An Inheritance Like No Other

Greetings:(1 Min)

If you have a copy of God’s Word and I hope you do, please turn to 1 Peter 1

Introduce family

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Introduction: (6 Min)

I want us to look at Peters life for a moment that will set the stage for this marvelous Epistle we will read in a moment.

When we are introduced to Peter in the Gospels, we find an fisherman who is sporadic in his faith, and often fumbles abe fails

Sporadic Faith:

Steps out of the boat to meet Jesus on the water

When Jesus posed the question to the disciples, “who do men say that I am?” It was Peter who confessed that "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!”

But that faith is often overshadowed by his failures:

He forbids the Lord from dying when Jesus said He must be killed…Jesus responds with “get behind me satan”

The night before our Lords crucifixion, Peter is fast asleep in the garden of gethsemane

Cuts the ear off of the High Priests servant, Malchus when Jesus’ was arrested

He denies Jesus recorded in all four gospels

After the resurrection, He locks himself, along with the other disciples, in a house for fear of the Jews

Peter was a fearful man!

But something happened in Peters life…40 days after the ascension of Christ

He is filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Boldly proclaimed the Gospel

Rejoicing at suffering threats and beatings, and imprisonment from Jewish and Roman leaders(Acts 4-5)

And now we find Peter writing this Epistle. He is an old man now and facing immenent death on a cross at the hands of the Romans.

Writing from Rome to Jewish and Gentile audience(elect exiles (v.1) spread throughout Asia Minor (Modern Turkey)))

Hostility from pagan cultures through:

False accusations (1 Pet. 2:12 ; 3:16)

Physical violence (1 Pet.2:20)

Slander (1 Pet.4:4,14)

And encourages these people in this letter to stand firm in this present, evil age.

But, suffering overtime takes a toll on a person mental, physical, and emotional condition, does it not?

Peter is calling them to something greater than their suffering that will strengthen them to endure.

Transition:

Lets look at our text this morning and see what the Holy Spirit would say to us through Peter...

Opening Reading of 1 Peter 1: 3-9 and Prayer(2 Min)

1 Peter 1:3–5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Body(19 Min):

Begins with a doxology (v.3)

He is writing to Jew and Gentile christians living in cultures that are hostile to Christianity, much like ours although maybe worse.

Rather than indulge any self-pity they may have from their suffering, he calls them to share with him in blessing God inspite of their suffering.

Does that describe you? How does your heart respond when you suffer? Do you find yourself murmuring or complaining in difficult times or do you burst in praise to your Father in heaven?

Notice his confession is very distinct. God is God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter is distinguishing Christianity from false religions. There never was a man Who claimed that God was his father nor God claiming to be his father.

This is a big deal if you were a Jew. Jesus is making an emphatic claim that Peter is affirming here.

John 10:29-33 “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.””

The pharisees understood that Jesus was claiming to be God and it was that claim that drove them to crucify Him

Jesus Christ is the Word, He is God, manifested in the flesh(John 1)

Caused us to be born again = “given us new birth”(CSB) ;

what does it mean to be born again?

Born Again = To experience a transformed life that now possesses a dominant bent towards pleasing God through affectionate obedience to His Word and increasingly being conformed to the image of His Son.

The Bible teaches that before a person comes to faith in Christ they are spiritually dead and incapable of choosing Him outside of Divine grace.

Eph.2 “we were dead in our trespasses and sin…But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ...”

It is God who caused us to be reborn/regenerated

Doctrine of Regeneration or the New Birth (“New heart..a new spirit I will put in you” - Ezek.36:26)

We are passive in this experience

John 1:12-13 “...he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

James 1:18 “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth...”

Col. 2:13 “... God made alive together with him,”

Example: Did you have a choice in being born the first time? You spiritual rebirth is not a choice you made, but God made from eternity past to cause you to be born again.

Q: How did God do this?

