Hebrews 12:1-2 1 Peter 4:12-19 Matthew 6:19-34
Creation, Consummation, and the Christian Perspective
Scripture begins with creation and ends with consummation for a reason: it frames the whole story of God’s work in history. From the opening chapters of Genesis to the final vision of Revelation, we are invited to see life not as a series of disconnected events, but as part of God’s purposeful movement from beginning to fulfilment. And I think that the word “movement” captures the way we ought to think about everything that is between this framework.
Peter deliberately and repeatedly moves from creation to consummation to demonstrate how both intersect with life as we experience it, as he seeks to answer the question of why this in-between movement exists at all. God created a perfect creation and is moving toward the perfect new creation. What lies between these two realities is the undoing of what produced the need for a new creation…and that undoing, Peter keeps telling us, involves suffering. The main reason suffering exists is revealed in Genesis 3 where a rebellion began that engulfed us all in a cosmic battle that has been raging ever since. As such, suffering is directly linked to that battle…our suffering as followers of Jesus is a result of our choice to side with God against the forces of evil.
For this reason, Peter says that we ought not to be surprised when fiery trials come upon us. We are at war and our enemy is relentless, especially since he knows his time is limited. Having been defeated and disarmed by Jesus at the cross, and therefore no longer having any legal hold on those who are in Jesus, (see Colossians 2:13-15), Satan’s onslaught is continuous, despite his full awareness of his defeat, and he will use whatever underhanded method possible to undermine believers.
Now, I’m sure the director, producers, and screen writers did not have our cosmic battle in mind when they decided to change the ending of Erich Maria Remarque's original 1929 novel, but it does help us to catch a glimpse of why the in-between movement is so difficult to understand. Most of us don’t think like General Friedrichs. But believe me, the hard-hearted hatred of this psychotically deranged General pales in comparison with the hatred of our adversary, the devil and his minions. He knows the 11th hour is at hand and yet he still engages in a furious last-minute offensive. This is the time in which we live.
So, when we understand the nature of this in-between time, then fiery trials should not take us by surprise. In fact, if we seek to live as God intends us to live, we should expect them. As Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12-13, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” In this movement from Creation to Consummation, the cosmic battle continues to rage all around us despite the victory of Jesus on the cross. To restate our earlier illustration, we live between the signing of the armistice and the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Once we understand that the moment we respond to the gracious gift of salvation that is ours in Jesus, we are enlisted and engaged in this cosmic battle…the moment we understand that, suffering takes on a whole new meaning. Indeed, suffering may very well be an indication that we are participating in the forward movement of the Gospel. Because we know that all glory and dominion belongs to God for ever and ever, we are able to face the trials of this in-between time because we know that the outcome of the battle has already been determined. The armistice has been signed. It is in this confidence that we can live faithfully…that we can counter insults with righteousness…because we know the end.
As the author to the Hebrews says so clearly: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses (all those who have remained faithful through this in-between period despite suffering), let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is (now) seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
In this sense, our suffering is not just something that randomly occurs, but rather it is something that is fundamentally essential to who we are as followers of the one whose suffering brought about our reconciliation. You see, Jesus endured the cross because he knew that through it, he would redeem us.
Likewise we endure our trials because we know that through them, we participate in his ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)…together with Jesus, we are pushing back the gates of hell (Matthew 16:18)…together with Jesus, we are plundering Satan’s defeated kingdom because Jesus has already bound the strongman (Mark 3:27)…together with Jesus, we are moving toward the consummation of all things because Jesus is presently reigning to place all his enemies under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25)…together with Jesus, we are moving towards the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
This is why Peter says we can rejoice in our sufferings because we stand between the already and the not yet. Jesus suffered and was raised in glory. We suffer and will be raised in glory. But it is the purpose of both his suffering and our suffering that gives us cause for joy because we know what is set before us.
No battle is pleasant, as anyone who has actively fought in a war will tell you. But besides the intense regret and the sorrow for the loss of life, there is a certain kind of joy that comes in knowing that a greater evil has been prevented. As such, our suffering has purpose and meaning although that purpose and meaning will not always be evident at the time.
