Pilgrim Living: Praise God, Our Hope is Sure!
I Peter 1:3-5
Introduction: Thousands of
Afghans are seeking to flee their country in the face of the Taliban take over.
Some of them are at least initially finding their way into screening centers on
military bases in our area. Exiles in
a foreign land. Peter began this letter addressing his readers as exiles
and pilgrims. They are exiles, chosen of God, citizens of heaven, but scattered
like seeds through the nations. They are dispersed through Asia Minor, most
importantly, for a while, they are citizens of heaven, but for now, resident
aliens in the world. In the face of rising pressure from Rome, Peter wants them
to have hope. God intended this word for
us as well. We too are in the world, but not of the world. If you turn
on the news, evil is evident, we live in a broken, sin cursed world. That was
evident long before the 21st century! In the early third century AD,
Cyprian wrote this in a letter to his friend…
“It
is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the
midst of it a quiet and good people who have learned the great secret of life.
They have found a joy and wisdom which is a thousand times better than any of
the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they
care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These
people, Donatus, are Christians. . . and I am one of them.”
From where does such hope come? We have hope in the
darkness because the Gospel is true. Paul
told the Corinthians in I Cor 15…
1 Now 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...
Our hope is rooted in the
historical truth of the resurrection. Paul underscores the historicity of what
happened, it was not only a story, these are facts of history. Not only is the
death and resurrection of Jesus history, it could be verified by eyewitnesses
even as Paul wrote…
…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 (I Cor 15:5-8).
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. Peter, in his opening, is alluding to the
hope that believers have because of what God has done on our behalf in Christ. Dr. Ed
Clowney was referring to this letter 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, “Praise God, Our
Hope is Sure!” And we have a “living hope” because we have a living Savior!
Let that sink in, and then praise Him!
The BIG Idea: Praise God that Jesus
conquered death and so our hope is sure in Him!
I. In our
broken and sometimes hostile world, we have a sure hope if we worship the God
who is (3a). It matters what (and who) we believe!
After talking about election and foreknowledge of God in the greeting, Peter breaks
into praise…
“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 praising. Today we have a lot
of encouragement to be “inclusive” in our use of language. In certain cases that is probably a good idea,
especially if people might misunderstand what is being said. 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. There is One God, and He has spoken. Some would suggest
that “it doesn’t really matter what you believe, as long as you really believe
it.” Others would suggest 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 beginning to write the documents that
would eventually become the New Testament.
The phrase “blessed be God” that
we see here in I Peter reflects on the expression of worship to God that
appears in the OT Scriptures as well as the NT (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 Prophets,
and the Psalms,...
Genesis
14:18-20 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem
brought out bread and wine… 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.
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...
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!
Do you
see what is going on? In each case, as the OT 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.
Worship is the response of the heart to the God who is real and
present and who acts in our lives. We
have an expansion of that phrase in I Peter 1:3. It also occurs twice more in the NT, in two of the letters of Paul. First,
in…
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.
The second use of the
phrase by Paul is found in… 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 OT and filled out a little the
fuller significance. The God of the OT, 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. Certainly,
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 Holy God. Do you
believe that? Praise Him!
Of
course, as 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? You might be worried about me, 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 YouTube video I had seen... of a baby
albino elephant that was recently born on a reserve in Africa, that might
be different!
In this case, believing me or not would
not be of great consequence. But when we
are talking about forgiveness and reconciliation with God and experiencing 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
to believe is true! C.S. Lewis is
correct, “Christianity is only worth
believing if it is true.” After all, Paul said in I Cor 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. Praise God that Jesus conquered death and so
our hope is sure 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 (ESV) 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 all guilty sinners (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... 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…
In His
mercy He intervened. In 1 Pet 3:5 we see that divine initiative, the NKJ says “according
to His mercy [he] has begotten us again…” The ESV reads, “...he
caused us to be born again...”, or as Paul said in Eph 2:5, He “...made us alive together with Christ...” What
does it mean “...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 had anticipated this day, when a New Covenant would come that would give
new life. For example, Ezekiel 36:26-27 says,
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 about that encounter 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?"
Nick at
Night, Nicodemus, 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 to give us a new life. We
were dead in our trespasses and sins, but He makes 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! Praise God that Jesus conquered death and so
our hope is sure 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...”
Our hope is based on the death and
resurrection of Jesus. We have a living hope because we have a living Savior! In
I Cor 15 Paul expounds the doctrine of the Resurrection in detail. That chapter
starts off, in 15:1-11, talking about some of the evidence for the resurrection
of Jesus, 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 hope that is sure, a confident expectation about the future, because Christ
arose! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Praise God that Jesus conquered death and so our hope is
sure in Him!
IV. We have hope because God Himself has guaranteed our future (4-5).
First, He has promised
us an inheritance that will not perish or fade (4)! God Himself is the guarantor of our inheritance! “...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 the 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 in Matthew 6:19-21,
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...”
That treasure is safe and it is sure, moths and rust can’t corrupt it, and thieves can’t take it! Praise God that Jesus conquered death and so our hope is sure in Him!
Secondly, We have hope because God himself promises
to keep (guard) US! “...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).
He who
has begun a good work in us will bring it to completion (cf. Phil 1:6). Our
treasure in heaven is secure, and so are we! 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 in Brazil, 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 Shih tzu 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. Who do we trust to keep us? Jesus said, “No one can snatch you out of my Father’s hand.” That is a promise. Our
hope is sure, it depends on God, not us. It is a hope anchored in the past, Christ
arose! It will be realized in the day of Christ…
“...ready
to be revealed in the last time...” As surely as the resurrection was an
historical event, so will be His return. Jesus wins, and we are His! Victory in
Jesus.
What is God saying to me in this passage? Praise God that Jesus conquered death and so our
hope is sure 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 Nick at Night, “How can these
things be?” The invitation to you is to come, there is hope in Jesus. Christ
defeated the greatest enemy, death, and He has purchased eternal life and
forgiveness for all who believe. Will you put your trust in Him? Jesus invites you to come to Him… He said “Come
unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” First,
admit your need, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died for
your sins and rose again. You can entrust your self to Him… The Bible says
whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!
Perhaps someone reading this has believed, but circumstances in life caused you to drift away, to push Him back into a corner of your life. It is not by chance you are reading this, God planned this moment in your life. We can’t change the past, but we can determine to walk with Him today. 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.
Above all these verses are a call to worship. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! AMEN.
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