An identity that is built on the fulfillment of God's promises and plan...

This week we are looking at a section of a letter is preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 1 Peter. Yesterday, we looked on as the Apostle Peter revealed for us a timeless truth when it comes to the power that hope has in the life of a follower of follower of Jesus in that the hope we have in Jesus should lead to us embracing our identity as part of God’s kingdom community.

We discovered that in 1 Peter 2:4-10 Peter reveals for us three different aspects of the kingdom community that should shape our identity as followers of Jesus. First, in 1 Peter 2:4-5, we see Peter reveal for us the reality that our identity as part of God's kingdom community is built on the foundation of Jesus.

As the foundation, Jesus is the one who is life and who gives eternal life. As the foundation, Jesus was rejected by humanity as being unworthy to build their lives upon. However, as the foundation, Jesus is viewed as being the best of the best by God. As the foundation, Jesus is viewed as being of great value and worth by God.

As followers of Jesus, our rescue from rebellion into relationship with God gives us a new identity as we are being built into a kingdom community by God. We are being built into a kingdom community that has eternal life with God. And we are being built into a kingdom community that is set apart and dedicated to the ministry and mission of God: A ministry that mediates between God and humanity so as to reveal and reflect Jesus to humanity: A ministry and mission that lives in a way that demonstrates that we view God as being of supreme value.

 

And as Peter continued in this letter to early followers of Jesus, we see Peter begin to provide the evidence to support his claim of the new identity that followers of Jesus have as a part of this new kingdom community called the church. And as a result, we see Peter reveal a second aspect of the kingdom community that should shape our identity as followers of Jesus. Peter begins to provide this evidence in 1 Peter 2:6-8. Let’s look at it together:

For this is contained in Scripture: "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED." ⁷ This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone," ⁸ and, "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE"; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

Here we see Peter begin to provide the evidence to support his claim of the new identity that followers of Jesus have as a part of this new kingdom community called the church by quoting from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah 28:16, during this time in history, the Jewish people were consistently rebelling and rejecting the Lord and the words that the Lord was bringing to the Jewish people through His prophets. And Isaiah was no exception.

Instead of listening to the words of warning from Isaiah regarding their selfishness and rebellion against the Lord, the Jewish people rejected Isaiah’s words of warning from the Lord. Instead of running to the Lord in their times of trouble for help, the Jewish people chose to run to the nation of Egypt for help. The Jewish people decided to trust in the nation of Egypt instead of the promises of the Lord.

And it was in this context that the prophet Isaiah predicted and proclaimed God’s promise of a rescuer, a deliver, a Messiah, who would be sent from God to bring the Jewish people back to God. The prophet Isaiah proclaimed that whoever placed their confident trust in God’s promises would not be disappointed in God. However, whoever refused to place their confident trust in God’s promises would be disappointed and destroyed as a result of their rejection of God’s promise.

Then, in verse 7, Peter explained that God’s promise of this precious cornerstone of a Messiah was for those who would place their confident trust in God and God’s promises. However, for those who rejected God and God’s promise, Peter reminded the readers of this letter of another part of the Psalmists’ words in Psalm 118:22, which both Jesus and Peter had previously quoted and which we had looked at a few minutes ago. Peter then quoted from another section of the book of Isaiah, this time Isaiah 8:14. 

In Isaiah 8, the prophet Isaiah contrasted the responses of those who would trust in the Lord and the promises of Lord by regarding the Lord as Holy as opposed to those who refused to trust in the Lord and the promises of the Lord by refusing to regard the Lord as Holy. And in refusing to trust in the Lord, Isaiah proclaimed that the Lord and the promises of the Lord are a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

You see, the Jewish people just could not get over the Lord and the promises of the Lord. Instead, they stumbled over the Lord and the promises of the Lord. Instead, they took offense at the Lord and refused to trust in the promises of the Lord.

