1 Peter 1:3-9

Good morning! Don’t worry I’m not up here to give any more announcements. Gregg is away on vacation and it was one of those things where Gregg asked who wanted to step in and preach, and everyone else took a step back behind me and I look around and it’s just me left. No not really. I think he just wanted you guys to really miss him when he gets back and plead with him not to leave again.

Any how, we’re going to be in 1 Peter 1 today.

Now I myself personally have spent a lot of time in Peter’s letters over the last several months, as a handful of you know, especially my friends who joined me in Kenya who heard some of these things as I began to process them.

Scott and I have also been teaching through the gospel of Matthew with the youth group now for 15 months. And we here on Sunday mornings have been going through the gospel of Luke now for about 10 months. About a chapter a month. So I’m expecting my unborn son to be up and walking by the time we finish. We’ll see which happens first.

Anyway, throughout the time in the gospels and in the letters of Peter something I’ve been so struck by is seeing how Peter’s interactions with the Lord Jesus impacted and influenced him, especially in ministry and his teaching to the Church.

What’s unique for Peter is that as he sits to write these letters inspired by the Holy Spirit, he’s bringing with him and drawing on 3 particular years of shared life with the Son of God.

One way you could describe 1 Peter is like a salve to combat despair. I say that because one of the primary ideas communicated in this letter is hope. Hope specifically in the face of suffering. Around 25% of all appearances of the Greek word for “suffered” and for “suffering” in our Bibles occurs just within the 5 chapters of 1 Peter. But paired with suffering, we see repeated mentions of the word glory and eternity and chosen and called.

How do we reconcile what we see with what we know. Because what I see detached from what we know would cause me despair.

The same is true for the churches Peter is writing to.

They are Jewish and I believe Gentile believers who are living in Gentile lands. Pagan lands. Lands full of people who worship false gods and oppose anyone claiming there exists an objective authority over all things. Much like what we experience today, correct?

I will always remember one interaction Kevin and I had in Princeton a couple years back where this woman became enraged because we spoke of the Biblical doctrine of the sinful and fallen condition of man. “How dare you tell me or anyone else that we are sinners” In essence, how dare you tell me that I have a moral responsibility to something other than myself.

Now Peter’s original readers may not have had that exact conversation, but it is clear they experienced persecution and suffering at the hands of those hostile to God. (1 Peter 4:12-16)

This is what these churches are seeing. And when the mindfulness of the things of the Lord begins to fade from being saturated by a culture far from God, despair begins to set in. Hopelessness. Meaninglessness. Emptiness.

These are destructive in the life of the believer and in the church.

And there is a clear question being addressed. How do we live in the face of this adversity? What level of interaction do we have with this world? Where is God in the midst of this?

And Peter will get into specifics. But he doesn’t start there. When he writes, he sets his foundation in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The gospel according to the Gospels. Why? Because in order to live out this faith. To live in hope, we must know where the hope is found and where it isn’t. And we must know who provides our hope. What He is like.

And again, as we march along through the gospel of Luke, and our teens through the gospel of Matthew as well, we get a glimpse of how someone like Peter, someone like us, learned the heart of God and on what basis Peter could live a life of steadfast faith in the midst of trial. How like his name, he himself could have a faith of solid rock.

Again, I want to read through the opening verses of 1 Peter this morning, this will be like home base for us today though we will jump around. But in what Peter says about the Lord here, he establishes for us on what basis we can trust God and how that trust shapes us as a result.

Let’s jump in.

1 Peter 1:3–9 “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. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

As I read through this, there are many things Peter communicates about the Lord, this morning we’ll go through some of them, but not all unfortunately. And to look at the those we will cover, I thought it might be helpful to do so in 3 pairings. The first is clear in verse 3. So let’s look at that again.

1 Peter 1:3 “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,”

Peter has just moved past his introduction for the letter and he’s gearing up to communicate about God to his readers, and as soon as the gears start spinning in considering God, the first thing his pen can do is declare God’s praise.

In all of God’s attributes, He is praiseworthy. Another way to say this is that He is holy. He is altogether different. We like to say the phrase set apart. If you’re a science person, we can think of it in quantity and quality. All that God is, He in infinite. There is no end or limit to it. So no matter what we speak of God, His love, His power, His goodness… It’s infinite. Whereas all creation has limitations. We have bounds. He has no bounds.

And in quality. Our love, our power, our knowledge, it’s all tainted by sin. It’s perfect and complete and free from anything that might cause it to be less than perfect. Not so with us.

I can think of no better example for how this isn’t true with humanity, than my own life.

This story pops up frequently at youth group, but I still remember being in middle school attending a youth group study. Scott Webster was teaching. And he was teaching us about the OT law. And he made a comment about how it was impossible to keep. yahda yadha yadha. Well I thought to myself I bet I could keep the all of the laws. And Scott just smiled at me, sure you can. Why don’t you give it a try.

I can’t back down from a challenge, so I accepted. So we print out all of the 613 laws I think there are. And I take home my packet and prepare for the week ahead.

