The Reasons We Celebrate Easter

1 Peter 1:3-5

TBC, CBC, WBC Sunrise Worship 7:00

Walnut Baptist Church

ETS: Peter praised God because of the rebirth of all believers.

ESS: We should praise God because we have been born again into great promises through Christ.

OSS: [MO: Devotional] {SO: I want the hearers to praise God being reminded of the reasons behind Easter.} (psycho-motor domain)

PQ: Why do we celebrate Easter?

UW: Promises

Intro.: [AGS]: “We can learn something about Christian hope from fishermen. In Pavlov’s Trout, Paul Quinnett writes: ‘It is better to fish hopefully than to catch fish. Fishing is hope experienced. To be optimistic in a slow bite is to thrive on hope alone. When asked, “How can you fish all day without a hit?” the true fisherman replies, “Hold it! I think I felt something.” If the line goes slack, he says, “He’ll be back!” When it comes to the human spirit, hope is all. Without hope, there is no yearning, no desire for a better tomorrow, and no belief that the next cast will bring the big strike.’ According to the Bible, the Christian life is also hope experienced. A hopeless Christian is a contradiction in terms.” (Craig Brian Larson, 314) [TS]: Today’s text records Peter praising God for the rebirth of all Christians. Specifically, that contains great promises within it. [RS]: Sometimes as believers, we can get caught up in the motions of religion. We just “do what we’ve always done” and perhaps need reminded of why we celebrate Easter. There are great promises that are attached to our new birth (regeneration) in Christ. Re-acquainting ourselves with these promises will help us worship God this Easter.

TS: Let us examine together the reasons we celebrate Easter.

We have the promise of living hope. (v. 3)

The living hope is made possible because of the great mercy of God.

The living hope is made possible through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

εἰς ἐλπίδα ζῶσαν- telic/goal- adverbial accusative of experiential extent. This is one result or promise of the regeneration.

We have the promise of an eternal inheritance. (v. 4)

The inheritance is kept in heaven for you. This is a military idea of protecting, guaranteeing the inheritance. The security of the inheritance.

The inheritance- the word (κληρονομίαν) is the same word used in the Septuagint for “Canaan, the Promised Land.” (Barclay, 200)

Imperishable- the word means not destroyed or overcome by an enemy army. (Barclay, 200-201)

Undefinable- the word means not polluted or stained by the evil of the world.

Unfading- the word means constant and without change.

The last three words describe the nature of the inheritance.

εἰς κληρονομίαν ἄφθαρτον καὶ άμίαντον καὶ ἀμάραντον- telic/goal; adverbial accusatives of experiential extent. This is another result or promise of the regeneration.

We have the promise of a glorious future salvation. (v. 5)

Regardless of one’s eschatology, the same promise holds true for all believers: a glorious, future salvation.

Barclay wrote, “Salvation is a multi-sided thing. In it there is deliverance from danger, deliverance from disease, deliverance from condemnation and deliverance from sin. And it is that, and nothing less than that, to which Christians can look forward at the end.” (203)

Within this promise of salvation is the promise that we, believers, are being guarded by the the power of God through our faith.

εἰς σωτηρίαν- telic/goal; adverbial accusative of experiential extent. This is another promise of the regeneration.

CONCLUSION:

(1) Perhaps each of us need to be reminded of the reasons that we celebrate Easter: because of God’s mercy and through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, regeneration is reality for all believers, and it is full of promise.

(2) Changed Perspective: Instead of asking, “Why do we celebrate Easter?” ask, “Why do we not celebrate Easter?” Who wouldn’t celebrate such promises?!

(3) Have you celebrated Easter? Have you worshipped God committing to bless Him through your worship (v. 3)? OR have you simply gone through the religious motions?