Men's Bible Study - 1 Pe 3:1-22

”I’ve been looking forward to this Session!”

Steve’s Weekly Schedule - saw a few weeks on God’s grace in Submission. Interesting.

Last time -Christian conduct toward the government and what submission looks like there.

This week - in the home. Caught your attention. I will be there!

Submission in the Home is not the only thing covered in chapter 3. God’s Grace in Suffering too. Aren’t you interested in suffering?

I am going to hit both topics!

Book covers topics well. Add a little bit based on my experience in general discipleship cases like helping a couple prepare for marriage but also experiences with intense discipleship efforts for hurting marriages.

2 huge topics (Christian Conduct for Wife /Husband AND suffering). I’ve got 20-25 minutes. Move fast.

Buckle up! Gonna be interesting too because I am on pain medicine.

First up, Peters words to Husbands and wives.

1 Peter 3:1-21

1 Peter 3:1-2 “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”

1 peter 3:7 “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”

Wait a minute rob. Peter has 6 verses written about women. More than men. So WIVES should be our focus tonight!

There is a reason Peter used more words. Under Roman law, the husband and father had absolute authority over all members of his household, including his wife. She had no protection… when a wife came to Christ, she felt valued like never before … and a wife who demanded her rights as a free woman in Christ … was putting her marriage and life in danger.

Peter had more to say because he they needed guidance and encouragement.

Some of you are like ‘I get the historical context, I still want to focus on the role of a wife. … I’ve been waiting for this night I bet the Women were saying the same thing last night … ‘let’s talk about the husbands’

Here’s the thing. It is so easy to approach a text with our purposes in mind. Filter things trying to confirm our beliefs/desires.

We end up approaching Scripture with our end in mind NOT God’s.

You and I think of ‘ME’ so naturally. Especially in our marriage. What do I want, How do I feel … natural.

We ME as our motivation we end up with incorrect views on passages like this - like woman are to submit to all men, or a wife is blindly obey her husband or woman are inferior to men (wrong, wrong wrong).

You can’t talk about the roles in marriage without first looking at the purpose of marriage.

Marriage - with God’s End in Mind

God created marriage not man (Gen 2:18-25)

As a society, we give authority to the one who created (author, engineer - design, lawyer - drafted the case). People come to you as the authority.

Study Genesis 2 and other passages on marriage like Matt 19 and you see

God Determined - something was missing in displaying His glory so He

God Created - and the reality of marriage happened at the hands of God.

God Assembled -the covenant of marriage with the 2 becoming 1 and Him fiercely guarding the most precious of all relationships, marriage. But

But Why Marriage? What is its purpose?

Glory to God in all things (Col 1:16-18, 1 Cor 10:31, 1 Cor 6:19-20, 1 Peter 4:11 (everything exists to bring glory to God.

Marriage is unique relationship with a specific purpose. When I do weddings I like to remind the couple of this special purpose

Ephesians 5. See Paul speaking to specific roles.

Ephesians 5:21-27, 22- Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.(3 verses) Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” I continue to read to the couple 3 more verses on Paul’s instruction to HUSBANDS (6 total) then I read what paul says next

32–33 “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

Your Marriage is a Window for the World to see God’s Redeeming Love.

Paul is pointing out that marriage is a visible illustration of the invisible relationship between Christ and His Bride the church (Jesus is the head of all believers).

Jesus gave up heaven to obey and submit to God the father bringing glory to him.

A Christ like marriage requires a shift in heart. From “I GET” to “I DISPLAY” God’s redeeming love through my marriage.

Christian Conduct in a Marriage - Both are to submit

v21 Ephesians 5:21 “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

The Apostle Peter is call husbands and wives to do the same in chapter 3. says v1 & 7 ’in the same way’ referring back to 2:13 … submit yourself for the Lord’s sake to

Want to know how to be a husband?

Study Jesus, Follow Jesus, Fix Your Eyes on Jesus

Paul said v25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”

PICTURE: Jesus standing holding your wife. He is bloodied but she is resting, comforted and flourishing in the arms of Jesus.

You are to

love your wife as your own body - v28

love your wife as you love yourself - v33

love your wife without bitterness or grumbling (Col 3:19)

lover her in an understanding way showing honor (1 Pe 3:7)

original words having a meaning much deeper than we think - considering her with knowledge of her needs, desires, gifts.

valuing her as an image bearer, treating with dignity and acting to help her flourish and grow in Christ.

HOW in the WORLD : Eph 5:18 filled with the Spirit.” we need the new creation and power of God. In Christ, you can.

DON’T IMITATE culture and Hollywood view of marriage … all about ” I GET”.

That not only leads to trouble in our marriages, it doesn’t love our wives for who they are in God’s eyes … it loves them for what we can get from them.