Well I’m honestly not sure how many I was able to keep or not keep because on the first day I realized I lost my packet of laws. And that to me was a clear indication that I probably wouldn’t have done very well.

The Lord’s holiness is unapproachable. I couldn’t take one step toward Him of my own accord.

Peter had the unique opportunity of having the holy One standing in his boat. He encountered the God he is writing about. You remember the passage we studied a few months back.

Look at Luke 5:1–7 “On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.”

Luke 5:8 “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.””

Peter didn’t say, depart from me because I can’t do what you can do. But I am not what you clearly are. Holy. Your nature is that of God.

I am a sinner. And therefore I cannot here before you. I am not worthy of it.

The same response Israel had before Mount Sinai.

Exodus 19:21 “And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish.”

Exodus 20:18–21 “Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.”

Even Moses could not look upon the Lord.

Exodus 33:20 “But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.””

Exodus 34:8 “And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.”

God cannot allow sin into His presence. Light cannot allow the presence of darkness. Darkness is done away with in the presence of light.

And we know Jesus being God, possesses the same nature.

Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

Colossians 1:15–17 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Colossians 1:19 “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,”

So what changes from Luke 5 to 1 Peter 1?

I think it’s what Peter mentions next in 1 Peter 1:3 “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,”

According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again.

How can we interact with holiness? For those in Christ, we’ve been made new by mercy.

This mercy is what brings us before the holiness of God. It’s holiness moving toward us.

Look at the heart of Jesus in Luke 5:10 “and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.””

We know from our study before, Jesus doesn’t disagree with Peter. He is a sinful man. God is holy. But God is merciful. Instead of sending Peter off, He invites him closer. Don’t be afraid. I will transform you. You will be made new. And that changes everything.

Which is what Peter says in his letter. This mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

That holy presence. That’s where we’re going. When all of this is said and done, that’s the result. Living with the living Savior.

Knowing God is merciful and reminding ourselves of His mercy, His holy presence moving toward us in love, should remind us continually that our deepest most desperate need has already been met. When our hope and trust in other things, lesser things, temporary things, we will be let down, we will arrive in despair. Because we weren’t created for that.

Peter points to the resurrection. The evidence that God’s mercy to us is applied and will never be taken away.

Knowing this stir trust in the Lord within us.

Let’s keep moving forward in 1 Peter.

1 Peter 1:4–5 “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.”

We saw holiness and mercy. And here we see our next pairing. God’s power and faithfulness.

This inheritance. The Lord’s presence. Being with Him. Because of who God is imperishable. God will never expire. It’s undefiled. God is holy and will never cease to be holy. And unfading. His glory will never diminish. I wish we could spend more time here...

And when you consider this. Peter wants to bring something else to our attention that God is doing. First, the inheritance is being kept for us. But secondly, and what I would like to discuss further is that by God’s power we are being guarded for it.

Now Peter is very familiar with God’s power. There are so many examples of Jesus performing powerful signs in front of him, it would be pretty time-consuming to go through them all. Think of all the healings that Peter witnessed. Hundreds, if not thousands of people healed. All kinds of healings. The blind, the deaf, the lame, the crippled, the demon-possessed, the leprous, a withered hand, the centurion’s servant, the woman with discharge, Lazarus being raised, the calming of the storm, think of the transfiguration, water turning to wine, feeding the 5,000, the 4,000. Peter witnessed all of these events. But I imagine, like all of us, it hits a little different when we experience it ourselves.

For some reason Peter experiences the Lord’s power in the gospels whenever fish are present. Not really. But they are nearby.

We saw in Luke 5, the Lord causes there to be such a catch of fish that both boats began to sink. This was repeated in John 21 after the resurrection. In Mat. 17 to pay the temple tax, Jesus has Peter go catch a fish and says that the first fish he catches will have a shekel in its mouth, the exact amount needed for them both to pay. The distribution of loaves and fish. And perhaps most significantly. The walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee.

And like it, though we don’t think of it often, the power that Jesus gives to the disciples, including Peter to go and perform signs themselves to neighboring towns and villages. Peter is familiar with the power of God, He has seen it and God has even demonstrated power on and through Peter. But it’s not just God’s power Peter wants to draw our attention to. It’s what the power accomplishes.

Through God’s power we are being guarded through faith for a salvation, the fullness of our salvation being bodily present before the Lord. What Peter is communicating broadly is that God’s power works to accomplish His will. Simply put, God is faithful and His power is used in measure with His faithfulness.

Whenever we read of healing accounts in the gospels, I’m always reminded of Isaiah 35:5–6 “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;”

Jesus didn’t go around just doing any powerful signs. He didn’t pull the sword from the stone, or throw a baseball and turn around and catch it.

The signs He performed were in accordance with the Scriptures. Through His power He demonstrated Himself to be who the Scriptures declared He is and would be in the person of the Messiah.

God was faithful to fulfill what He promised He would, and His awesome power made sure of it.