Peter quoted from Psalm 118:22 and Isaiah 8:14 to reveal the reality that regardless of what people think about Jesus; regardless of whether or not people place their trust in God and God’s promise of a rescuer, a Messiah; Jesus is that rescuer, that Messiah. Regardless of whether or not people would view Jesus as the life giving foundational cornerstone of God’s movement in history called the church, that is who Jesus is.

Jesus is the life giving foundational cornerstone of God’s movement in history called the church, who has began to usher in the kingdom of Heaven here on earth by establishing a new kingdom community that would be responsible for bringing the light of the kingdom of heaven into the dark spaces and places of this world. Whether you like it or not; whether you believe it or not; Peter’s point is that is who Jesus is. You see the most important question anyone can ask and answer is “who is Jesus?”           

Peter then hammered home his point in the second half of verse 8 by boldly stating that “they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.” But this morning, what does that mean? What does Peter mean when he says to this doom they were appointed?  Peter’s point here is two-fold.

First, Peter is stating that those who stumble over Jesus, those who cannot get over Jesus, do so because they reject the message and teachings of Jesus. Instead of responding to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel by placing their trust in Jesus and obeying the message and teachings of Jesus, they chose to reject Jesus and disobey the message and teachings of Jesus.

Second, Peter is revealing the reality that people should not be surprised that people would choose to reject Jesus and disobey the message and teachings of Jesus, because that was anticipated, predicted, and brought to fulfillment as part of God's plan. When Peter uses the word appointed here this word literally means to cause to undergo a change in experience or condition. Peter’s here is painting a word picture to reveal the reality that the stone that was rejected by them will end up destroying them.

Wherever God discloses Himself, people respond differently. God anticipated, predicted, and brought to fulfillment God’s right and just response to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity. God anticipated, predicted and brought to fulfillment the suffering of Jesus to provide humanity the opportunity to be rescued from their selfishness and rebellion. And God anticipated, predicted, and brought to fulfillment the rejection of the Messiah, as well as His triumph.

You see, God is sovereign and we are responsible. God does not take good people and make them bad. Instead God chooses to confirm and set into place the selfishness and rebellion that is already present in them. The great reformed theologian Calvin referred to this truth this way: “The same sun which melts the wax also hardens the clay”. Because, the timeless reality is that God’s freedom to choose some and reject others is just because no one deserves to be chosen.

Every human being selfishly rebels and rejects God and the relationship with God that they were created for.  God sovereignly chooses to confirm and set into place the selfishness and rebellion that is already present in some. And God sovereignly chooses, by His gracious and transformational activity through His Son Jesus Christ, to melt and bend some hearts to Him.  And we are responsible for our response to the most important question that we can ask and answer, which is “Who is Jesus?” We are responsible for the decisions that we make and God is sovereign to fulfill His plan for humanity.

And it is here that we see Peter reveal for us the reality that our identity as part of God's kingdom community is built on the fulfillment of God's promises and plan. God promised a rescuer that was worthy of trust and would not disappoint. And God's promise of a rescuer would be fulfilled regardless of response.

Those who trust in God's promise will view Jesus as being worthy of honor and respect. Those who refuse to trust in Jesus will view Jesus as unworthy and reject Him. However, their refusal to trust in Jesus does not change who Jesus is. Their refusal to trust in Jesus is based on stumbling over who Jesus claimed to be. Their refusal to trust in Jesus is based on rejecting Jesus message. And their refusal to trust in Jesus was anticipated, predicted, and brought to fulfillment as part of God's plan.

Friday, we will see Peter reveal a third aspect of the kingdom community that should shape our identity as followers of Jesus...

The hope we have in Jesus should lead to us embracing our identity as part of God’s kingdom community...

At the church where I serve we have been spending our time together in a sermon series entitled the power of hope. During this series, we are addressing the reality that we live in a time where societal and cultural change occurs at a frequently increasing rate. And as followers of Jesus, we feel this exponential change in 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.

And in many quarters, Christianity is now mocked and criticized for clinging to a religious belief system that is viewed as being outdated and outrageous. 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?