A: According to His great mercy(compassion)

Mercy = Compassion

Titus 3:5 - “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy”

Heb. 4:16 - “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Beloved, you must understand that there is nothing good in you that warrants God to love you and be kind to you. God has been compassionate to you by giving you a new heart and new spirit. He did not have to, but chose to because he loves you!

Living Hope

peter is talking about a future grace

Justification(Rom.5:1) - Sanctification(Rom.12:2) - Glorification - (1 John 3:2) “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

This hope is secured through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

Christ’s claim of deity to the Jewish leaders in John 10 was validated when the Father raised Him from the dead. (Rom. 6:4)

Read v.4

Q: What is this inheritance(Possession)?

I want us to compare the inheritance Peter is describing here with Israel’s inheritance in the Old Testament.

God promised to give Abraham the land of Canaan as an inheritance

Gen.12:7 “Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land(Canaan)...”

Deut. 4:38 Moses saying of God that He is “driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day,”

If you were a Jew in that day there was no greater desire than to possess tthe land that God promised your forefathers 600 years earlier!

As marvelous as the earthly inheritance was to Israel, the Scriptures elevate this word to a loftier sense in the New Testament.

Heb. 9:15 “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance...”

2 Pet.1:11 “For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

The old was “temporal” the new is “eternal”

This inheritance is another way to say our salvation in V.5:

Eternal

Incorruptible =(1)Never decays (2) Never ceases to continue

This is foreign to us because everything in our world is constantly breaking down. The 2nd Law of Thermo Dynamics. (our bodies; plants; animals)

But our salvation never ceases to be perfect to the highest degree. It is as complete today as it will be throughout eternity!

It cannot be added to or taken away!

Undefiled = Not contaminated; Pure; Free of defect

Picture - Like water ultra purfied ready to consume, but without needing to be purified. Intrinsically pure.

Unfading - Perpetual; Perennial;

Amaranth = Flower that never fades

Its beauty remains in full-strength

Kept (Reserved) in heaven for you

Read V. 5

Notice the dynamic roles involved the preservation of your salvation

A passive and active role of the believer

In one sense the believer is passive in that the Holy Spirit says that it is God who is guarding us, but in another very real sense He is guarding us through our faith.

“Guard” = Military term describing a soldier standing guard at a gate and defending his city from a hostile invasion

Guarded from what? - Satan and his system

1 Peter 5:8 “..Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

1 John 5:19 “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

Its not a mystery that our culture is under the power of satan. We see the evidence of that everywhere(promotion of homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, feminism, etc.), but we are exiles in this foreign land.

Peter is reminding us that our salvation is guarded by God who not only wills our salvation but possesses the power and authority to keep our salvation.

God is guarding our souls and our salvation from the onslaught of Satan and the corruption of this world through our faith...

Faith

(1) Reliance upon the Word of God (Matt. 4:4) “...Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ 

(2) Response to the Holy Spirit’s conviction (John 16:8) “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”

Our salvation will be made known to us fully at the return of Jesus Christ

1 John 3:2 “Beloved...what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

Heb. 9:28 “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Christ inaugurated our salvation at His first coming. He will consummate our salvation at His second coming.

Closing:

Story of My son anticipating a Lightning McQueen bicycle that was veiled with a sheet.

When Jesus returns a second time, His prayer in John 17 will be fulfilled. For all His children will be with Him to see His glory.

I asked earlier “What could be so prodigious, so astounding that one would endure a lifetime of affliction?

When you witness the glory of Christ that was given Him before all things existed, it will make any suffering in this present reality pale in comparison to the glory of that reality.

Beloved, if you are in Christ, you possess an inheritance that is eternal, incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading. No matter what suffering you may be called to endure in this life, know that God sees and cares for you. Submit your life fully to the Word of God, experience joy and peace in the midst of suffering, and live as if Jesus is returning tonight because He may.

If you are here and are not a Christian, but would like to know more about this great salvation through Jesus Christ, in a moment I am going to pray and after I pray I want to invite you to come and see Brian Smith.