When sin made an ugly mess of God's perfect world, it did not take Him by surprise. The Divine rescue for humanity, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, was not an afterthought; it was all in the original plan (Titus 1:2).  Even before the world was created in all its beauty, God knew that the first man and woman would spoil everything. But even before anything went wrong, God had planned for Jesus to be the way for everything to be made new again (Revelation 21:5). His death was not an accident, but an appointment which had been made ages before (Galatians 4:4-5).

The revelation of God’s plan was prophesied but not understood (Isaiah 53:1) until God showed Jesus to the world (Luke 2:30).  His death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus were a confusing sequence of events to the authorities (1 Corinthians 2:8), but God’s provision for us. As well as being for God's glory, He intended us to benefit personally. Without His intervention, and His revelation of His actions in the gospel, we would still be lost - far away from God and unable to have any relationship with Him. If Christ had not come to us, we could not trust God for anything: our lives would have remained without meaning or hope for this life and the eternity to come (Ephesians 2:12).

Peter makes the redemption story very personal to his readers, and us: it was ‘for your sake ... so that your hope and faith are in God’.  Although many people claim to believe in God (the demons also believe in His power, and they tremble in fear – James 2:19), there is no personal relationship with God except through Jesus (John 14:6) (1 Timothy 2:5).  It is one thing to believe in God’s existence, another thing to have the confidence to come close to Him through the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10:22) and call Him Father (Romans 8:15).  The revelation of Jesus ‘for your sake’ came through the authority of Jesus (Acts 1:8) and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles (Galatians 4:6) (Ephesians 3:2-5).  The purpose is that you might believe in God as Father and become His child (John 1:12) trusting Him for this life and eternity.

So, if you have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, please don't accept the lie that God does not know or care about you. Do not live today as if heaven has forgotten you and hell is about to swallow you up - that is cruelly untrue. As you go to work today, doing your business and attending to family at home, remember that Jesus Christ came to earth for you. Be thankful that He suffered because He loved you and wanted you to become a part of Father God's family.  And don't forget Romans 8:32 which says, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"  The love of God is overwhelmingly generous to those who know and trust Him personally.