And obviously the greatest testimony of this to Peter. Again. The resurrection. I know we study Luke, but in Matthew with our Youth Group, we’ve made note that Jesus proclaims His death and resurrection 3 times to His disciples. 3 Times Peter heard clearly that Jesus would go to Jerusalem to be delivered over, die and rise again. And then one day Peter witnessed those exact events.

And here He is telling us again. God is faithful. He will do what He says He will do. And the full measure of His infinite power will make sure of it. It can’t prevented.

Being mindful of the Lord and His faithfulness and power. You can trust that what has been said by Him will come to pass.

And there is nothing about what you’re seeing around you that is at odds with that. In other words, despite the noise, despite the difficulty, God’s power is presently guarding you and He will be proven faithful just as He proved himself faithful in rising from the grave.

Let’s finish with the last pairing. 1 Peter 1:6–9 “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Peter in these verses begins by describing circumstances, these trials, and what they accomplish. What’s implied in these verses, is that God is good.

And what I mean when I say something is good, is that it is right, or as it ought to be.

And so everything that God does and says is good. It is right. It is as it ought to be.

Look again at verse 6. He prefaces the trials, with the phrase “if necessary”.

He’s simply saying that what occurs in our life is not meaningless. And even if difficult things occur, God is using them to produce something good. God’s goodness paired with His sovereignty and faithfulness, causes even the hardest of situations to be like refining fire for us. And bring us to where it is good for us to be. People who look more and more everyday like Jesus. So that the testimony of our lives can be found to result in His praise and glory.

The goodness of God displayed in bringing us to the good place of His presence.

I think of the darkness that the events of the crucifixion seemed to bring over the world, and specifically those with Jesus. We know that wasn’t where Peter thought Jesus was going. He even verbally disagreed with Jesus. He even cut off someone’s ear to prevent it.

But it was necessary for the true good to be accomplished. And how is this goodness of God move toward us? Through God’s attribute of being a revealing God. A God who makes Himself and His heart and His ways known to us. A God who helps us see things as they really are, and makes His good ways known to us.

1 Peter 1:8–9 “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

We don’t see Jesus in bodily form. But God has made Himself known to us through His Word and testimony. And soon we will all experience the full revealing of His majesty.

Like Peter we look to the gospel accounts, the person of Jesus. We see that He his holy and His holiness moves toward us in mercy. He is all-powerful and His power fulfills what He promises. He is good. And His ways are good. And if walk in them, we can trust that God will provide us with the good outcome of His presence, both now and fully realized at His coming, because He is a God who makes Himself and wants to reveal Himself to us.

Trusting in the Lord is seeing the world through this lens. That these things are true of God amidst any circumstance or moment I find myself in.

When we meditate on these truths, we develop a new kind of vision. There is a new color as we see things. We don’t see difficulty as meaningless inconvenience. We don’t experience tragedy as being robbed of our identity, whether it’s a loss of relationship, job, or health. We don’t see hostility toward our faith as triumph of the enemy.

We aren’t disappointed by the same things and in adverse events, we don’t respond in anger. The very definition of our wellbeing changes.

That’s living in trust in the Lord. It’s all encompassing.

My relationship with work is different. My relationship with my spouse is different. My relationship with my kids is different. Because now these things aren’t distorted by the selfish urge to use them for my benefit. There is renewed purpose and restored meaning in every decision and interaction I have.

Now we are a people seeking to make holy and merciful God known and walk in the goodness that He has revealed to us. And do so confidently, leaning not on our own power, but His faithful power.

Trust in God isn’t effectively addressed at the behavioral level. It’s just seen through behavior. But it’s cultivated in knowing God and seeing the world through that lens. I usually describe it as a pair of glasses. And those who came to the Auxano Series last year might remember this. But the things we believe are like glasses. They inform what we see.

The glasses of Scripture informs everything we see and provides right meaning to it all. It’s there where we learn the only place where our hope is secure. Where true joy and life is found. Where meaning comes from and what is truly good.

If you’re like me and at times you find it easy to be let down by things or frustrated by things. Go back to the Word, spend time with Jesus, allow the Spirit to wash you with a renewed understanding of His truth.

As I was preparing this week to teach, I was listening to a hymn that struck me.

I’d like to read it you now.

O soul, are you weary and troubled?

No light in the darkness you see?

There’s a light for a look at the Saviour,

And a life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

From what I read, she wrote it inspired by these words “So then turn your eyes upon Him, look full into His face and you will find the things of earth will acquire a strange new dimness.”

So whether it’s the case for you now or not, it likely will be, when the things of this world seem a little clearer than the things of the Lord. I would encourage you to follow in Peter’s steps and consider again and again and again, who Jesus is.

And there may be some here today that haven’t made the decision to place their trust in Jesus, to acknowledge your sin before Him and trust in His finished sacrifice, surrendering to Him as Lord.

I pray that today you see His hand of mercy extended toward you. You can walk in newness of life and enjoy the presence of the God and knowing Him. If you want to pursue that, ask the person who brought you, or come up front to myself or a prayer counselor once we wrap up and we’d love to talk more.

Amen? Let’s pray.