Hard Rock Vol. 1
Notes
Transcript
We are going to take an in-depth look at the letters from Peter.
In-depth….take one verse and then read way too much into it.
It’s like Art interpretation: where someone looks at a painting an gives this whole story of what the artist was trying to say. Think of VanGouh’s self portrait in the yellow hat. It was discovered 120 years later that it was actually a painting of VanGouh’s brother, Theo.
I promise not to do that kind of series, but instead let the word take us as deep as it allows.
That said, Peter’s word is deep as we will see this morning.
We will only cover the first two verses of 1 Peter 1, but then accelerate as we go further.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen
2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
Who wrote 1 Peter?
Who wrote 1 Peter?
Although the text identifies Peter as its author, the language, dating, style, and structure of this letter have led most scholars to conclude that it is pseudonymous.[3][4][5] Many scholars argue that Peter was not the author of the letter because its writer appears to have had a formal education in rhetoric and philosophy, and an advanced knowledge of the Greek language,[6] none of which would be usual for a Galilean fisherman.
God Breathed.
He may have had a secretary.
Because I believe it is scripture, and cannot contain error, I stand firm that Peter wrote 1 Peter.
An Apostle
An Apostle
Messanger -
13 And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:
By evoking the title of Apostle, Peter is telling his readers that this is more than just his opinions. It is authoritative.
Aliens
Aliens
reside as aliens
parepidémos
A Greek-English Lexicon παρεπίδημος
sojourning in a strange place
We will see in a moment that Peter is writing to believers, but the idea that they are aliens doesn’t fit in the natural sense of the word.
These are not just believers that have fled Jerusalem, but also converts that lived their entire lives in Asia Minor.
4 “I am a stranger and a sojourner among you; give me a burial site among you that I may bury my dead out of my sight.”
The Chosen
The Chosen
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen
3 “I have made a covenant with My chosen;
I have sworn to David My servant,
6 O seed of Abraham, His servant,
O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
20 “The beasts of the field will glorify Me,
The jackals and the ostriches,
Because I have given waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My chosen people.
When Peter calls these people Chosen, he is not referring to them as Jews, but them chosen as individuals with all the privileges of being His People.
Peter links the idea of being a sojourner in a strange pace with being chosen by God.
… All I know is I'm not home yet
This is not where I belong
Take this world and give me Jesus
This is not where I belong
14 For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come.
15 Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
According to the foreknowledge of God the Father
According to the foreknowledge of God the Father
FATHER, SON and Holy Spirit.
Not just knowing that Peter would be writing to them, or that they would be Chosen people in Asia Minor.
But
Thus ‘according to the foreknowledge’ suggests ‘according to God’s fatherly care for you before the world was made.
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
Sanctifying work of the Spirit to obey Jesus Christ.
Sanctifying work of the Spirit to obey Jesus Christ.
By - unfortunate. It implies that we are chosen by the sanctifying work of the Spirit.
NKJV: elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit.
Set apart to be able to Christ.
Systematic work of the Holy Spirit in our lives that allow us to better obey Christ and thus better be Christ like in out presentation before the world.
Sprinkled with His blood
Sprinkled with His blood
When we see the imagery of Sprinkling of Blood in the OLD Testament it is mostly on an the alter or the mercy seat. It is a sign that a life has been given and thus a debt paid.
17 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil.
In only three cases was blood ceremonially sprinkled on people.
Moses sprinkled blood from the sacrificial oxen on all the people in Exodus 24. Covenant initiation ceremony at Mt. Sinai.
Ceremony of ordination for Aaron and his sons as priest in Exodus 29.
Purification ceremony for a leper who had been healed from leprosy. Lev 14.
6 “As for the live bird, he shall take it together with the cedar wood and the scarlet string and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the live bird in the blood of the bird that was slain over the running water.
7 “He shall then sprinkle seven times the one who is to be cleansed from the leprosy and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the live bird go free over the open field.
Peter has already identified them as Chosen. They are already set apart.
22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
But noting here that as we walk, we will get our feet dirty and need them washed.
6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?”
7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.”
8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.”
10 Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
