have no saving faith, no scriptural hope. But, if once you be brought to this state of affiance in the Lord Jesus, whatever you may have been, or whatever you may have done, in times past, Gods promises are made to you, and shall be fulfilled in you; for they are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. All things are yours, if ye are Christs; and, as Christ is Gods, so shall ye be to all eternity.]
2.
What more particularly this mystery speaks to them
[Gods design in all was, that your faith and hope might be in God. This then it says to you; Believe in God, and hope in God. Did God fail in any thing which he had promised to his dear Son? Neither then will he fail you, if only you believe in him. Look at the Lord Jesus: see his discouragements: see him in the manger at Bethlehem: what can that infant ever do? see him in the garden of Gethsemane, and on the cross, and in the grave: what can be hoped for from him? But behold him rising from the grave, ascending to heaven, seated on his throne, and invested with all power in heaven and in earth; and then you will see what God can and will do for you in your most desperate condition. The power exercised for Christ is the same that is engaged for you: yea, and the work wrought in and for Christ, is the very pattern and pledge of what shall be wrought for you. Do I speak too strongly here? Consult the Apostle Paul: it is the very thing which he himself speaks by inspiration of God: he declares, that the exceeding greatness of Gods power which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him up from the dead, and set him at his own right hand above all the principalities and powers of earth and hell, is that which he will exercise towards every believing soul [Note: Eph 1:19-21.] Look then to God and believe in him: yea look at Christ Jesus, and hope, that, for his sake, all that has been done in and for him, shall be done in and for you. Think of nothing less: expect nothing less: be satisfied with nothing less: and, if at any time a doubting thought arise, chide your drooping spirit, as David did, and say, Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God [Note: Psa 42:11.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
Ver. 20. Who verily, &e. ] So careful was God to make all sure concerning our redemption in Christ, saith one here.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
20 .] The preciousness and completeness of this redemption is further enhanced by God’s foreordination of it, and His bringing it to glorious completion in His due time. Who (viz. , as shewn by the and below) hath been foreordained indeed (see on 1Pe 1:2 ) before the foundation of the world (see reff. The same thought is foremost in the Apostle’s speech in Act 2:23 ; Act 3:18 ), but manifested (brought out of the of God’s purposes into the of Incarnation and historical world-fact. The same word occurs in ch. 1Pe 5:4 of the yet future manifestation of Christ at His second coming) at the end of the times (cf. , Heb 1:1 , and note there: and for this substantive sense of , Act 1:8 ; Act 13:47 . This of Christ, as Wiesinger remarks, marks this as the end of the times, and this last time shall only endure so long, as this requires) for your sakes (an additional and weighty intensification of their obligation)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Pe 1:20 . As the paschal lamb was taken on the tenth day of the month (Exo 13:3 ) so Christ was foreknown before the creation and existed before His manifestation. The preexistence of Moses is stated in similar terms in Assumption of Moses , i. 12 14, “God created the world on behalf of His people. But He was not pleased to manifest this purpose of creation from the foundation of the world in order that the Gentiles might thereby be convicted. Accordingly He designed and devised me and He prepared me before the foundation of the world that I should be the mediator of His Covenant.” So of the Messiah, Enoch (xlviii. 3, 6) says: “His name was called before the Lord of spirits before the sun and the signs of the zodiac were created. He was chosen and hidden with God before the world was created. At the end of time God will reveal him to the world.” Alexandrian Judaism took over from Greek philosophy (Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle) the doctrine of the preexistence of all souls. So in the Secrets of Enoch (xxiii. 5) it is said “Every soul was created eternally before the foundation of the world”. The author of Wisdom was a goodly child and obtained a good soul or rather being good came into a body undefiled (Sap. 8:19 f.); and Philo found Scriptural warrant in the first of the two accounts of Creation (Gen 1:26 f.). Outside Alexandria, apart from the Essenes (Joseph, B. J., ii. 154 157) the general doctrine does not appear to have been accepted. But the belief in the preexistence of the Name of the Messiah if not the Messiah Himself was not unknown in Palestine and was latent in many of the current ideals. The doctrine of Trypho was probably part of the general reaction from the position reached by the Jewish thinkers (A.D.) and appropriated by the Christians. There are many hints in the O.T. which Christians exploited without violence and the development of angelology offered great assistance. Current conceptions of Angels and Wisdom as well as of the Messiah all led up to this belief. Apart from the express declarations of Jesus recorded by St. John, it is clear that St. Peter held to the real and not merely ideal pre-existence of Christ, not deriving it from St. Paul or St. John and Heb. It is no mere corollary of God’s omniscience that the spirit of Christ was in the prophets. , cf. , 1Pe 1:2 ; only here of Messiah, perhaps as a greater Jeremiah ( cf. Jer 1:5 ) but see the description of Moses cited above. . The phrase does not occur in LXX but Mat 13:35 = Psa 78:2 renders by (LXX ) Philo has ) and and uses . = afresh. In 2Ma 2:29 , is used of the foundation of a house; cf. in Heb. , of the past manifestation of Christ. In 1Pe 5:1 of the future implies previous hidden existence, cf. 1Ti 3:16 (quotation of current quasi-creed) . The manifestation consists in the resurrection and glorification evidenced by descent of spirit (21): cf. Peter’s sermon in Act 2 , risen, exalted, Jesus has sent the spirit: therefore let all the house of Israel know surely that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ . St. Paul speaks in the same way of the revelation of the secret, which is Christ in you ; see especially Col 1:25-27 . Compare Joh 1:14 . , at the end of the times, cf. (Heb 1:1 and LXX). The deliverance effected certo tempore by Christ’s blood is eternally efficacious, cf. Heb 9:12 and the more popular statement of the same idea in Rev 13:8 , the lamb slain from the foundation of the world .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Who verily, &c. = Foreknown indeed. App-132.
