A Living Hope!
I Peter
1:3-5
Introduction: “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” My father-in-law
was born to Russian immigrant parents and he held on to aspects of their
traditions. At Easter, it was customary to greet one another with a standard greeting,
in Russian, “Christ is risen!” The reply, which always seemed more difficult to
pronounce, was “He is risen indeed!” We
always tried to speak first so we would get the easier part! What I like about that greeting is that it
immediately shifts the focus, this Resurrection Sunday, to where it belongs,
and away from rabbits and colored eggs and candy, to the empty tomb. When Paul was summarizing the gospel that he
preached at the beginning of I Corinthians 15 he pointed to an unfolding drama
of history:
1Now I
would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you
received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if
you hold fast to the word I preached to you- unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of
first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the Scriptures, 4
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with
the Scriptures...
After pointing out the
historical events that formed the foundation of the Good News he preached, Paul
underscores the historicity of what happened, it was not only a story, it is
history...
5 and that he appeared to Cephas,
then to the twelve. 6 Then he
appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still
alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely
born, he appeared also to me.
Later in that chapter Paul makes the
point that Christianity rises or falls on the truth of the resurrection, if it
is not true, if it did not happen, it is empty, a waste of time. But it did
happen! The historical evidence is so compelling that there can be no
reasonable doubt. And his victory over death means he is who he claimed to be
and that we will live also if our trust is in Him. Dr. Ed Clowney was referring
to the opening of another letter written by a different apostle when he said: “Our hope is anchored in the past: Jesus
rose! Our hope remains in the present: Jesus lives! Our hope will be completed
in the future: Jesus is coming (I Peter 1:5,7,14)!” Our message today is entitled, “A Living
Hope!” And we have a “living hope” because we have a living Savior!
The Maine Idea: The resurrection means that Jesus is who He claimed
to be and our hope is sure if our trust is in Him.
I.
We have hope if we worship the God who is – it matters what (and who) we
believe! That is where Peter starts
in I Peter 1:3,
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ...”
As Peter
begins this letter, he speaks words of blessing and worship to God. Notice that he is being very specific, some
might say, very exclusive, in terms of who he is speaking. Today we have a lot of encouragement to be
“inclusive” in our language. In certain
cases that is probably a good idea, especially if people might misunderstand
what is being said. Personally, I don’t
mind saying “humankind” instead of “mankind,” or “brothers and sisters” instead
of “brethren.” We want to be clear, as precise as we can be in expressing what
the Bible is really saying. However we
don’t want to change what the Bible actually teaches. Some would suggest that
“it doesn’t really matter what you believe, as long as you believe it.” And
that “we all really worship the same God, we might just call Him (or her!) by
different names.” Well there is only
one true God. He is the God who is, the
God who exists. He has revealed himself
in human history and he has spoken to us in this book (the Bible). And He has revealed himself in three persons,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Peter was
a Jew, and his Bible, which was now being interpreted in the light of the
coming of Jesus, was what we call the Old Testament. The apostles were present, bringing the
revelation of Jesus to the church, and writing the documents that would
eventually become the New Testament. The
phrase that we see here in I Peter reflects on what appears in the Hebrew
Scriptures, “blessed be God...” (Gen
14:20; Ps 18:46; 66:20; 68:35; Dan 3:28; cf. 2 Cor 1:3; Eph 1:3; I Pet 1:3). Read a few examples from the Law, the
writings, and the prophets...
Genesis
14:18-20 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem
brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said,
"Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God Most High,
who has delivered your enemies into your hand!" And Abram gave him a tenth
of everything.
Psalm 18:46 - The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and
exalted be the God of my salvation!
Psalm 66:20 Blessed be God, because he has not rejected
my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!
Psalm 68:35
Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel- he is the one who gives
power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!
Daniel
3:28 28 Nebuchadnezzar answered and
said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who
has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set
aside the king's command...