To answer these questions, we are looking at a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible, called the book of 1 Peter. This week I would like for us to pick 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 the power of the hope we have as followers of Jesus should impact how we are to live in a rapidly changing culture as followers of Jesus.  So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in 1 Peter 2:4:

And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Now to fully understand what Peter is communicating here, we first need to understand a few things. The first thing that we need to understand is what Peter is referring to when he uses the phrase “coming to Him as living stones”. As we discovered a few weeks ago, the word living conveys the sense something that is life and produces life.

Peter then explained that this stone that is living and that produces life has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God. What is so interesting here is that the phrase, has been rejected by men, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to regard as unworthy or unfit and therefore to be rejected.

However, while this living stone has been viewed as unworthy and has been rejected by men, it is choice and precious in the sight of God. In other words, this stone that is living and produces life is viewed by God as being of elite quality and of great value. But who or what is this living stone? With this phrase, Peter is painting a word picture of Jesus as the life producing stone that serves as the foundational stone, or cornerstone, of God’s movement in history called the church.

Peter is painting the image of two building projects, one by men; the other by God.  The human builders find Jesus unworthy of building their lives upon and reject Him. This very imagery was used by Jesus in Mark 12:10-11:

"Have you not even read this Scripture: 'THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; ¹¹ THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES '?"

In addition, Peter used this imagery in a conversation with the self righteous religious leaders who had sentenced Jesus to death in Acts 4:11-12:

"He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. ¹² "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

Both Jesus and Peter were quoting from a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Psalms. In Psalm 118:22, the Psalmist predicted and proclaimed that the King of the Jewish people would be rejected by men, but would conquer and overcome his enemies. Both Jesus and Peter applied the Psalmist’s words to also be referring to Jesus as the ultimate King and ruler of the universe as the Messiah.

As the life giving foundational cornerstone of God’s movement in history called the church, Jesus would begin to usher in the kingdom of Heaven here on earth by establishing a new kingdom community that would be responsible for bringing the light of the kingdom of heaven into the dark spaces and places of this world. Peter unpacks this reality in verse 5 with the phrase “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Peter’s point here is that as followers of Jesus, we have been rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated us from God. As followers of Jesus, we have been given forgiveness and new life in relationship with God for all eternity. And as followers of Jesus, we have been given a new identity as a part of the new kingdom community called the church.

And as part of this new kingdom community, followers of Jesus are being built up as a spiritual house. In other words, God is actively at work to build, by the power of the Spirit of God, a Spirit-filled community called the church on the foundation stone of His Son Jesus. And as part of that Spirit-filled community, Peter explains that followers of Jesus are a holy priesthood. Peter’s point is that followers of Jesus have been dedicated, or set apart, to serve in the ministry and mission of God as a priest of God in the new kingdom community of God. Followers of Jesus have been dedicated, or set apart to live lives of worship to God that demonstrate that God is of supreme value and worth.

And it is here, in this section of this letter, that we see Peter reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to how we are to live our lives as followers of Jesus in that the hope we have in Jesus should lead to us embracing our identity as part of God’s kingdom community. And in 1 Peter 2:4-10, we see Peter reveal for us three different aspects of the kingdom community that should shape our identity as followers of Jesus.

First, in 1 Peter 2:4-5, we see Peter reveal for us the reality that our identity as part of God's kingdom community is built on the foundation of Jesus. As the foundation, Jesus is the one who is life and who gives eternal life. As the foundation, Jesus was rejected by humanity as being unworthy to build their lives upon. However, as the foundation, Jesus is viewed as being the best of the best by God. As the foundation, Jesus is viewed as being of great value and worth by God.

And as followers of Jesus, our rescue from rebellion into relationship with God gives us a new identity as we are being built into a kingdom community by God. We are being built into a kingdom community that has eternal life with God. And we are being built into a kingdom community that is set apart and dedicated to the ministry and mission of God: A ministry that mediates between God and humanity so as to reveal and reflect Jesus to humanity: A ministry and mission that lives in a way that demonstrates that we view God as being of supreme value.

