The hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that loves like Jesus...

At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled the power of hope. During this series, we are addressing the reality that we live in a time where our culture is changing occurs at a frequently increasing rate. And as followers of Jesus, we feel this rapid change in our culture most acutely when it comes to how the culture views Christianity. It would seem that as culture and society continue to rapidly change, that Christianity is being left behind.

So during this series we are asking and answering the questions “How are we as followers of Jesus to respond to such a rapidly changing culture? How are we as followers of Jesus to respond to our faith being minimized and marginalized? How are we as followers of Jesus to respond when our faith results in us being ridiculed, criticized, and slandered?

This week I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this letter that the Apostle Peter wrote to early followers of Jesus, we will discover another timeless truth about how we are to live in a rapidly changing culture as followers of Jesus together. So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in 1 Peter 1:22:

Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,

Now when Peter begins this section of his letter with the word since, he is making a connection between what he has previously written to what he is about to write. To fully understand that connection, however, we first need to understand a few things. First, when Peter uses the phrase “purified your souls”, this phrase, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to cause to be morally pure so as to be set apart for someone or something. Last week, Peter called followers of Jesus throughout history to be holy as God is holy. Peter revealed the reality that the hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that is set apart and dedicated to looking like Jesus.

In addition, when Peter uses the word souls here, this word refers to the center, the seat, and the sum of life that transcends human existence. Peter then explained that what they have purified and set their souls apart and dedicated for is for a sincere love of the brethren. This sincere love is a warm regard for an interest in another that is selfless, sacrificial, and persevering in nature. Also, when Peter uses the phrase, in obedience to the truth, this phrase refers to the truth that is contained in the message and teachings of Jesus and the message of the gospel. Finally, when Peter talks about the heart, he is referring to the center and seat of one’s physical, spiritual, and mental life. This word refers to the center and core of who we are as a person.

So Peter’s statement in verse 22, if communicated in the language that we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “since you have responded to the reality that the hope we have in Jesus should result in a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus by being obedient to the message and teachings of Jesus so as to live a life that looks like Jesus; Since your obedience to the message and teachings of Jesus has resulted in a life that has been set apart to genuine love other followers of Jesus; then make sure that you are constantly and consistently demonstrating a genuine, selfless, and sacrificial love for one another from the core of your being.”

Peter here is commanding followers of Jesus throughout history to respond to the reality that our lives are to be dedicated to looking like Jesus by living in obedience to the message and teachings of Jesus so as to love one another as Jesus loved others. And it is here, in this section of this letter, that we see Peter reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to the power that hope has in the life of a follower of Jesus in that the hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that loves like Jesus. Just as it was for these early followers of Jesus who were experiencing sadness and suffering as a result of their current circumstances; just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, the hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that loves like Jesus.

And in 1 Peter 1:22-2:3, we see Peter reveal for us three reasons why, as followers of Jesus, the hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that loves life Jesus. First, in verse 22, we see Peter reveal for us the reality that we are to love like Jesus because we have dedicated ourselves to living lives that look like Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we are to set ourselves apart to genuinely love like Jesus loved. As followers of Jesus, as a result of dedicating our lives to look like Jesus, we are to love with the constant, consistent, and persevering love that Jesus had for us. As followers of Jesus, as a result of dedicating our lives to look like Jesus, we are to love others from the core of our beings.

And as followers of Jesus, as a result of dedicating our lives to look like Jesus, we have set ourselves apart to live in obedience to the truth of the message and teaching of Jesus. And as we have talked about in the past, for Jesus, what matters most to Jesus is that we love Him with our total being and love our neighbor as ourselves. The timeless reality is that you cannot live a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus without loving like Jesus loved. And to love like Jesus loved, we are to love God supremely and we are to love others with a selfless and sacrificial love that reveals and reflects the love that Jesus demonstrated for us. Peter then reveals a second reason why the hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that loves like Jesus in verse 23-25:

 ²³ for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. ²⁴ For, "ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, ²⁵ BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER." And this is the word which was preached to you.

