Holiness in Action: Armed with Christ’s Suffering | 1 Peter 4:1-11

Sermon Description:

Series 1 PETER: Hope & Holiness in a Hostile World | Week Five

If there is one thing we have learned about ourselves in the West these past 18 months, it’s certainly our culture’s desire for safety and comfort, almost at the expense of all else. It seems that we have an instinctive aversion to all pain and suffering and will go to extraordinary lengths to ensure we avoid them. This could be shown in simple set of propositional beliefs:

A) Pain & Suffering = Bad

B) Safety and Comfort = Good

Therefore, get more of B) and less of A) and you will have a good life.

Okay, maybe that’s a bit too simplistic. But you get the point. Generally speaking, we tend to avoid pain and suffering as a general guiding principle in life. And, if you’re anything like me, you have, in one form or another, given into this kind of thinking about life. The Apostle Peter challenges us to think differently about suffering, especially when it comes to the Christian faith. In 1 Peter 4:1, based on Christ’s own suffering, we are called to arm ourselves with the same kind of suffering. How can suffering be good for us? Even essential for the Christian? And what motivates such a life? This is radical territory indeed. And yet, such a life is paradoxically fulfilling and life giving as we learn to take up our cross and live for Jesus. In 1 Peter 4:1-11 we’ll explore the place of suffering like Christ in the Christian life, as we continue to see what holiness in action looks like in today’s world.

Speaker: Timothy Gray