1 Pet. 1:3-5 - Our Inheritance

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

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vs. 3 - "according to His great mercy" - we are saved by mercy and grace, no more. It is not that God is condemning those who deserve salvation, but that God is saving those who deserve condemnation. See John 3:36 - The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who refuses to believe in the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him; Titus 3:5 - He saved us —not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Rom. 9:16 - So then it does not depend on human will or effort but on God who shows mercy.; See also: Gal. 6:16; Eph. 2:4,5; Eph. 7-9; Rom. 5:8.

"caused us to be born again" - God does not try to rebuild our old selves which are the old nature. We are given a completely new self, a new creature. The old self died with Christ, the new self rose with Christ. If you watch the 'Home & Garden' channel on cable TV, you will see people buying houses and remodeling them. Quite often, if the house is old, they end up gutting the house, tearing down walls, ripping off sheet rock or lathe-and-plaster, tearing up floors. After the work is done, the house appears new. But it still has the same 'bones', same foundation and wall structure. A lot of the original house is still there. You just don't see it. New paint, new flooring, some new appliances and hardware, but the original house is still there.
Our salvation does not happen that way. We will receive a new unblemished body to go with our new spirit when Christ returns before we die, or at resurrection. This is not a cosmetic make-over, nor a remodel job. While we still live on earth, we have our old natural body, our old natural self. The spiritual war that goes on within us is the battle between the old nature and the new. God does not force us to live in any certain way. Our salvation is totally voluntary - "God does not overpower, He can only woo." (The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis). The same is true of living out our salvation - we must give control to the Holy Spirit. He does not wrest it from us. The fascinating aspect of our Christian life is that while we live on earth, we have both (yes, both) the old sinful nature and the new nature within us. That is the perplexing dilemma we face. Each day, each moment we are required to make a decision - to follow the old sinful nature, or to obey the Lord per the new nature. It is easy to follow the old self - it feels right, it is comfortable. We have done it all our lives. Some have called it 'auto-pilot'. We do things habitually. Our task is to develop new habits - those following Jesus. See 1 Pet. 1:23; James 1:18; John 3:1-21; 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Rom. 6:4-6.

"... living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" - Our hope is Christ resurrected. We are really pitiful if our hope in Christ's physical life only. If Christ did not rise from the dead, all of his claims were lies or gross delusions. Christ's resurrection is the biggest story in human history. He lives. We can stake our lives on that fact. See: 1 Cor. 15:12-26 - Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith. In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified about God that He raised up Christ — whom He did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Therefore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. The message is if Christ is not resurrected, then no one is. We have believed and died for nothing. But God has promised it. His promises are true. We have life eternal. See also 1 Cor. 15:50-57; 1 John 3:2,3; 2 Thess. 2:16.

vs. 4 - "inheritance... imperishable... reserved in heaven" - We receive the inheritance, eternal life, through the work of Christ on the cross and His resurrection. It is kept safe in heaven by the Lord. Our greatest reward is eternal life with Christ Jesus, the Lord. That should be enough. I will confess that eternal life is hard to imagine. And since it is so 'far away' both in time and understanding, Jesus has given us more. He has given us a better life here and now. The Holy Spirit is in us to guide, counsel, and help. I am not advocating a 'prosperity gospel', but strength to face trials and trouble, peace to calm our hearts and souls. I cannot guarantee that as a believer I will not have troubles, pain, sickness, or issues with other people. "My peace I give to you." John 14:27 Oh, the wonders we will see as we walk the streets of heaven on that day. John, in Revelations, attempts to describe it. See Revelations 21:1-22:5.
See: Eph. 1:14; Acts 20:32; Luke 12:31-34; Matt. 6:19-21; John 10:27-29, 14:1-3.

vs. 5 - "... protected by the power of God through faith." The omnipotent God, who through grace saves us from condemnation by our faith in Christ, will never let us be separated from Him. See: 2 Tim. 1:12; John 10:27-29; Eph. 1:18-23, 2:8-9, 6:13; Col 2:9-10; Heb. 1:3; 7:25; 11:6; Rom. 1:16-17.
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