In verse 23, Peter explained to followers of Jesus throughout history that the reason why they were to fervently love one another from the heart was due to the fact that “you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”

As we discovered in the opening sermon of this series, when Peter uses the phrase “you have been born again”, this phrase is passive and is past tense. In other words, this is something that has already been done to you if you are a follower of Jesus. You have already been born again. The phrase "born again" is the idea of being born from above. To be born again is a figurative phrase used to describe the spiritual birth of followers of Jesus into new life in relationship with Jesus. As Jesus pointed out in a conversation that is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of John, being born again, being born from above is not something you do. To be born again, to be born from above is something that the Spirit of God does to you.

Peter then explained that this spiritual birth into new life in relationship with Jesus is not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable. Now this word, seed, in the language that this letter was originally written in, conveys the sense of origin. Peter uses this word as a metaphor to describe the origin of this new birth and life.

Peter states that this seed, the place where this new birth and life in relationship with Jesus originates is not perishable. In other words, this new birth and new life in relationship with Jesus did not come from something that will perish or come to ruin. Instead, Peter states that this seed, the place where this new birth and life in relationship with Jesus originates, is imperishable. In other words, this new birth and new life in relationship with Jesus came from something that is impervious to death and is incorruptible.

Peter then explained that the seed, the origin of this new birth and new life in relationship with Jesus, is through the living and enduring word of God. Now when Peter refers to the word of God, he is not simply referring to the Bible. Instead, Peter is referring to the specific promises of God that form God’s message of rescue that is contained in the Bible.

You see, Peter wanted followers of Jesus throughout history to clearly understand that the new life that we have is the result of the Holy Spirit’s activity in our lives that is the direct fulfillment of God’s promises to bring new life. And God’s promises to bring new life are living and enduring. God’s promises are promises that have the power to produce life and God’s promises are promises that stand the test of time. Peter then reinforces this reality by quoting from a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Isaiah.

Peter quotes a section of the book of Isaiah that begins in Isaiah 40:6. At this time in history, the Jewish people were living as a conquered people in exile in the nation of Babylon. As a conquered people living in a foreign country under the rule of their conquerors, the Jewish people were experiencing a time of significant suffering and trials in their lives. And as the Jewish people suffered as a result of the trials that they were experiencing as a conquered people living in captivity in exile, many of the Jewish people began to question God’s promises to them in light of the circumstances of trials and suffering that they were facing.

And it was in this context that God sent the prophet Isaiah as His messenger to proclaim His message to the Jewish people who were suffering in exile. And God’s message, through the prophet Isaiah, to His people who were suffering as a result of their circumstances was this: God does not forget His promises to His people. Just like the grass of the fields in the desert, the trials of God’s people are temporary. Just like the glory and splendor of the flower that grows on the top of that grass, the glory of human power is temporary. Just like the seed that is perishable produces physical life whose glory is temporary, the circumstances of this life are temporary. However, the imperishable and incorruptible promises of God produce the spiritual life that results in us experiencing eternal life with God. The imperishable and incorruptible promises of God are eternal and produce a glory and splendor that is eternal.

And it is in these verses that we see Peter reveal for us the reality that we are to love like Jesus because we have been given new life by Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we are to recognize and remember that this new life did not originate from that which was perishable. Instead, as followers of Jesus, we are to recognize and remember that this new life originated from the incorruptible promises of God. As followers of Jesus, we are to recognize and remember that the promises of God produce spiritual life with God. As followers of Jesus, we are to recognize and remember that the promises of God produce enduring, eternal life with God.

As followers of Jesus, we are to recognize and remember that the trials and glory that come from humanity are only temporary. And as followers of Jesus, we are to recognize and remember that the promises and glory of God are eternal and not forgotten. And just as God fulfilled His promises to the Jewish people in exile by bringing them back to the Jewish nation, God is a promise maker and a promise keeper that will fulfill His promises in His timing.

Now a natural question that could arise at this point is “Well Dave that sounds great. I mean it sounds great to say that we are to love like Jesus because we have dedicated ourselves to living lives that look like Jesus. It sounds great to say that we are to love like Jesus because we have been given new life by Jesus. But how exactly do I get to the place where I live a life that actually loves like Jesus. Because, Dave if I am brutally honest, I have a hard time actually loving others like Jesus loved others. So, how do I get to the place where I actually love others like Jesus loved others?”

We will see Peter answer this question on Friday…