1 Peter - To the exiled

To the Exiled

Question of the day: I am a bit restless, so I thought it could be fun to dream a bit about traveling somewhere wonderful. If you could go anywhere right now, where would it be? 

I would like to show you today a video as we start this study.  Today we will just look at a couple minutes of the video, but if you are interested you can go and watch the whole video later.  It is a nice over view of what we will be studying the next several weeks. 

READ: 1 Peter 1:1-12

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance!

In the most challenging times, how do we have grace and peace in abundance? 

Peter is writing to believers who are scattered and away from a "church family" and they are being persecuted for their faith.

These past few weeks I have needed to find ways to have grace with myself.  How about you?

What do you do or what does it look like to have grace and peace?

"He has given us new birth into a living hope..."

How does this impact our daily lives?

Do we live differently because of this knowledge and truth?

Verses 6 and 7

"In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

In what?

So we rejoice in our Salvation!  We rejoice in what he has already done for us. 
Our focus is on Him and His great love for us.

Then when trials come, refining will take place but the end result, what is left after the fire is Jesus Christ.

When we see the devastation done by tornadoes in the Chattanooga area it is unbelievable when certain things are untouched. 

These pictures say so much. 

Jesus is the cake!

It isn't that the destruction isn't devastating!  It can an often is!  What he is saying here is that a life lived with the Hope of Jesus, the refining fire will show a life with Jesus at the center.  Jesus still there! 

Jesus is the cake.

Verse 8-9

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 Are there times when you don't see Jesus? 
Are there times when you feel like he isn't showing up the way you need him to?
Are there times when you are in the midst of the storm and you are wondering where on earth he is?

YEP!  We have all been there. 

This passage speaks to just that. 

Though we may be in a storm and feel like we are there all alone, without His intervening power or even his comforting presence we can CAN just KNOW and LOVE him! We can still believe in him and rest in the assurance of what Jesus has already done, and that THAT can and will fill us with

INEXPRESSIBLE and GLORIOUS JOY!

The last verses in this section, Peter is inviting them in and sharing with them how they are part of this big picture. 

I love the last verse, verse 12.

 "It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things."

"Even angels long to look into these things."

What affirmation from Peter to the believers. 

The word for "look into" describes more than looking into a subject, or to investigate.  It is described as "bending at the waist, bending down to see." 

I love pictures, and here I can imagine the angels, bending down low, from heaven in amazement.  Peter is letting them know even the angels are amazed at you.  He is talking to a people very much removed. They are gentiles, now being persecuted by their people, but they also don't really fit with the Jews who believe in Christ.... they never saw Jesus, never walked with him or were healed by him, but they believe!  They are being persecuted, but, they believe. 

I want you to think about the angels perspective.  They chose God over Lucifer in the beginning of all this mess, then they saw the destruction that happened to Lucifer and his angels, and then the world.  They watched as God saved his people from the flood, and then how he was with Abraham, and all throughout the old Testament, and then they saw him come as a baby, and though the religious leaders knew the prophesies they didn't see him!  They didn't know him!  In fact the hated him!  Can you imagine from the angels perspective.  They saw him heal entire towns and very few believed or understood.  Then they watched him die, and be raised again, and then they watched his disciples start working for him.  Now they see these people who haven't see Jesus, but who believe, and they are in amazement. Here a people willing to live for Jesus, wow.  They see the work of the Holy Spirit and are amazed. 

The beauty in this passage all goes to Jesus. 

We need to have ever present in our minds what Jesus has already done for us!  The magnitude of the salvation story! 

It is that story, that understanding that will help us in the midst of even the darkest times!

So I am going to challenge all of us to do something this week.

EVERY day, EVERY day will you read something about the gospel.  Something about what Jesus did.  Read the account of the cross from a different gospel each day and that takes care of 4 days.  Will you everyday this week, spend a few minutes contemplating and reviewing what he has done for you! 

That is how we have confidence that we can weather any storm and do it in a way that brings honor to Him, and even the angels are going to be bowing down in amazement at what a life lived in the understanding of the Gospel can be!