Do you
see what is going on? In each case, as the Old Testament character reflects on
God’s presence, His intervention in human history, His faithful love toward His
people, and then he responds with worship to God. God gets the glory! Worship is the response
of the heart to the God who is real and present and who acts in history. Three times in the New Testament the exact
phrase that we have in I Peter 1:3 occurs also in two letters of Paul. Once
we see it in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians,
2
Corinthians 1:3-4 3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all
comfort, 4 who comforts us in
all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any
affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Ephesians
1:3 3 Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places...
Peter
uses the same language, word for word, here at the beginning of I Peter. The
apostles have taken up the language of the Old Testament and filled out a
little the fuller significance. The God of the Old Testament, the God who is
real and who is present, who made promises to His people and demonstrated His
faithfulness in history, is God, the Father of Jesus. So the apostles offer him
praise. Of course the greatest intervention in history was when God did for us
what we could not do for ourselves. He sent
the sinless, perfect Son into the world to suffer rejection and torture, and
ultimately death, so that sinful humans like us could be reconciled to
God. That is a message worth believing! C.S. Lewis said, “Christianity
is only worth believing if it is true...”
If I told you that I saw a pink elephant
this morning, would you believe me? That
might worry you, or you might think about some stuffed animal Mary Ann might
have at home for the grandchildren’s visits... Or you might think that some professional
help would be in order! But if I
explained, and gave more detail, or even showed you a video I had seen... of a
baby albino elephant that was recently born on a reserve in Africa, that might
be different! Disbelieving doesn’t make
it untrue!
In this case, believing me or not would not be of great consequence. But
when we are talking about forgiveness and reconciliation with God, or a new,
abundant life here on earth and eternal life with God in the new heaven and new
earth it makes all the difference in the world if what we are claiming is true! C.S. Lewis is correct, “Christianity is only worth believing if it is true.” After all Paul
said in I Corinthians 15, if we have hope in this life only, in other words, if
the resurrection is not true and there is nothing beyond this life, then we are
of all people most to be pitied! But, as
Paul said and as Peter affirms, God is real, and He loves us, and he sent the
Son so that sinful humans could have a way to be reconciled to Him. Christ died
for our sins according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and He was raised again
the third day according to the Scriptures. The resurrection means that Jesus is
who He claimed to be and our hope is sure if our trust is in Him.
II.
We have hope because God’s mercy, not our effort is the basis of a new life! We can’t save
ourselves any more than we could choose to be born! I Peter 1:3 says,
“According
to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again...”
“Mercy” and “grace” are closely related ideas
in the Bible. “Grace” talks about receiving blessings that we don’t deserve.
God’s unmerited favor. “Mercy” refers to
not receiving what we do deserve, that is to be judged for our
sins. We all need God’s mercy, because
we are guilty (Eph 2:1-5; Rom 3:10,23).
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and
sins 2 in which you once
walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power
of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- 3 among whom we all once lived in
the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy,
because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved…
In his mercy He intervened, we see divine
initiative, “...he caused us to be born again...”, or as Paul said, He “...made us alive together with Christ...”
“...to be born again...” This isn’t reformation, it is transformation.
It isn’t turning over a new leaf, it is receiving a new life. The prophets anticipated this day, when a New
Covenant would come that would be bring a new life. Ezekiel for example said,
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit
I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and
give you a heart of flesh. 27
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and
be careful to obey my rules.
One of the most direct conversations we see in the Gospels about this idea
of a new birth came, in the dark of the night, between Jesus and a religious
leader named Nicodemus. We read it in John 3:1ff.,
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2
This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you
are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless
God is with him." 3
Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again
he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4
Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter
a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. 6
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. 7 Do not marvel
that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but
you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone
who is born of the Spirit." 9
Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"
Not only can
these things be, this is our only hope! As we see our helpless situation and
turn to God, putting our trust in Him, He is working in us and giving us a new
life. We were dead in our trespasses and
sins, but He made us alive, by grace through faith we are saved. The basis for
such mercy is that Jesus took the penalty for us, and was raised again the
third day. He lives, so we have hope! We
don’t get our life right and then come to God. There are no perfect people in
church! We come as we are, and He begins to change us from the inside out. The
resurrection means that Jesus is who He claimed to be and our hope is sure if
our trust is in Him.
III.