before. App-104.
foundation, &c. App-146.
world. App-129.
manifest = manifested. App-106.
these last. Read “the last of the”.
times. See App-195.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
20.] The preciousness and completeness of this redemption is further enhanced by Gods foreordination of it, and His bringing it to glorious completion in His due time. Who (viz. , as shewn by the and below) hath been foreordained indeed (see on 1Pe 1:2) before the foundation of the world (see reff. The same thought is foremost in the Apostles speech in Act 2:23; Act 3:18), but manifested (brought out of the of Gods purposes into the of Incarnation and historical world-fact. The same word occurs in ch. 1Pe 5:4 of the yet future manifestation of Christ at His second coming) at the end of the times (cf. , Heb 1:1, and note there: and for this substantive sense of , Act 1:8; Act 13:47. This of Christ, as Wiesinger remarks, marks this as the end of the times, and this last time shall only endure so long, as this requires) for your sakes (an additional and weighty intensification of their obligation)
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Pe 1:20. , who was fore-ordained) Act 2:23.-, before) Therefore all the good pleasure of God is fulfilled in Christ.- , but manifested) The foreknowledge was in God alone.-) times, viz. of the world.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
foreordained
The divine order is foreknowledge, election, predestination. That foreknowledge determines the election or choice is clear from 1Pe 1:2 and predestination is the bringing to pass of the election. “election looks back to foreknowledge; predestination forward to the destiny.” But Scripture nowhere declares what it is in the divine foreknowledge which determines the divine election and predestination. The foreknown are elected, and the elect are predestinated, and this election is certain to every believer by the mere fact that he believes 1Th 1:4; 1Th 1:5
See Predestination (See Scofield “Eph 1:5”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
verily: Gen 3:15, Pro 8:23, Mic 5:2, Rom 3:25, Rom 16:25, Rom 16:26, Eph 1:4, Eph 3:9, Eph 3:11, Col 1:26, 2Ti 1:9, 2Ti 1:10, Tit 1:2, Tit 1:3, Rev 13:8
but: Act 3:25, Act 3:26, Col 1:26, 1Jo 1:2, 1Jo 3:5, 1Jo 3:8, 1Jo 4:9, 1Jo 4:10
in: Gal 4:4, Eph 1:10, Heb 1:2, Heb 9:26
Reciprocal: Gen 4:4 – the firstlings Gen 22:8 – General Gen 22:13 – in the Num 28:3 – two lambs Deu 16:6 – at even Psa 8:5 – hast Isa 49:1 – The Lord Eze 46:13 – Thou shalt daily Mat 13:35 – from Mat 25:34 – from Joh 1:36 – Behold Joh 17:5 – before Act 2:23 – being Act 15:18 – General Rom 5:6 – in due time Rom 8:29 – he also 1Co 5:7 – Christ Gal 3:17 – the covenant Col 1:14 – whom 1Ti 4:1 – the latter 2Ti 1:12 – believed Heb 2:16 – verily Heb 4:3 – from 1Pe 2:21 – for us 1Jo 2:18 – it is Rev 5:6 – a Lamb Rev 17:8 – from
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Pe 1:20. World is from [cosmos, which is used 188 times in the Greek New Testament, and in every place except one it is rendered by this word in the King James Version. It is given 8 different definitions in Thay-er’s lexicon, and the particular meaning in any given place must be gathered from the connection in which it is used. The definition that will most generally fit in with the passages where it is used is the fifth one as follows: “The inhabitants of the world; the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human race.” Before the existence of the human race God (whose foreknowledge is infinite) saw what was going to be needed to save mankind, namely, a sacrifice that would have the redeeming virtue of a spotless victim. He decreed that his Son should be that victim, but did not even tell any person about it until He made the promise to Abraham (Gal 3:16). Nor was the full significance of the promise realized even by him. That great favor was reserved to be made manifest in these last times, meaning the Christian Dispensation.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Pe 1:20. Who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world. The cost of this redemption is still in view, and is presented in a yet stronger light by a statement bearing at once on the dignity of the Efficient Agent, the date of the Divine purpose, and the character of the subjects for whom it was destined. Peter reverts to the idea of 1Pe 1:2, and represents the Efficient Agent of the redemption as appearing indeed in time, but provided and kept in view before all time. The phrase, before the foundation of the world, used by Paul (Eph 1:4), and by Christ Himself in reference to His own pre-incarnate life (Joh 17:24), and occurring also repeatedly in the form from the foundation of the world (Mat 13:35; Mat 25:34; Luk 11:50; Heb 4:3; Heb 9:26; Rev 13:8; Rev 17:8), carries us above all time into an eternity out of which time and history issued, and in which Gods purpose was formed. In this pre-mundane eternity Christ was contemplated and recognised as that which He was shown to be in time. The E. V. here departs from the literal translation, which