1 Peter 1:20-21

20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you

21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

“Foreordained” in the Greek text means “to designate beforehand” to a position or function. In the councils of the triune God, the Lord Jesus was the Lamb, marked out for sacrifice. “Foundation” is the translation of a word meaning literally “to throw down,” and was used of the laying of the foundation of a house. It speaks of the act of the transcendent God throwing out into space the universe by speaking the word. “World” in the Greek text is kosmos, which speaks of an ordered system, and here of that perfect universe which left the hands of the Creator. … Before this universe was created, the Lord Jesus had been foreordained to be the Savior of lost sinners, and the saints had been foreordained to become recipients of the salvation He would procure for lost sinners at the cross (Ephesians 1:4; Romans 8:29).

The word “manifest” in the Greek means “to make or become visible.” It was the invisible God who in the Person of His Son was made visible to human eyesight by assuming a human body and human limitations. — Wuest, pages 43-44.

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The words in the Greek text translated “do believe” refer to the identity of the recipients, speaking of the fact that they were believers, rather than of the act of believing. “From” is the translation of a preposition meaning “out from.” “Dead” refers not to the state of death, but to individuals who are dead. It is a plural noun in the Greek. Our Lord was raised out from among those who were dead. They stayed in that condition called death, whereas He was given life. — Wuest, page 44.

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Basically, Peter was saying to his countrymen that they were the beneficiaries of what God had foreordained before the foundation of the world. Thus, the faith and hope of these saints was not resting in the broken promises and traditions of men, but in God who is able to  save them to the uttermost. — Sadler, pages 66-67.

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