2020-01-15 1 Peter 1.3-5
Notes
Transcript
1 pet 1:3-5
1 pet 1:3-5
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
I. We bless God because we are born into a living hope.
I. We bless God because we are born into a living hope.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
A. Our living hope is found in our new birth.
A. Our living hope is found in our new birth.
Illus: The hope that we have is the gospel. As simple as can be.
Let’s look at the context of the book… 1 Peter is written to people who many would consider to be in a hopeless place. They were people disowned by their neighbors and friends.
When Peter reached out to them with hope, it was not the hope that people would treat them better, that their circumstances would turn around, or that they would get earthly blessings.
He said your hope is found in the gospel and gospel alone.
It is apart of the understanding built by Peter in the introduction that you no longer belong in this world.
The God of the universe took you, an undeserving sinner, died in your place, rose again and has given you the kingdom of God, eternity with Him.
Peter’s message was simple, stop being defined by the things this earth defines you by and start seeing yourself through your new birth.
3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
J 3:3
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
19 This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed.
21 But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”
john 3:16
B. What makes it living is the resurrection of Jesus.
B. What makes it living is the resurrection of Jesus.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
Illus: Many times in talking about new life we talk about death of Jesus.
What a sweet message it is that Jesus died on the cross for our sins taking our place in punishment. What a glorious message that because of the cross we are declared more than forgiven, but righteous in God’s eyes.
Today I want to focus on the resurrection. We resurrect because Jesus resurrected.
In resurrection, Jesus conquered death. Because Jesus conquered death, you will conquer death.
This is the living hope… what can any man do to you that the God who conquered death can’t handle.
This is why we place our living hope in the gospel. God takes us who deserve death life… and eternity. We endure the brokenness and wickedness of this world because we know the gospel will right all wrongs. It will restore what is broken. It will heal what hurts. It will give us life.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised;
14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith.
15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished.
19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.
1 cor 15:
II. We bless God because we have been given an eternal inheritance.
II. We bless God because we have been given an eternal inheritance.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
A. Let’s define what is not the inheritance.
A. Let’s define what is not the inheritance.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
Illus: The inheritance was not the land. Yes, the land of Israel was apart of God’s plan to house a people to bring a savior, but the land is not the inheritance.
A new heaven, earth, eternity is the inheritance. How short sighted is it to limit the inheritance to a temporal fulfillment. That’s like being promised a steak and settling for a tv dinner.
Why does this matter today… because we are still finding hope in cheap substitutes when God is promising us eternity.
Much of modern preaching focuses around personal empowerment and not God’s eternal plan.
Preachers build platforms promising your best life now, and other such things when God never promised temporal comfort.
Most of our lives are lived for earthly security and comfort. Much of our panic is when we are deprived those who things.
Jesus does not promise earthly comfort… he promises heavenly restoration.
With that we endure the brokenness of this world with the living hope that we have something better waiting.
But more than that, our living hope changes our priorities for this world. We cease living for our comfort and security… but instead should sacrifice those things for the eternal kingdom we will posses.
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
9 After he had said this, he was taken up as they were watching, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
10 While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them.
11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”
Acts 1:6
B. Our inheritance is bigger than what we would settle for.
B. Our inheritance is bigger than what we would settle for.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
Illus: Imagine with me that you had a huge bowl of plastic fruit. It is the centerpiece of your table, and has been there for years. One day a friend drops by with a fruit basket filled will all kinds of delicious fruit. The only problem is that the one place to put that basket of real fruit is where your plastic fruit sits.
You are faced with a decision. Do you accept the delectable fruit basket filled with real fruit, or do you hold on to the basket of plastic fruit.
Upon thought you say, I’m just so used to these plastic pieces that I am not willing to give them up for real pieces of fruit.
This is what we do with life. We are so used to the fake, that we can’t make room for the real.
We are so comfortable with the temporary, comfort and earthly secure that we are not willing to embrace the eternal.
You can’t live your life for Jesus and hold to earthly security. Earthly comfort. temporary.
To embrace Christ and the living hope he offers, the eternal imperishable unfading glory that awaits, then you must abandon the cheap substitutes this world offers.
14 For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come.
III. We bless God because we are guarded by God.
III. We bless God because we are guarded by God.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
A. We live with confidence in the midst of brokenness knowing we are guarded by Jesus.
A. We live with confidence in the midst of brokenness knowing we are guarded by Jesus.
5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Illus: The security believers have is that God guards their faith. God guards their salvation. God guards their living hope.
If I could lose my salvation I would, and so would you.
If the world of death could crush our living hope, it would.
Which is why the strength of our salvation and security of our living hope rests in God. He guards it.
Aint nobody taking it from God.
31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
32 He did not even spare his own Son but offered him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything?
33 Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.
34 Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.
35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
36 As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.