it retains in the other six places in which the verb or its noun occurs, and substitutes foreordained for foreknown. The foreknowledge no doubt here, as in 1Pe 1:2, means not mere prescience, but recognition, and lies near the idea of providing or determining. But while knowledge and will may be identical or coincident in the Divine mind, they are distinct things in our minds. The revelation of God, adapting itself to the modes of our thoughts, distinguishes between these two things, prescience and foreordination, and Peter himself indeed mentions them as distinct (Act 2:23). It is right, therefore, to keep the literal sense foreknown, the idea being simply thisthat Christ was eternally in Gods view and before Gods mind as the Agent of this redemption. It is not necessary, therefore, to suppose (with Hofmann, Alford, etc.) that there is a comparison here between the lamb that was singled out of the flock and marked out for the Passover sacrifice some days before the occasion (Exo 12:3-6), and Christ predestined in eternity for a service in time.
but was manifested: the tense changes here. The foreknown is expressed by the perfect; literally, has been foreknown, in reference to the place held and continuing to be held by Christ in the Divine mind. The manifested is in the past, since what is in view is the historical manifestation once for all accomplished. The verb, which in 1Pe 1:4 is used of the future advent of Christ, is to be understood here neither of the continuous manifestation of Christ by the preaching of the Gospel, nor of His coming forth from the secret counsel of God, but simply of His first advent. And as the verb describes the revelation of a previously hidden existence (Fronmller), the best exegetes agree in regarding the statement as inconsistent with the theory of a merely ideal existence of Christ before His appearance in history, and as a clear witness to Peters belief in His real pre-incarnate existence. The A. V., unlike almost all other Versions, curiously renders the participle manifested here by the adjective manifest.
at the end of the times. So we should read, with the best authorities, instead of in these last times. The present time, the interval between Christs two comings, is the end of the times as being the period beyond which there is to be no new revelation of grace. It is Christs first advent that has made the present time the last.
on account of you. The preciousness of the redemption has been carefully set forth by four different definitions of its cost which have risen in a climax from the simple notice of blood, to that of blood with all the value arising from the ethical quality of Him who shed it, to that of Christs blood, and finally to that of the blood of the Christ who was eternally in Gods view as the Ransom. A fresh wonder is added to it now by these words, which bring it home personally to the readers, and show the interest of degraded Gentiles, such as they, to have been contemplated by it all.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 20
Was manifest; was manifested; that is, he visibly appeared.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
1:20 {12} Who verily was foreordained before the {k} foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
(12) The taking away of an objection: what was done to the world, before Christ was sent into the world? was there no holiness before, and was there no Church? The apostle answers, that Christ was ordained and appointed to redeem and deliver mankind, before mankind was: much less was there any Church without him before his coming in the flesh: yet we are happiest about the rest, to whom Christ was exhibited indeed, in this that he having suffered and overcome death for us, does now most effectually work in us by the power of his Spirit, to create in us faith, hope, and charity.
(k) From everlasting.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Fall did not take God by surprise. He already knew what He would do in view of it and Who would do it. We have two good reasons why we can come to God: what Christ did for us, and what God did for Christ for what Christ did for us. Our attitude toward God, therefore, can and should be both reverential (1Pe 1:17) and confident as we endure suffering for our faith.
So far ". . . the ethical impact of the epistle barely begins to make itself felt. The call to action and to a holy and reverent life is general rather than specific. The imperatives of hope and of godly fear have more to do with eschatological expectations than with ethics, and more to do with the readers’ relationship to God than with their relationships to each other or to their pagan neighbors." [Note: Michaels, p. 71.]
"At this point ends what we may call the doctrinal section of the Epistle. St. Peter has been explaining the three Names [i.e., Jesus Christ, God, and Holy Spirit], their three attributes, and their several relations. Here he passes to the practical Christian life, catching up and expounding the words hagiasmos [sanctification], anagennan [born again]." [Note: Bigg, p. 122.]