Pilgrims in a Fallen World: Live the Good Life!
I Peter 2:11-12
Introduction:
“The world takes its notion of God, most of
all, from the people who say they belong to God’s family. They read us a great
deal more than they read the Bible. They see us; they only hear about Jesus
Christ...”
Does our life reflect something of the grace and
goodness of God? Can people see enough of a difference in the way we live to
find it attractive and inviting, wanting to know more about the God we serve
and claim to love? Or, God forbid, does
our life conform so much to the world that we give them an excuse not to
believe?
The Maine* Idea: As a pilgrim
in this fallen world live your life for the glory of God.
I. Life
in the Shadowlands: As pilgrims and
exiles in a fallen world we will face a spiritual struggle. C.S. Lewis’s series
“The Chronicles of Narnia” pictured the great metanarrative of history in the
story. In the “Last Battle” he titled the last chapter, “Farewell to the
Shadowlands.” The unicorn famously said,
"I have come home at last! This is my real
country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for
all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old
Narnia so much is because it sometimes looked a little like this...” [Then the chapter
concludes...] ...All their life in this world
and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page:
now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on
earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than
the one before.
The best is yet to come! We were created for eternity.
The New Creation is alive in us, but our old fallen nature still struggles, like
a chicken with it’s head cut off, refusing to die. So we strive, day by day, to live more like
Jesus (11)! Peter says,
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to
abstain from
the
passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”
Know
whose you are: loved by God. The word “beloved”
is translated in some versions as “dear friends,” which could be the sense the
writer intended, but I don’t think so. The word “beloved” means “ones who are
loved.” In Greek it is another word based on the word agape, in this case, agapetos.
John MacArthur suggests that Peter is not emphasizing his own love for his
readers, but rather is pointing to the fact that they are loved by God. He
writes,
...they, as objects of God’s immeasurable love,
had a duty to obey the One who loved them. On that basis he could urge... them
to reciprocate God’s love by living for Him...
How do we know that Peter is referring to God’s love
for his readers? Remember the context. We read in verses 2:9,10...
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the
excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. 10 Once you were not a
people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now
you have received mercy.
Having said that Peter begins verse 11, “Beloved...” In other words, since God
has chosen you, and loved you, and made you his own, since you are His
“beloved,” this is how you should live.
Know
where and what you are: For the third time in this letter Paul reminds
his readers that they are “sojourners and
exiles” and that they should conduct themselves in light of that truth. He opened the letter saying, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are
elect exiles of the dispersion...” (I Pet 1:1). And he said in 1:17 that they should “...conduct yourselves with fear throughout the
time of your exile...” Our citizenship is in heaven. Because that is
true, if we live in the light of the absolute truth that our King has revealed, we will clash with what is culturally
acceptable and popular in the world. We are not called to be popular. We are
called to be salt and light. We get in trouble when we lose sight of what is
really important and get too comfortable in the world. The things we are most
drawn to are “shadows” of what will be. The best is yet to come! Our hope is in
a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Live
like an alien: “Abstain from the passions of the flesh...” What passions
of the flesh are we talking about? A
good text to look at is Galatians 5:17-21 where the Apostle Paul is contrast
the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit...
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the
Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are
opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the
Spirit, you are not under the law. 19
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity,
sensuality, 20 idolatry,
sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions,
divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness,
orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those
who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
These
things that are inconsistent with our life in the Spirit, if they dominate our
lives it is cause to question whether we truly belong to Christ. What we should see, are the things that Paul
describes as “fruit of the Spirit” in the next verses in Galatians 5:22-25...
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no
law. 24 And those who belong
to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let
us also walk by the Spirit.
Because
we are at war: Peter says that
we are to abstain from the passions of the flesh “...which war against your soul...” Do you have any doubt that we
are in a spiritual war? The Enemy would
exploit our weaknesses – he has been around for a long time and he is an expert
on leading us away from the Lord, of whispering his lies into our ears and
inviting us to question God’s goodness. Avail
yourself of God’s armor. Remember that the battle is the Lord’s. Yield to the
indwelling Spirit and then, as a pilgrim
in this fallen world, live your life for the glory of God.
II. We are called to be Light in the darkness: By living differently we shine the light of Jesus
into the world. Peter writes in I Peter 2:12,
Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so
that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and
glorify God on the day of visitation.
The first thing that Peter addresses is the
question of our “...conduct....”
[I.e. our way of life, which speaks more loudly perhaps than our verbal
profession]. The word “conduct” [anastrophe] appears 13 times in the New
Testament, 8 of those in Peter’s two short letters. The English translations
render it “life,” “way of life,” or “conduct,” depending on the context. In
most cases it is referring to the visible outworking of our life.
Galatians
1:13 “For you have heard of
my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently
and tried to destroy it.”
Ephesians 4:22 “...to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of
life and is corrupt through deceitful desires...”
1 Timothy 4:12 “Let
no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in
conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”
Hebrews
13:7 “Remember your
leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way
of life, and imitate their faith.”
James
3:13 “Who is wise and
understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in
the meekness of wisdom.”
The idea seems to be the practical outworking of our life, the visible
things that characterize us. “Religion” that shows itself by action. Peter uses the same word eight times! Here
are a couple we’ve seen...
1 Peter 1:15 “...but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct...”
I
Peter 1:18 “...knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways
inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or
gold...”
And a couple of more references in the next chapter...
