Living Hope and Promised Inheritance
Notes
Transcript
Background
Background
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
We spoke last week about the author and background of this first epistle of Peter.
Peter identifies himself as Peter, an apostle and then describes his audience as those who are chosen by God and are aliens or sojourners upon the earth.
“Believers are exiles because they suffer for their faith in a world that finds their faith off-putting and strange.” Thomas Schreiner
He is writing to these chosen sojourners to give them hope in the midst of difficulty.
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
And Peter reminds them of their salvation - a salvation that involves all three members of the Trinity:
God the Father chose them before the foundation of the world
Jesus Christ paid the penalty to secure their salvation
The Holy Spirit applies that salvation to them and seals them for eternity
Peter is going to further describe that salvation and in the next few verses, he describes that salvation as possessing both a current and a future reality.
“This intermingling of present and future is purposeful as Peter highlights that the key to experiencing joy in the midst of suffering is to recognize the close tie between our present and future experiences of salvation.” Jim Samra
Now Peter breaks out into praise as a result of that wonderful reality of the Trinity’s actions in our salvation.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Designer of our salvation
Designer of our salvation
The first word in verse three is the word that we use for eulogy - a good word given about someone. Sometimes, that eulogy is at their funeral, but don’t misunderstand - this word does not carry all the connotations of our modern eulogy it simply means praise or a good word given on behalf of someone.
So, we might term this a doxology - a praise to God.
The grounds for the doxology?
God has begotten us again - He has rebirthed us.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
How is this rebirth accomplished?
By His Great Mercy
By His Great Mercy
God, in HIs infinite mercy, chose us as we are - sinners with nothing to merit His favor.
Even now, when I and you fail Him, remember that He chose you knowing that you would fail Him numerous times.
As we are by nature, justice condemns us, holiness frowns upon us, power crushes us, truth confirms the threatening of the law, and wrath fulfills it. It is from the mercy of our God that all our hopes begin. Charles Spurgeon
What wonderful love and great mercy!
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene
and wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned, unclean
How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be
How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior’s love for me?
By the Resurrection of the Son
By the Resurrection of the Son
By the Guarding Power of the Father
By the Guarding Power of the Father
Spurgeon Commentary: 1 Peter Exposition
See, heaven is kept for us, and we are kept for heaven. Heaven is prepared for us, and we are prepared for heaven. There is a double action of God’s grace thus working in us and working for us unto bliss eternal.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Description of Our Salvation
Description of Our Salvation
“You cannot by the most exquisite discipline evolve’the natural man’ into the ‘measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.’ If we had merely to do with perverted growths, then the trainer and pruner might twist the crooked straight. But we are confronted with more than perverted growths; we have to do with corrupt and rotting seed.”
“If all we needed was the purification of our conditions, then the City Health Department might lead us into holiness. But we need more than the enrichment of the soil; we need the revitalizing of the seed.” John Henry Jowett
We are rebirthed!
Our Living Hope
Our Living Hope
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude (1) A Promised Inheritance (1:3–5)
A “living hope” is one that is genuine and vital, in contrast to a hope that is empty and vain
In the midst of trouble and persecution, their hope is not in a far off deliverer, but in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are confident in His power and ability to save them from sin and to provide for them in eternity.
They have the hope of the resurrection from the dead - that even if they were killed for their faith - since Christ rose from the dead, they are confident that they will also be risen.
The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude (1) A Promised Inheritance (1:3–5)
Their hope, in other words, is the hope of resurrection, triumph over death; hence, whatever happens to them in this world is trivial compared to the blessing of the future resurrection.
Some men’s hopes of heaven are not “living hopes,” for they never stir them to action. They live as if they were going to hell, and yet they coolly talk about hoping that all will be well with them at last! A Christian’s hope purifies him, excites him to diligence, makes him seek after that which he expects to obtain. Charles Spurgeon
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
Our Promised Inheritance
Our Promised Inheritance
“The dominant Biblical sense of inheritance is the enjoyment of a rightful title of that which is not the fruit of personal exertion.” B.F. Westcott
In other words, it is given to us because of our relationship - not because of our works. The Bible does teach that we will receive rewards in heaven for our labor, but here Peter is speaking about the inheritance that we are to receive - not on merit, but on the mere fact that we have been born again - we have experienced the new birth.
Spurgeon Commentary: 1 Peter Exposition
There is a place in heaven for me that none of you could fill. There is a harp that no fingers can strike but mine and a crown that no brow can wear but this. And so with each of you—you shall have your own appointed inheritance. He has begotten each one of you again. You are as truly begotten as any other believer. You have the same hope, and you shall as surely stand in your lot at the end of the days.
Never perish
Never perish
“Money, which, in itself, is a non-moral thing, can be used to blast or bless. In any case, there comes a day when it fails. Sixty seconds after a man is dead he cannot sign a check! All a man can do is to leave his money behind him, for other people to quarrel over, which they mostly do.” G. Campbell Morgan
But our inheritance is not in money - it is in heaven.
Never spoil
Never spoil
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Never fade
Never fade
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
To sum up, the words of John Henry Jowett are very poetic:
“It is an inheritance ‘incorruptible.’ It is beyond the reach of death. No grave is ever dug on this estate. It is an inheritance ‘undefiled.’ It is beyond the taint of sin. No contamination ever stains its driven snow. The robes of the glorified are whiter than snow. It is an inheritance ‘that fadeth not away.’ It is beyond the blight of change. The leaf never turns. ‘Time does not breathe on its fadeless bloom.’ Into this glorious inheritance are we begotten again by the abundant mercy of God.” J.H. Jowett
We stand amazed at the living hope and the promised inheritance that our God has provided for His children.