But for a believer, suffering must be based on our bearing the name of Jesus…it must be undeserved, not deserved. And, as such, our suffering must present a dilemma for unbelievers in that they are surprised by our response. Unbelievers give evil for evil, they give railing for railing, but, as Peter has already said in 3:9, we give blessing because to this we have been called, that we may inherit the blessing. As such, suffering as a believer is not something we need to be ashamed of…to the contrary, suffering for the name of Jesus is a great honour.
But there is another side to suffering that we often miss and that is its use in our sanctification. As Paul tells us in Romans 5:3-5, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” You see, for a believer, suffering is a tool that transforms us…that renews us…that conforms us to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29).
In this sense, we are being judged…or perhaps in this case, “evaluated” is a better translation…we are being evaluated even now so that we might better reflect our new status in Jesus. This is not a Protestant version of the erroneous Roman Catholic doctrine of purgatory. We are not suffering to make us worthy of heaven…no, Jesus’ suffering has already done that…the new creation was finished on the cross. No, rather our present evaluation and refining is to make us more like what we already are. Unbelievers cannot share in this outcome, because they do not participate in the victory that is ours in Jesus. As such, the positive effect of purification through suffering eludes them…because for them, judgement (or evaluation) delivers a negative result.
Now, Peter’s use of Proverbs 11:31 here may be to echo the teaching of Jesus in John 5:24: “Truly, truly, I say to you,” Jesus says, “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement but has passed from death to life.” You see, we who are in Jesus have been judged at the cross. As Paul says in Romans 8:1: there is now no judgment or condemnation for people who belong to Christ Jesus.
But for the unbelievers…those who do not obey the gospel of God…judgement is yet to come. By “scarcely saved” I think Peter is simply saying that we are not saved through anything we have done to deserve it. We were saved through what was done for us by God in Jesus. But if we are saved by what has been for us, what will become of those who base their lives on their own strategies?
Nevertheless, Peter now concludes this section with another “therefore”. In response to the sufferings that we share because we are in the world but not of it, Peter instructs us to do two thing. First, we are to entrust ourselves to our faithful Creator. Now, it is interesting that Peter uses the word “Creator” here (the only time in the New Testament where God is referred to explicitly as the Creator) because it may be that he wants to conjure up an image of our new creation…or perhaps an image of the Potter and the clay (Jeremiah 18:6)…or an image of the one who has begun a good work in us and is still working to bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6)…or of the one who created us in Jesus to do the good works that he prepared beforehand for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
Which brings us to the second thing Peter instructs us to do. We are God’s workmanship for a reason. To do the good works that he prepared beforehand for us to do. The whole idea of doing good is to bring glory to our Creator. As Jesus says in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Peter has already alluded to the surprise of unbelievers when we do not join them in their way of living (1 Peter 4:4). But I think what Peter is trying to tell us here is that when we view suffering through this lens of glorifying God by our positive response to trials we gain a completely new perspective on life.
So what difference does all of this make on a Monday morning? Well, I think, if we understand that we are living in between Creation and Consummation, we are given a new perspective on life as citizens of heaven living in a hostile environment…of new creations living in the confines of the old creation. We are given a new perspective on what it means to participate in Jesus’ ministry of reconciliation. We are given a new perspective on the function of suffering as both a refining tool and as a witnessing tool. And that means we need to learn how to live faithfully in the in-between, refusing to treat this present moment as though it were the whole story.
To that end, Peter gives us the first response: “Let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” We may not understand everything God is doing, but we can trust the One whose hands made us and who is remaking us.
The author to the Hebrews gives us the second response: run with endurance by looking to Jesus, who endured the cross “for the joy that was set before him.” We do not deny suffering, but we refuse to believe it has the final word, because suffering is a witnessing and a refining tool.
And then Jesus gives us the third response: seek first the kingdom of God. Because our Father knows what we need during this in-between time, we can keep doing good without anxiety, bitterness or fear.
That, dearest beloved brethren, is the Christian perspective: entrust yourself to your faithful Creator, fix your eyes on Jesus and keep doing good because you know where the story is going.
Scripture begins with Creation and ends with Consummation; between these two bookends, we live in a world where the battle still rages but the war has already been won.
One day the battle will cease, suffering will be no more, creation will be liberated and the King will make everything broken whole.
But until that day, we entrust ourselves to our faithful Creator, look to Jesus, seek first the kingdom and keep doing good, because none of it is wasted as the end is already secure.
Shall we pray?
© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2026
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