BUT most importantly it fails to bring glory to God and fails to display Christ’s redeeming love to the world.

IMITATE JESUS: Just as Christ was submissive and obedient to God’s will, so a Christian husband and wife should follow His example. He’ll give you the grace to do it!

As God gives you grace to submit at home He gives it to you in suffering. Which is another element you are talking about tonight.

Christian Conduct in Suffering

Who loves pain? Who runs towards it? We want to avoid it!

Peter v8 starts talking suffering and God’s Grace in Suffering and what Christian Conduct in Suffering. Odd thought isn’t it? How should we respond to suffering as a Christian? I think this is the hardest concept. We just want the suffering to go away!

What caught my eye in 1 Peter 3:13-15 “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” ***But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. ”

As you know, Peter was writing to people who were suffering through persecution because of their faith. (see examples in book of Acts, read history on the Roman Emperor Nero’s obsession with eliminating Christians as well as making them objects of amusement through horrific acts.

Coming weeks lots of opportunity on HOW to suffer. So important.

I want to Cover - WHY Suffering?

That is a question every one of us asks when its happening. We try to make sense of what is happening.

We come up with our own conclusions on why we are suffering … sometimes right, sometimes wrong, sometimes we just don’t know.

I have found that to be true in my life and true of those that come for intense discipleship in their suffering.

The Bible speak to suffering;

As Christ Followers, we need to have a Biblical View of Suffering in order to successfully journey through it by God’s power, grace and comfort.

-------- stop here if not enough time -------

lifepnt.com/whysuffering

Why do we suffer?

At a very high level but so true “If sin had not entered the world, suffering would not have entered the world either (Genesis 3:1-19). Suffering exists because evil existed first”.

But let’s zoom out a little

We Suffer because of Our Own Hearts…

God has created you as an embodied soul, meaning you have an inner and outer person. The Bible uses the term “heart” to reference the unity and complexity of your inner person

—> Ever experience someone say, follow me, Trust me bro! ?

Here was what Scripture says about trusting our hearts.

Jeremiah 17:9-10 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind

We cannot trust our hearts. but trusting and obeying a new heart for those in-Christ … that we can.

Our hearts can create pain and suffering in our lives as well as other relationships - family, friends, relationship with God.

We Suffer because of Our Physical Bodies

You are physically embodied, according to God’s creative design. The Bible uses the term “body” to reference your outer person.

Not long after the first human sin, Gen 3:16-17 the hebrew word for pain is seen - eve - pains of child birth, adam, painful toil of the land.

my physical body is causing suffering for me. Someone with a chronic illness, long hours at work, lack of sleep

Your physical body can be one of the sources of pain/suffering in this world.

We Suffer because of Others…

You are socially embedded in a variety of relational contexts. The Bible uses terms like “friends,” “marriage,” “family,” “household of God,” and “the world” to reference your social community.

Remember, all of humanity impacted by sin and brokenness. Which means they can be a source of your suffering.

Rob, this is 99.999 % of my suffering right here :-)

Your suffering may be the DIRECT effect of the sin of another. (Psalm 56 - David)

parent, sibling, neighbors, groups maybe even the goverment.

Your suffering may be the INDIRECT effect of somebody else’s sin

We see lots of examples of this in the OT; look at Daniel and Ezekiel, they were led into captivity even though they had not fallen to idolatry.

e.g. today … think of that child, who one of the parents committed adultery, end the marriage, and now the child is in a new residence learning a new normal.

We Suffer Because We are in a Spiritual Battle…

You are part of an invisible war that rages around you on a cosmic scale.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12).

The Bible uses terms and phrases like “following the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:1-3), “schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-20), “strongholds” and “arguments” (2Corinthians 10:3-5), “adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion” (1Peter 5:8),

The invisible spiritual world is real and we need to be aware that it can be a source of our suffering.

Suffering in The Active, Perfect, Sovereign Will of God…

This IS so hard to wrap our mind around. That The pains and hardships of this life always happen under the loving and mighty hand of God. We may not understand that but it isn’t any less true.

Yet, there is SO MUCH MORE to this truth.

keep in mind the truth of Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Though the Lord permitted the suffering and He’ll use it, work in it, for our good.

Our God is the great redeemer! There is suffering that leads

to Salvation,

suffering that brings about biblical change which leads to life giving transformation and ultimately helps us become more like Jesus … so that others can see and decide to follow Christ … the one who suffered to redeem His people; for their good and MOST importantly bring glory to God.

We can take comfort knowing that our circumstance is not a surprise to God; it isn’t more than HE can handle.

It’s true that our hearts are influenced by all the different sources of suffering. But here is the thing, we’ll see this play out in the next few sessions.

Suffering does not control what we do in response NOR does our suffering control who we are!