As Peter continued in this letter to early followers of Jesus, we see Peter begin to provide the evidence to support his claim of the new identity that followers of Jesus have as a part of this new kingdom community called the church. And as a result, we see Peter reveal a second aspect of the kingdom community that should shape our identity as followers of Jesus.

Tomorrow, we will discover that second aspect…

"How do I get to the place where I actually love others like Jesus loved others?”

This week, we have been looking at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament called the book of 1 Peter. And it is in this section of this letter that we discovered the timeless truth that the hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that loves like Jesus. 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.

So far, we have seen 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.

We have seen 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 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?”

 If that question is running through your mind, I just want to let you know that that is a great question. And fortunately for us, we see Peter provide the answer to that question in 1 Peter 2:1-3. Let’s discover that answer together:

Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, ² like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, ³ if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

Now when Peter uses the word therefore here, he is basically saying “in light of the reality that the hope that we have in Jesus should lead to a life that loves like Jesus because we have been given new life by Jesus in fulfillment of the life giving and eternal promises of God, we need to do something as followers of Jesus that will enable and empower us to love like Jesus. And what we need to do is what Peter commands followers of Jesus throughout history to do in verse 2: long for the pure milk of the word.

When Peter uses the word long, this word literally means to have a strong desire for something. What Peter commands followers of Jesus throughout history to do is to have a strong desire for is the pure milk of the word. But what does that even mean? What is so interesting here is that the word pure refers to something that is unadulterated. In addition, when Peter refers to milk here, he is referring to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. Peter here is painting a word picture of a newborn baby feeding on physical milk to command followers of Jesus throughout history to crave, to strongly desire the spiritual milk of the message and teachings of Jesus.

Have you ever been around a baby when it is feeding time? Or better yet, have you ever been around a baby when it is feeding time and mom is not around? Have you ever been there? Have you ever been at that place where it begins as a small little cry that slowly and steadily escalates to an ear piercing scream? Have you ever been in that place where you are trying to distract that baby with a toy or with a funny face, all the while hoping and praying that mom would get home soon? Have you ever been in that place where, no matter what you do, you cannot make the baby stop screaming?

The reason you can’t make the baby stop screaming is because there is only one thing that will stop the baby from screaming and you do not have it, because you are not the mom. Simply giving a baby a glass of water will not work. And you wouldn’t even think about giving that newborn baby a soda, I hope. You do not want to give that newborn baby anything that would hurt that baby; you know that the baby can only have one thing, and that one thing is the unadulterated and unaltered milk that comes from momma.

And so you wait. And so you pray. And you rejoice when momma arrives. You rejoice because the only thing that can satisfy that craving, the only thing that can satisfy that newborn baby’s desire, is the milk that comes from momma. And it is the pure, unadulterated, and unaltered milk from momma that results in the physical growth and nourishment of that baby.

And it is here that we see Peter reveal for us the reality that we are to love like Jesus by desiring the spiritual nourishment that comes from the Lord. You see, 1 Peter 2:1, Peter reveals the things that will get in the way of us loving like Jesus and that reveal a lack of desire for the spiritual nourishment that comes from the Lord. 

In verse 1 Peter reveals the reality that we are to desire the spiritual nourishment that comes from the Lord by putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. When Peter uses the phrase, putting aside, this phrase literally means to rid oneself of something. Peter states that, as followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of all malice, which is a mean spirited or vicious attitude. As followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of all deceit, which is to take advantage of another through crafty and underhanded methods. In other words, as followers of Jesus, we are not to be shady in our dealings with others.

As followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of all hypocrisy, which is to create a public impression that is at odds with one’s real purposes or motivations. In other words, as followers of Jesus, we are not to be a poser. As followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of all envy, which is a desire to want what others have and not want others to have what they do have. And as followers of Jesus, we are to rid ourselves of all slander, which is to speak ill of, to defame or to slander someone.