We have hope because Jesus proved he is the Son of God in the resurrection (See Rom 1:1-3; I Cor 15:1-3)! Peter
says in 1:3 that we have been born again...
“...to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead...”
Earlier this year we spent about six weeks going through I Corinthians
15. That chapter starts off, in 1-11, talking about some of the evidence for
the resurrection, specifically the eyewitnesses. As Paul wrote he was
essentially inviting his readers, if they had any doubts, to investigate and to
ask questions of those who had seen Him. There could be no doubt! I would also point to the transformed lives
of those witnesses. How did a fearful
band of disciples become courageous proclaimers of the Gospel? They knew that
Jesus had defeated death, so their future was sure! This is not the popular idea of hope, which
amounts to basically wishful thinking. Like the little boy who said, “Hope is
wishing for something you know ain’t gonna happen!” That isn’t biblical hope. We have a living
hope, a confident expectation about the future, because the tomb is empty! Christ
is risen! The resurrection means that Jesus is who He
claimed to be and our hope is sure if our trust is in Him.
IV.
We have hope because God has promised us an inheritance that will not perish or
fade (4)! An inheritance undefiled,
not fading...
“...to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled,
and unfading, kept in heaven for you...” (I Peter 1:4).
Another translation of the word Greek
word diatheke, “covenant,” is
“testament.” It is sometimes used that way in the New Testament. The death of one brings forth the passing of an
inheritance on to His heirs. The document, a “last will and testament,” might
guarantee a future “inheritance.” That is if it is still there when then
testator dies! Peter is talking about an imperishable and unfading inheritance
for believers in Jesus, under guard in heaven itself. Peter had heard Jesus teach about earthly and
heavenly treasures in the Sermon on the Mount,
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do
not break in and steal. 21 For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also...” (Matthew
6:19-21).
Peter is not
just talking about treasures in Heaven, but an eternal, unfading inheritance.
Think of what that implies: Heirs receive the inheritance. We are heirs because
He has made us His children in the new birth (see I John 3:1)! His resurrection
means that Jesus is who He claimed to be and that our hope is sure if our trust
is in Him.
V. We have
hope because God promises to keep (guard) those who believe!
“...who by
God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be
revealed in the last time (I Peter 1:5).
If you have put your trust in Jesus as the one who died for your sins on
the cross, how do you know you won’t fall away?
Notice v.5, “...who by God’s power
are being guarded...” I’ve mentioned before the two dogs one of our
neighbors had, Mary Ann and I called them “tiny” and “Hercules.” Tiny was a Great
Dane that had a deep, powerful bark that guaranteed no intruder would try to enter
that yard. And “Hercules” was a little Shitzu or something that would stand underneath the big dog, yapping away at passersby! He might have thought the security of the
house was his responsibility, but “Tiny,” the Great Dane, is the one who kept
the place safe. Jesus said, “No one can
snatch you out of my Father’s hand. “ That is a promise. We have a sure
hope, because it doesn’t depend on us. God is the one who keeps us.
N.B. “...in the last time...” As surely as the resurrection was a historical
event, so will be His return... Now is
the acceptable time, today is the day of salvation!
What is God saying to me in this passage? The resurrection means that Jesus is who He claimed
to be and our hope is sure if our trust is in Him.
What
would God have me to do in response to this passage? It may be that you are reading this, and you feel a
little like Nicodemus, “How can these things be?” The invitation to you is to
come, there is hope in Jesus. He defeated the greatest enemy, death, and He has
purchased eternal life and forgiveness for all who will believe. Will you put
your trust in Him as your savior and Lord?
Perhaps you have believed in Jesus at a time in the past, but
circumstances in life caused you to drift away, to push Him back into a corner
of your life. Maybe you are asking
questions, wondering if this is true. But here you are. That is not by chance.
God planned this moment in your life. He wants you to know, grace is
inexhaustible. His mercies are new every morning. You know the truth. Confess
your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive your sins and to cleanse you from
all unrighteousness. There is no need to feel hopeless. There is no reason to
lose hope. Christ is risen! Easter means a living hope for all who will trust Him!
No comments:
Post a Comment