1. 1 Peter 5:10 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What is the significance of the word “to” in the phrase “called you to his eternal glory”?

1 Peter 5:10 (ESV)

10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

In English the preposition “to” can mean toward (implying direction) or even up to (implying proximity) without entering into (for example, a house). Greek has different prepositions for these different nuances of the word “to.” In this case, the preposition Peter uses means “into.” The point is that God would have his people share Christ’s glory. Christians may do more than see Christ’s glory from a distance; they may partake of this divine splendour (2 Peter 1:4; Revelation 21:1–3). Though today the road to Paradise Restored (the inheritance pledged in 1 Peter 1:3f) may lead through jungles of suffering, the destination is so glorious, so heavenly, so indescribably splendid as to make the present suffering “little.”