Now what do all of the words on this list that Peter commands followers of Jesus throughout history to rid themselves of have in common? You see, the words on this list are all things that destroy relationships and destroy community. You cannot love others like Jesus loved others if you have a mean spirited or vicious attitude towards others. You cannot love others like Jesus loved others if you are shady towards others. You cannot love others like Jesus loved others if you are a poser towards others. You cannot love others like Jesus loved others if you want what others have and not want others to have what they do have. You cannot love others like Jesus loved others if you speak ill of, defame or slander others.

These attitudes and actions destroy relationships and community. And that is Peters’ point. Peter here is revealing for us the reality that we are to desire the spiritual nourishment that comes from the Lord by ridding ourselves of those things that destroy relationships and community. We are to desire the spiritual nourishment that comes from the Lord like a newborn baby craves their mother's milk.

And in the second half of verse 2 and in verse 3, we see Peter reveal the reality that we are to desire the spiritual nourishment that comes from the Lord so that we may experience spiritual growth. When Peter uses the phrase, so that you may grow in respect to salvation, salvation refers to our rescue from our rebellion by Jesus so that we can experience eternity in relationship with Jesus. This phrase refers to the possession of a genuine trust in Jesus and that Jesus has rescued us from our rebellion and into an eternal relationship with Jesus that transcends this temporary human existence.

You see, the promises of God not only initiate our life in relationship with Jesus. In addition, the promises of God sustain our life in relationship with Jesus, regardless of the circumstances that we find ourselves in as followers of Jesus. That is, as Peter points out in verse 3, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. With this phrase, Peter is alluding to a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Psalms. In Psalm 34:8, the Psalmist proclaimed the following:

O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

Peter’s point here is that followers of Jesus are to crave the Lord for their spiritual nourishment, as God in Christ both conceives and sustains the life that we have as followers of Jesus. Peter is revealing the reality that, if we have truly experienced the grace and kindness of Jesus, that grace and kindness will produce within us a craving, a desire for the nourishment that comes from Jesus.

Because the timeless reality is that the hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that loves like Jesus. We are to love like Jesus because we have dedicated ourselves to living lives that look like Jesus. We are to love like Jesus because we have been given new life by Jesus. And we are love like Jesus by desiring the spiritual nourishment that comes from the Lord.

So here is a question to consider: Does the hope that you have in Jesus leading to a life that loves like Jesus? What does your willingness to love others like Jesus loved others reveal about how dedicated you are to living a life that looks like Jesus? Is the new life that you have as a result of what God has done for you producing a life that loves Jesus supremely and others sacrificially? Is the grace and kindness that you have experienced for Jesus producing a craving a desire for the message and teachings of Jesus? If the answer to these questions are no, then why not?

Because the hope we have in Jesus as a result of the new life that we have because of Jesus should result in a life that loves like Jesus...

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…      

A life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus and that is driven by a reverent respect for the Lord...

This week, we have been looking at a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 1 Peter. And in 1 Peter 1:13-21, we see Peter reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to the power that hope is to have in our lives as followers of Jesus in that the hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus.

We talked about the reality that a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus is not dominated by the selfish desires that dominated our life before we came to know Jesus. Instead, a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus is set apart and committed to revealing and reflecting Jesus in how we live out our day to day lives in obedience to Jesus.

As followers of Jesus, we have been chosen by God and rescued by God’s gracious activity through Jesus to live distinctly different lives.  We are called to live distinctly different lives when it comes to how we handle our sexuality, our family relationships, how we love and treat those who are different than us ethnically or socioeconomically, how we respond to wrongdoing and injustice, and how we worship, then the culture around us.

