Peter wrote those words to some people who were having something more than just a bad week. They were being harassed and hounded because of their faith in Christ. They had to "suffer grief in all kinds of trials" (1 Peter 1:6).
Did you know it is for our good and for the good of the church that we experience trials? It is not always popular to say that; many of us tend to prefer the more pleasant parts of the gospel. Peter's letter was not for people who wanted a good life first and Jesus as a bonus, his letter was for those who followed Jesus no matter the cost. They were the ones who needed to know that their trials were not meaningless. So Peter told them of three ways that trials help:
And so how did the apostle Peter know that his readers were the real thing? That's where the verse at the beginning comes in. That verse (1 Peter 1:8) puts a spotlight on two things:
In my natural life I thought I knew what love was about . . . then I got married . . . then we had children . . . and earthly love was experienced in a deeper way that was not easily shaken. Likewise in my inner life I thought I knew what love was about . . . then I saw Jesus crucified for me . . . then I came to the cross and confessed my sin . . . then I was forgiven . . . and heavenly love was experienced in a deeper, more abiding way that will not be shaken. In my natural life I thought I knew what joy was about. I was entertained, I achieved, I experienced pleasures . . . but then in the inner life I was filled with the Spirit and all other pleasures faded into the distance . . . I tasted heaven's glory . . . a deeper, more abiding joy has been experienced. That heavenly love and deeper joy are what I call "Signs of Life," and the central truth of this book is this:
Heaven forbid that you or I should ever experience serious injury, but if we do, we are very happy that there are people trained in first-aid who come to our relief. One of the first things they do in an extreme situation is look for signs of life among the injured. They listen for breath, feel for pulse and look for response. If there is no sign of life they work hard to restore those signs with measures like Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). If there is no sign of life and no hope of it they move on to someone else, after all there really is no reason to bind the wounds or set the bones of a dead person. We are not surprised or bothered that emergency personnel should check for signs of physical life when treating us, so why should we be surprised that there are also signs of life that distinguish spiritual life; signs like love or joy? The Scriptures do put strong emphasis on taking note of signs of life so it would do us well to give them our attention. Let's take some time to look at two matters:
Here's my simple answer: signs of life are those times when you feel strongly enough about something that you make a choice.
You and I have an inner life, the scriptures call it the soul. A simple description of the inner life is that it does two things: it takes in information and it decides how to act on that information. There are two motives for the decisions: one is by being pleased and the other is by being displeased. Sometimes likes or dislikes are just little things and don't mean much, but other times they are big things and make for strong feelings inside and move us to act. It is those strong feelings that produce actions in us that are the signs of life. We have names for these strong feelings: love, hatred, sorrow, joy, fear, hope, and so on.
Did you know that when a medical professional is looking for clues to the condition of our bodies that care must be taken not to be fooled by signs of life we present. They spend years and great effort learning how to diagnose our true condition so the right treatment can be offered. It is important to know that the signs of life in our inner life can fool us too. It is important to know about them and how they work so we can be sure we are on God's path and not some path of sorrow or disappointments.
First, the Christian faith that is presented in the Scripture is one of deep feelings and actions that arise from them. Our faith is not made up of weak, dull, lifeless wishes that barely have the energy to rise above boredom. God's Word insists we put feeling into it. . . (Romans 12:11. Deuteronomy 10:12; 6:4-5; 30:6.)
Real faith is powerful and has a powerful effect on our inner life. It energizes us to choose the Lord. Nothing is worse than being half-hearted or lukewarm about it. . . 2 Tim 3:5; 1:7.
Our Christian life is compared to a fight, a contest for a prize, a war, a violent taking of a city. Those are descriptions of things which bring great feelings; great pains or pleasures. Wherever genuine faith is strong feelings are also. God's people are described as those who fear him and put their hope in him. (Psalm 33:18; 147:11.) Other strong feeling words are used as well: hatred (Prov 8:13), desire and longing (Isaiah 26:8; Psalm 42:1-2), joy (Psalm 37:4, Phil 3:1), sorrow and a broken heart (Matthew 5:4; Psalm 34:18), gratitude and thankfulness, compassion and mercy, and zeal to name a few.
But the sum of it all is love. (Matt. 22:37-40. Romans 13:8. Galatians 5:14. 1st Corinthians 13.) It really is the source of all the other good signs of life in a person.
Second, just look at life around you. Look at your own life, and you will have to agree that God has wired us this way. Evil as well as good come into action by force of strong likes and dislikes. We never get very far in accomplishing anything we have little feeling about.
Third, look at the great people of faith in the scriptures and down through history. David, a man after God's own heart, was not a cold-fish. How about Paul? He was always deeply moved in his life. . . to rejoicing or to tears. Jesus himself is a perfect example of the proper signs of life that come from strong feelings: zeal (John 2:17), anger (Mark 3:5), tears (Luke 19:41-42), desire (Luke 22:15), and many other examples.
Be warned! God does not take too kindly to a heart that is unmoved and hard. It is called sin. (Rom 2:5. Ezekiel 3:7. Psalm 95:7-10)
It is very important to take our inner feelings seriously, but it is also very important to judge them in the light of scripture to see if those signs of life are true signs or misleading ones that hinder our choosing God.
What a wonderful gift our feelings are, and what a wonderful gift is the Word
of God that gives us guidance as we sort them out.