Jesus: God coming from the future

By combining the words of the prophets with the gospel of Jesus Christ, 1 Peter includes Jesus in the eschatological role of YHWH. This is most obviously seen in 1 Peter 1:24-25, where the writer quotes Isaiah 40 and tells his readers ‘this is the word that was preached to you’. The context of Isaiah 40 is a message of comfort and salvation for the Jewish exiles. (40:1-4). God himself will come with power (40:10) and will gather his people like a shepherd (40:11). The glory of YHWH will be revealed in this salvation for all mankind to see (40:5). The passage is then followed by a long monotheistic passage extolling the uniqueness of YHWH over idols, in creation and salvation (40:12- 41:7). 1 Peter takes this message and applies it to his audience by framing them as the exiled diaspora (1:1). Through the resurrection of Jesus they also hoped for the salvation of God to be revealed in the last time (1:5). Yet what was to be revealed was Jesus Christ himself (1:13, 1:7). 1 Peter equates the time of his readers to the last time (1:20), because Jesus
has already been revealed. They are filled with joy now because of faith and salvation (1:8-9), yet will be overjoyed when the glory of Jesus is revealed to all (4:13). This is the glory that believers will share in (5:1), and already do share in, the glory of the Spirit of God, when they suffer for their identification with Christ (4:14). Thus in the christology of 1 Peter, Jesus Christ is not only the perfect human whose steps we should follow for salvation (2:21-22), but also the God who brings that salvation and reveals his glory. 1 Peter does not ignore the monotheistic intentions of Isaiah, or replace God with Christ, but includes Christ in the identity of YHWH. Both Christ and God are seen as the shepherds of the flock (2:25, 5:4),
the gospel is God’s gospel(4:17), spoken of Christ by the Holy Spirit (1:12) . The glory on the last day is still God’s glory (2:12, 5:10). Speaking words of comfort to the dispersed christian community, 1 Peter shows an extremely high christology by including Jesus in the eschatological role of YHWH.