And when we live such distinctly different lives than the culture around us, we are perfectly positioned to be the vehicle that God used to reveal Himself to the world. In 1 Peter 1:13-21, we see Peter reveal three different reasons why we as followers of Jesus are to be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus. First, as followers of Jesus, we are to be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus that recognizes the Lord as the impartial judge. At the end of God’s story here on earth, we will all stand before the Lord to give an account for how we lived our lives. And the Lord is an impartial judge; the Lord will judge our behavior without partiality; the standard is the same for all humanity.

Second, as followers of Jesus, we are to be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus that recognizes the priceless life of Jesus. We discovered that there is no price that can be placed on the life that Jesus lived that we refused to live, and the death that Jesus died, that we deserved to die. You see, while God’s grace is free, it is not cheap. While God’s grace does not cost us anything, it was very costly to Jesus.

And because of that reality, our lives should be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus in light of the price that He paid to rescue and redeem us from a life of selfishness and rebellion that enslaved us and separated us from God. Peter then concludes this section of this letter by revealing for us a third reason why we as followers of Jesus are to be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus. Let’s discover that reason together, beginning in 1 Peter 1:20-21:

 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Now to fully understand what Peter is communicating here, we first need to understand what the word foreknown means. The word foreknown is a big fancy church mumbo jumbo talk word that means to know beforehand. This word conveys the sense of knowing beforehand so as to choose beforehand. In addition the phrase “before the foundation of the world” refers to the creation of the world.

Peter’s point here is that God chose Jesus before the creation of the word and before time began to enter into humanity during the time of history that Peter was writing this letter so that He could live the life we were created to live but refused to live and willingly allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. That is what Peter is referring to when he uses the phrase for the sake of you. 

Because, as Peter points out in verse 21, it is through Jesus life, death, and resurrection that we come to the place where we believe, trust, and follow Jesus as Lord and Leader so as to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God we were created for. It is through Jesus life, death, and resurrection that we can place our trust in God. And it is through Jesus life, death, and resurrection that we can look forward to the future with confidence in spite of our current circumstances at Jesus return.

And because of that reality, as followers of Jesus, we are to be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus that recognizes the Lord’s eternal plan to bring us hope and bring Jesus glory. You see, Peter wanted followers of Jesus throughout history to clearly understand that the hope we have for the future that is greater than any trial should lead to something leading and driving our life.

And the timeless reality is that the hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus. A life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus is not dominated by the selfish desires that dominated our life before we came to know Jesus. Instead, a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus is set apart and committed to revealing and reflecting Jesus in how we live out our day to day lives in obedience to Jesus.

A life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus and that is driven by a reverent respect for the Lord: A reverent respect that recognizes the Lord as the impartial judge. A reverent respect that recognizes that we have been redeemed by the priceless life of Jesus: A reverent respect that recognizes the Lord’s eternal plan to bring us hope and bring Jesus glory.

So here is a question for us to consider: How is the hope that you have as a result of Jesus life impacting how you are living out your day to day life? How is God’s grace in your life impacting how you are living out your day to day life? Does your life treat God’s grace as cheap? Or does your life treat God’s grace as costly? 

Because, while God’s grace is free, it is not cheap. While God’s grace does not cost us anything, it was very costly to Jesus. And because of that reality, our lives should be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus that is dedicated to looking like Jesus.

The timeless reality is that the hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus…

A life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus is driven by a reverent respect for Jesus...

This week, we are looking at a section of this letter that the Apostle Peter wrote to early followers of Jesus that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 1 Peter. Yesterday, we looked at 1 Peter 1:13-16, where we discovered the timeless truth that the hope we have in Jesus should lead to a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus.

As followers of Jesus, the reality is that a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus is not dominated by the selfish desires that dominated our life before we came to know Jesus. Instead, a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus is set apart and committed to revealing and reflecting Jesus in how we live out our day to day lives in obedience to Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we have been chosen by God and rescued by God’s gracious activity through Jesus to live distinctly different lives. 

