A Date With Destiny

Introduction

Your difficulty is no indication of your destiny. The Christian is to remain encouraged and focused while dealing with rejection, persecution, and tribulation. These light momentary afflictions are by no means any indication of what your future holds for you. (2 Corinthians 4:17) As a matter of fact, it seems as though the greater your suffering the greater your glory. What better illustration is there of this fact than that of our Saviour whose election by God carried more weight than his rejection by men.

There are some who would have us to believe that tribulation must be an indication of God’s rejection, or that he may not really cherish us. Many have pointed to slavery in this country as evidence that if there be a God, then he must not be our God. Others point to violence and crime as evidence of God’s indifference towards his people. They ask the question, ?if God is so good and so loving why doe she allow bad things to happen to good people?” At times even Israel wondered if God must have been rejecting them when they endured suffering. In Exodus 17 the Bible says that, while on their way to the Promised Land the people grew thirsty and there was no water for their cattle. At this they asked Moses this question:

Exodus 17:3 ESV

3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

They became frustrated and threatened to stone Moses. Moses went and talked to God and as God usually does, he made a way out of no way. He instructed Moses to take the same staff that he had used to strike the Nile, to strike the rock at Horeb. After the people had been satisfied of their thirst Moses decided to name the place where they questioned God:

Exodus 17:7 ESV

7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Israel asked the same question many of us have asked at different times in our lives, “are my problems an indication of God thinks of me?”

The answer to that question is yes and no. Struggles can be interpreted many different ways and ultimately only God knows the reason for our circumstances. It is hard sometimes to discern what our suffering may say about our status with God, especially when are experiencing the same trials as unbelievers. But here is where faith makes the difference; faith isn’t about what he’s taking you through, it is about where he’s taking you to.

The Destiny of Jesus (1 Peter 2:4)

The fate of our Savior shows us the power of God’s predetermined plan. The scope of this conversation is centered around Christ and how our faith in him should order our steps in times of suffering. This is why Peter begins this paragraph by saying, “as you come to him.” He means that as you have become partakers in the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He means that as you have become a child of his through his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. These five words are very important to the rest of this paragraph because they set the context for the rest of the conversation. This passage, and this entire letter really is written to address Christians. I think that our country and our world is becoming increasingly pluralistic, so is our application of God’s word. If you were to take your Facebook feed and filter it to show only posts from your “Christian” friends you would probably find it hard to tell the difference between their quotes, posts, convictions and he quotes, posts, and convictions of your Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Scientific friends. that is because we have made it something to boast about to be plural in our thinking. While thinking widely and broadly is good exercise in helping us to develop sensitivity and compassion for those who we live with, it can also cause us to dilute our own convictions. We believe that everything is broadly applicable in all applications, but that simply isn’t the case. Jesus taught us that no one can get to God accept through him. (John 14:6) That’s pretty clear. There are some things that you cannot claim unless you come to Jesus. As we consider the rest of what Peter has to say we must first consider what he has just said, “as you come to Jesus.”

In coming to him, two of the requirements are that we believe that he died for our our sins and that he was raised from the dead. This was Jesus fate, it was his destiny. His entire being was for dying.

The Destiny of Believers (1 Peter 2:5)

The Decision That Makes The Difference (1 Peter 2:6-8)

Conclusion