Sunday, January 3, 2021 pm
STUDIES IN 1 PETER (4)
Begotten Again to a Living
Hope (2)
1 Peter 1:3-5
Tonight, we continue our study
of 1 Peter. We are still dealing
with Peter’s greetings to these brethren who are suffering for the cause of
Christ. In our last lesson we
began addressed our living hope.
Peter blessed (glorified) God because of His abundant mercy and the living hope.
It is a living hope, meaning it is real and now.
We then noted that it is demonstrated through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. IN that you
might say we have this hope because Jesus is alive.
In this lesson, we want to continue to examine Peter’s address of this
living hope by noting 2 more things that give us this hope – our inheritance and
the power of God.
I.
Our inheritance
a.
We have a living hope because of a promised inheritance.
Inheritance is usually associated with family.
We know scripturally, we are the family of God.
We are His children and together brethren.
The idea of inheritance is fundamental to living the Christian – Romans 8:16-17.
We know we have something better waiting for us beyond this life.
Matthew 25:34, in judgment the righteous will inherit heaven
Hebrews 9:15 speaks of eternal inheritance for those called.
b.
Four different phrases are used to describe this inheritance:
i.
Incorruptible – a word meaning imperishable, something not subject to decay.
the word is interestingly used 7 times in the NT.
It describes God (Romans 1:23), our victor’s crown (1 Corinthians 9:25), our
resurrected state (1 Corinthians 15:52), our immortal King (1 Timothy 1:17), and
3 times in this letter (here, 1 Peter 1:23 – the seed of the word of God, and
finally the beauty of a godly wife – 1 Peter 3:4).
On earth things break – in fact virtually everything breaks eventually, but not
so in heaven. This is a term
describing heaven’s eternity.
ii.
Undefiled –
a word meaning something is pure, not polluted or stained.
Again in this world, we see so much corruption around us – men are wicked and
many despise the godly. And clearly,
sin has had its impact in this world.
Revelation 21:27 says, But there shall by no means enter it anything that
defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written
in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
iii.
Does not fade away – this means it is something that never loses its luster or
beauty. Again, here on earth, things
have a way of growing more dull – maybe still useful for a while, but they don’t
look new anymore; OR flowers that bloom only for a season and then they begin to
wilt. But not so in heaven.
It is a place where after time, things will be as new and useful as when
we begin.
Remember how Jesus spoke of treasure in heaven where moth does not destroy and
thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:19-20).
Many of the songs we sing about heaven appeal to this:
The last verse of Amazing Grace – “When we’ve been there ten thousand
years, bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise, than when we first begun.” Or a place
described as “where the roses never fade”, etc.
iv.
Reserved in heaven for you – think of a reservation.
1.
It is a spot held for someone, like a hotel reservation.
You make them so that as you travel you know you have a place to stay for
the night, or a specific place to dine.
2.
It a word used more than 90 times in the New Testament and is at times
translated “Keep” as in Ephesians 4:3, “Endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace”
James 1:27 – “Keep
yourself unspotted from the world”
3.
The point - God has reserved a place for
the faithful in heaven.
4.
SOMEONE might say that this means eternal security (Once saved, always saved -
OSAS).
In a sense yes – no one will EVER stop God from rewarding those who belong to
Him. But there is more to this as we
will examine in the next phrase of our text.
5.
But for the sake of this text, I simply ask – can you cancel your reservations?
Can you quit keeping His word and commandments?
And if so, is He obligated to keep that reserved spot for you?
c.
But to emphasize Peter’s point – we have an inheritance and that gives us a
living hope to endure whatever comes our way.
II.
Kept by the power of God
a.
What does it mean to be kept by His power?
Is this teaching OSAS?
i.
First I want to emphasize that point Peter is making, is that we serve a God is
in all-powerful and all-knowing.
None will EVER stop His will from being accomplished.
God can and will keep His promises – Titus 1:2 speaks of our hope of eternal
life “which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.”
Romans 8:28 – all things work together for good to those called according
to His purpose…
The point is – GOD IS IN CONTROL and has been (cf. 1 John 4:4 – He is greater
than he who is in the world)
ii.
I
believe this is the emphasis of Jesus in John 10:27-28 when He said, My sheep
hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My
hand.
iii.
BUT, does this teach “once saved, always saved”?
I do not believe so. Just
because God is in control does not mean we cannot walk away from Him and as
already noted, “cancel our reservation”, or as sheep of Jesus this does not mean
that we cannot choose to leave the sheepfold.
1.
Consider Hebrews 10:26-31
2.
And Hebrews 3:12-13 – beware, lest there be in any a heart of unbelief in
departing from the living God.
3.
Even Peter taught strongly about the possibility of apostasy (2 Peter 2:20-22)
iv.
This is a reference to God’s part – He will NOT be defeated, and He knows what
is going on.
v.
But WORTHY of consider here are passages like 1 Corinthians 10:13 and 2 Peter
2:9 – God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and He has made the
way of escape.
This NEEDS to be an element of our living hope.
Knowing that God WANTS to preserve us and will give us the tools we need
for that to happen.
b.
We are kept Through faith for salvation – this is descriptive of
our part. It is written as a
conditional phrase – we are kept by God “by means of” (dia) our faith or
faithfulness. This too points to our
endurance. In fact, that is primary
in the message of Peter in this letter.
He noted that we are going to face troubling times, but don’t give up.
We have to continue to believe and do His will – Luke 6:46.
Hebrews 10:38-39 – do not draw back…
c.
Ready to be revealed in the last time
i.
In this final phrase, we are reminded that a time is coming when there will be a
judgment.
Acts 17:31- God has appointed a day when in righteousness God will judge the
world.
It will be a day of separation – Matthew 25:46, 13:40-43 where Jesus explains
the parable of the wheat and tares.
He notes they will be separated and the “tares” – “all things that offend, and
those who practice lawlessness” will be cast into the furnace of fire.
Note vs. 43, Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
ii.
IN that last time, that is when the inheritance AND living hope will be
realized.
As Peter would note in 2 Peter 3:10-13 – the Lord will return and the elements
will melt. But we, “according to
His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells”.
And thus we can see the living
hope of the faithful. It is revealed
because: 1) Jesus arose from the dead, 2) we are promised an inheritance, and 3)
God has done His part to keep us in that inheritance.
The question that remains is this: Are you living your life with that
living hope? If not, why not take
the necessary steps right now to do that?
Think about it!