We are called to live distinctly different lives when it comes to how we handle our sexuality, our family relationships, how we love and treat those who are different than us ethnically or socioeconomically, how we respond to wrongdoing and injustice, and how we worship, then the culture around us. And when we live such distinctly different lives than the culture around us, we are perfectly positioned to be the vehicle that God used to reveal Himself to the world. As Peter continues this section of this letter, we see him unpack the motivation that should drive our desire to live lives that are dedicated to looking like Jesus in 1 Peter 1:17-19:

 If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; ¹⁸ knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, ¹⁹ but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

Now Peter’s statement in verse 17, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: If you claim to be a Christian; if you claim that you have a relationship with God the Father, you better live out your day to day life in a way that recognizes that God will judge how you live your life in an impartial manner, so you better live your day to day life in a way that demonstrates a reverent respect for God so as to submit and obey Him.”

When Peter uses the word fear, this word does not describe what we experience when we watch the latest “Alien” or “Resident Evil” movie. Instead, when we see the word fear throughout the letters that make up the Bible, this word conveys the sense of having a reverent respect for someone that result in submission and obedience to that person. And it is here that we see Peter reveal for us the reality that a life that is dedicated to looking like Jesus is driven be a reverent respect for Jesus. As followers of Jesus our day to day lives are to be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus that results in a life that strives to live in submission and obedience to Jesus.

Peter revealed three different reasons why we as followers of Jesus are to be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus. First, as followers of Jesus, we are to be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus that recognizes the Lord as the impartial judge. At the end of God’s story here on earth, we will all stand before the Lord to give an account for how we lived our lives. And the Lord is an impartial judge; the Lord will judge our behavior without partiality; the standard is the same for all humanity.

All humanity will have to answer for how they answered the question “Who is Jesus?” And for those who never heard of Jesus, all humanity will have to answer for how they responded to God’s activity in their lives through the creation and through their conscience. The standard is the same for all followers of Jesus; did you respond to my gracious activity in your life by leading a life that was dedicated to look like Jesus? If not, why not?

Second, in verse 18 and 19, Peter explains that followers of Jesus are to be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” Now the word redeemed here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, means to be purchased by ransom. This word was also used to describe how a slave would be purchased from a local slave market.

In addition, when Peter uses the phrase from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, he is painting a word picture that these Jewish followers of Jesus would be very familiar with. And this word picture was that of a sacrificial offering that would be offered as part of the Jewish sacrificial system. In the Jewish sacrificial system, there were two times every day that sacrifices were made to God for the sins of the people, one early in the morning and one in the in the late afternoon at 3 p.m. The sacrificial offerings involved animals who were offered as a substitute to pay the penalty for acts of selfishness and rebellion that had been committed against God by the Jewish people.

Peter’s point here is that the Jewish sacrificial system involved objects that were used to pay for the acts of the selfishness and rebellion of humanity that were perishable. Whether it was the silver of the gold that was used to purchase the animals that were used in the Jewish sacrificial system, or whether it was the animals themselves, they would all perish or be ruined over time. Even the purest gold over time becomes ruined over time.

However, unlike the Jewish sacrificial system that used things that would perish or be ruined over time to pay for the selfishness and rebellion of humanity, as followers of Jesus, they were purchased with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. Peter’s point here is that the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross, in our place, for our selfishness and rebellion, does not lose its value over time. Jesus blood is priceless, perfect, without any defect, and is not subject to ruin over time.

And because of that reality, as followers of Jesus, we are to be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus that recognizes the priceless life of Jesus. There is no price that can be placed on the life that Jesus lived that we refused to live, and the death that Jesus died, that we deserved to die. You see, while God’s grace is free, it is not cheap. While God’s grace does not cost us anything, it was very costly to Jesus.

And because of that reality, our lives should be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus in light of the price that He paid to rescue and redeem us from a life of selfishness and rebellion that enslaved us and separated us from God. Peter then concludes this section of this letter by revealing for us a third reason why we as followers of Jesus are to be driven by a reverent respect for Jesus.

We will discover that third reason Friday…