Living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a lifestyle that sees suffering through an eternal perspective...

This week, we are looking at a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 1 Peter. Yesterday, we looked on as Peter reminded the readers of his letter that they were not to be surprised by their circumstances of sadness and suffering that they may experience as a result of their identity as followers of Jesus who are part of God’s kingdom community, because it was the fires of the trials and circumstances that they were facing, and their response to the fires of the trials and circumstances that they were facing, that would reveal the genuineness of their faith that was being proved through the fires of the trials and circumstances that they were experiencing.

Instead of being surprised at the fires of the trials and circumstances that they were experiencing, Peter called the readers of his letter to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing. In other words, to the extent that their sadness and suffering matched the sadness and suffering that Jesus endured during His rejection, arrest, trial, and crucifixion, they were to rejoice to that same extent.

You see, so often when we see the phrase sufferings of Christ, we immediately think of the suffering He experienced during His beating and crucifixion. However, for Peter and other early followers of Jesus, this phrase involved much more than the physical suffering that He endured. For Peter and other early followers of Jesus, to share in the sufferings of Jesus involved a sharing in the rejection that Jesus experienced by others.

 And because of that reality, Peter commanded the readers of his letter to not be surprised as though it would be unheard of that a person who lived as part of God’s kingdom community would experience the fires of the trials of sadness and suffering. After all, as the leader of God’s kingdom community, Jesus experienced the fires of the trials of sadness and suffering. Instead, Peter commanded the readers of his letter to respond to the fires of the trials of sadness and suffering that they were experiencing by rejoicing in the opportunity that they had to share in the fires of the trials of sadness and suffering that Jesus experienced.

To which we go “huh”? I mean why would we rejoice? Why should we rejoice? Peter provides the answer to that question in the second half of verse 13 when he states “so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” When Peter refers to the revelation of His glory, he is referring to the end of God’s story here on earth, where Jesus will return to earth to defeat selfishness, sin, and death and to usher in the kingdom of Heaven in its fullest sense. And upon Jesus return, all the creation will see the unfiltered splendor and radiance of Jesus.

Peter’s point here is that to the extent that their sadness and suffering matched the sadness and suffering that Jesus endured here on earth, the readers of his letter were to rejoice to that same extent, because when Jesus returned to earth to demonstrate the fullness of His splendor and glory after overcoming the fires of the trials of sadness and suffering He experienced, they would be exceedingly joyful as a result of Jesus return that would reveal their true character upon His return. We see Peter reinforce this reality in what he writes next in verse 14:

 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Now when Peter uses the word reviled here, this word means to find fault with another so as to demean, mock, and shame another. In addition, the word blessed here means to be especially favored. Peter is explaining to the readers of his letter that they were especially favored by God if people responded to how they lived out their identity as part of God’s kingdom community by finding fault so as to demean, mock and shame them.

Peter then explained that the reason why they were especially favored by God if people responded to how they lived out their identity as part of God’s kingdom community by finding fault so as to demean, mock and shame them was because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Peter’s point here is that it was the very presence and power of the Spirit of God that empowered them to live out their identity as followers of Jesus who are part of God’s kingdom community that resulted in people finding fault with them so as to demean, mock, and shame them.

And it is here, in this section of this letter, that we discover a timeless truth about how we are to live out our identity as followers of Jesus who are part of God’s kingdom community in the midst of a rapidly changing culture. And that timeless truth is this: Living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a lifestyle that sees suffering through an eternal perspective. 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, living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a lifestyle that sees suffering from an eternal perspective.

And in 1 Peter 4:12-19, we see Peter reveal for us two reasons why living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a lifestyle that sees suffering from an eternal perspective.  First, in verse 12-14, we see that when we see suffering through an eternal perspective, we will recognize that suffering provides the evidence of our spiritual state.

As followers of Jesus, when we see suffering from an eternal perspective, we will not be surprised by suffering, because suffering reveals the evidence of the true character that is within us. And as followers of Jesus, when we see suffering from an eternal perspective, we will rejoice in the midst of suffering, because suffering reveals the evidence of a genuine and authentic faith.

As followers of Jesus, we will rejoice when we suffer for following Jesus because it provides the evidence that we are living a life that is following in His footsteps. As followers of Jesus, we will rejoice when we suffer for following Jesus because it provides the evidence that we will be exceedingly joyful upon His return. And as followers of Jesus, we will rejoice when we suffer for following Jesus because it provides the evidence of God’s presence in our lives.

Friday, we will see Peter reveal a second reason why living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a lifestyle that sees suffering from an eternal perspective...