I Peter 3:1-2 (ESV) “Likewise,
wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the
word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives when
they see your respectful and pure conduct.”
1 Peter 3:16 (NLT) “But
do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if
people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life
you live because you belong to Christ.”
So Peter is telling them how they should live
“among the gentiles.” He is not saying that they should form Christian communes
and separate themselves from the world. They are to live “among” the gentiles. The
point is that they are in the world,
they are dispersed among the nations, they are salt sprinkled among the heathen
nations, seeds scattered in the world. They are not to be conformed to the world. Or, as J.B. Philips translated Romans 12:2,
“Don’t let the world force you into its
mold!” Rather, right where they are, Peter is encouraging them to live
differently, as God’s representatives to the world.
The admonition is straight forward, “Live
the good life!” The ESV translates “...honorable...” which makes sense in the context, the ideas are
certainly closely connected. The word itself
literally means “good” [kalos]
and is translated that way hundreds of times. The same word is used by the
translators of the Septuagint who use it seven or eight times in the first
chapter of Genesis to translate the Hebrew word tov, or “good.” God
created the universe purposefully, by design. It was morally and spiritually
excellent, without fault, without sin. It was “good.” And God has revealed
throughout history his commitment to His design for creation. Sin corrupted the
“good” that God had created. God sent the Son to make it possible for fallen
humans to be justified and reconciled to our Good God. And so Paul could say to
Galatians, “I have been crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live.” (Gal 2:20).
The old nature is defeated, the problem is it doesn’t always know it. I
saw this story this week...
One Sunday morning the pastor
noticed little Alex was staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer
of the church. The plaque was covered with names, and small American flags were
mounted on either side of it. The seven-year-old had been staring at the
plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the boy, and said
quietly, "Good morning Alex."
"Good morning pastor," replied
the young man, still focused on the plaque. "Pastor McGhee, what is
this?"
"Well,
son, it’s a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the
service." Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque.
Little Alex’s voice was barely audible when he asked, "Which service, the
9:00 or the 11:00?"
Paul asked the Romans “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may
abound? 2 By no means! How
can we who died to sin still live in it?”
(Rom 6:1,2). Your old nature is crucified; it just doesn’t know that it is
dead!
Our life has a high purpose: “...so that...” This is the purpose of so
living: Our conduct will “win over” the unbeliever. They will see something
real, something authentic, something they long for, even though they don’t know
why. We’ll gain a hearing. That is the
idea we see in the next chapter when Peter talks about the influence a godly
wife can have on her unbelieving husband. We read in 3:1-4,
“Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands,
so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by
the conduct of their wives- 2
when they see your respectful and pure conduct.
3 Do not let your adorning be external- the braiding of hair,
the wearing of gold, or the putting on of clothing- 4 but let your adorning be the
hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet
spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.”
The beauty of a life that reflects the presence and
grace of God will impact those who are closest to us. We’ve talked quite a bit over this last year
about the “oikos” principle. The
Greek word means “household,” but I am using it to refer to those 8 to 15
people in our close sphere of influence, family, neighbors, co-workers, people
that we interact with on a regular basis. Some of them don’t know Christ, and they
are our first mission field. Over time they know us. They are watching us. And
those who don’t know Christ can either see in us an example and motivation to
believe, or they can be given an “excuse” not to believe. We are not perfect. Do you see any perfect people in this room? The
person next to you? My Dad, who was not
a believer, used to quote a song that said, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re
perfect in every way!” None of us is
perfect. But, believer, by God’s grace you are forgiven.
Our conduct is evidence that God is at work,
and He gets the glory! Paul said to the
Corinthians, “...whatever you do, do all
to the glory of God...” (I Cor 10:31b). How do we do that? For one thing it means that we intentionally
focus on living a Christ centered life. Elizabeth Eliot wrote a book on the
life of Amy Carmichael. She said of her
that,
“[Amy Carmichael's]
great longing was to have a "single eye" for the glory of God.
Whatever might blur the vision God had given her of His work, whatever could
distract or deceive or tempt other to seek anything but the Lord Jesus Himself
she tried to eliminate.”
A little later in this letter Peter will spell out
some details about what a life looks like that brings glory to God. We read in 1 Peter 4:8-11 (ESV)...
8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly,
since love covers a multitude of sins. 9
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift,
use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who
speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that
God supplies- in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus
Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We live the “good life,” and God gets the glory. If find our joy and our purpose
for living in Him, if, as Peter has reminded us, He is more precious than
anything this world could offer, if we find our contentment in Him regardless
of circumstances, God will be glorified. So, even if for a little while we
suffer, let’s persist in doing good, in “living the good life”! Peter will also
say in chapter 4,
14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you
are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a
murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a
Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name... 19
Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a
faithful Creator while doing good...
What is God
saying to me in this passage? As a
pilgrim in this fallen world you are called to live your life for the glory of
God.
What would
God have me to do in response to this passage? Are you “living
the good life”? I don’t mean to ask what
car you drive or what house you live in, or how big your bank account is. I
mean are you living the abundant life, the life with meaning, for which you
were created? If you know Jesus as your Savior you can be assured that God
chose you on purpose, for a purpose. He knew you before the foundation of the
world and He planned your part in His story.
And yes, you are an alien and an exile. You are in this world, but you
were created for something better. This world is not your home, you are passing
through. As you seek to discover your part in God’s story and then live in
submission to his lordship, God will be glorified. To God be the glory, AMEN.
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