1 Pet 1.3-12
3. Praise—to God because He is the Father of Jesus Christ
—O.T. praised God as Creator and Redeemer of Israel from Egypt
Lord Jesus Christ—Lord—title of God (O.T. Adonai)
—Jesus—given name on earth
—Christ—Messiah—Anointed One
New Birth—Nicodemus (John 3:3-9)—spirit changes
--2 Cor 5:17 new creation
--based on God’s great mercy (Titus 3:5)—not our works
Living Hope—based on resurrection
--Heb 6:19 hope is an anchor of the soul
--not wishful thinking, but a firm conviction
4. Inheritance—not earthly that can be corrupted, but kept in heaven—eternal
—full & complete deliverance from the curse of sin in our bodies
—Rom 8:23 we are waiting for redemption of our bodies
—Eph 1:13-14 Holy Spirit is the guarantee
--this is why death has no sting over a child of God—we are going home to receive our inheritance—there will be no more suffering, but no more conflict with the flesh because of sin
5. Shielded by God’s power—God watches over His children-guards us and protects us
—We can be confident that God will see us through until we receive our inheritance
—Phil 1:6 He who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it
Through Faith—not our works
--Trusting in God and submitting our will to His
6. In this—salvation, living hope, inheritance, kept by God
Greatly Rejoice—joy because God is protecting us and has promised us that one day we will receive our inheritance
--gives us the ability to endure the suffering we go through now—trials
7. Your Faith . . may be proved genuine—faith is what keeps us shielded by God, but the genuineness of our faith must be tested if we are going to rely on it
--James 1:2 Count it all joy. . . when you go through trials Why? Just to be a martyr?
--proves how real and genuine our faith in God is
Greater worth than gold—gold the most precious metal on earth must be put through the fire to burn off the dross—the hotter the fire the purer the gold
—our faith is more precious than the purest gold once it has been tested in the fires of adversity
Result in Praise, Glory, and Honor—when Jesus returns He will receive praise glory and honor from all men (every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord), but we will do it because of our faith in Him
--then we know that we did not trust God in vain—He was faithful to bring us to our inheritance
--we will hear “well done good and faithful servant (Mt 25:51) and know that no matter what trials we have suffered it was worth it
--also as we are faithful to trust Him now we give Him praise, glory, and honor as we are going through the trials
8. Not seen Him—Peter had seen Him
--we can only see Him through the eye of faith
You love Him—although we can’t see Him, we love Him because of the salvation and living hope that He has given us
--our greatest motivation to serve Him should be our love for Him!
You believe Him—in spite of the trials and suffering we go through we believe in Him (AMP—trust in, rely upon, adhere to, cling to)
--we remain steadfast in our faith and commitment to Him
Filled with inexpressible and glorious joy—we don’t have the words to truly express our love and belief in Him
--experiencing Christ in our lives sometimes cannot be explained, especially the joy that we have in the middle of our suffering
--it is glorious because of who it comes from—His glory is revealed in us through our joy
--the Christian should be known as a person of joy because with Christ in us, we should be full of joy
--John 16:24 (NIV) “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
9. Receiving the goal of our faith, the salvation of your souls—this is what is all about—why we have faith in God--the salvation of our souls, including our bodies, in the eternal salvation that we are getting now and will be completed one day when we receive our inheritance
10. Prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come unto you
--the wonder to the prophets was that grace would come upon the Gentiles
11. When he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow
--although there are numerous prophecies (Isa 53), the Jews could not understand that their Messiah would have to suffer
--it is because Christ suffered for the sins of man that He is exalted and worthy of the glory (Phil 2:6-11)
12. They were not serving themselves but you
--all that happened was not for the prophets, but for us!
--only the Holy Spirit can revel the real meaning and significance of biblical truth