I Peter, part 5

I Peter 1:20-25

Peter is continuing his discourse on what Christ did and who Christ is, telling us in v. 20 that "He was foreknown before the foundation of the world..." Jesus is God who has lived eternally past and will live eternally in the future. But why did he come? Peter answers that immediately - he came for our sake, the sake of those who are believers in God through Jesus. Christ came into human history for my sake and for your sake. He didn't just come to give us truth, to be the truth, which he was and still is today. He came for us, so that we could belong to our Heavenly Father. God the Father raised Christ from the dead and gave him glory so that our faith and hope are in God, Peter goes on to explain. The "so that" is important here as it shows the purpose for which God raised Jesus from the dead. In some way it seems to me that the resurrection, while of course necessary in the salvation plan of God, also served to increase our faith and hope in God himself. We believe God and hope in him because Christ was risen from death. He conquered it, and God will conquer it for us as well. My hope does not have to be rooted in what I can do anymore, nor do I have some vain "hope" that in the end I've done enough for God to accept me. He has accepted me and given me a new and living hope, as Peter has already mentioned, through the resurrection of Jesus.

Peter begins a new thought in v. 22, moving from the explanation of who Jesus is and what God has accomplished into exhorting believers toward maturity in Christ. His basic message is this: because of all God has done, love one another from a pure heart. The super-natural response for each individual Christian is to NOT keep it to themselves but to share this love that God has given them with others. Specifically Peter has in mind Christians loving other Christians - this does not mean we are only to love Christians and shun non-Christians, but rather the point here is that there needs to be a mutual love for one another because of what God has done in each heart. The line of reasoning for v. 22 and 23 could go something like this: Since you have been born again to a new life following Jesus, obey Christ's greatest commands to love God and love one another in brotherly (and sisterly) love. The important idea is "since" - that is, because God has given you new life, a new and living hope in Jesus, the response must be one of love. And as the world sees our love for one another - which must be different and deeper than the world's vain version of love - spiritual light is reflected in our Christian communities to a world desperately in need of light.

The idea of being "born again" (in v. 23) is one of the best known and most mocked ideas in all of Christianity. Yet it comes up several times in Peter's writing, and he obviously gets it from Christ. Here's the deal: you simply can't get away from the fact that conversion is like a new birth. You were born into futility in this world, spiritually dead, blind, and dumb. You cannot save yourself and the only hope you have is for God to do a supernatural work and re-birth you and me. While there are many ways to describe what happens to someone when they become a Christian, one inevitable fact remains: they are born-again as Christians. What I find ridiculous is when people say "born-again Christian" as if there is another kind of Christian. There isn't. If you're a Christian, you're a born-again Christian. I will be the first to admit that I get uncomfortable at the questions some pose, such as "So are you a 'born-again' Christian?" But the fact remains that this is exactly what happened. I once was dead and now am alive. I once had no true hope and now have a living hope because I belong to a living Savior and the only true living God, my Heavenly Father. Born again is exactly what happened, and if you're not born again you're not a Christian. This new birth is of "imperishable seed" Peter goes on to explain. This is because my first birth was natural (though the birth process is amazing, it is still natural) and this second birth is super-natural. It is the coming to a knowledge of Jesus Christ that so changes you that you're literally re-born.

Peter then uses the Old Testament to say something that the Bible says over and over in different ways: you and I are a blip on the radar of human history, like the grass in a field or a flower in a garden. If this were a movie, you would be in it for, oh I don't know, 0.3 seconds or less. You'd have to try and pause the scene at just the right time so your friends could see you in the far back-drop of the scene. We are not the main Characters... God is. We are not the main point... He is, and His Word stands forever. It cannot be stamped out, killed out, chased out, legislated out, or anything else. Verse 25 says "And this word is the good news that was preached to you." This good news about Jesus that Peter was inspired to proclaim will stand forever, changing the lives of all who receive it in faith. Praise his name.

I Peter, part 3

I Peter 1:10-12

We have here some of the most revealing words written about God's plan for the ages. Peter masterfully sums up what God was doing through the prophets and prophecies, and who the prophets were serving in their ministry.

Peter begins v. 10 with "concerning this salvation" - the salvation he has been explaining in the opening 9 verses. This is the salvation about the wonderful mercy of God, the resurrection of Christ, the living hope that we have as believers because we believe in a living Savior, and even the various trials we need to persevere in so that we may have a faith more precious than gold. Peter informs us that it is this salvation that the prophets had prophesied about so long ago. He does not name any one prophet but lumps them all together, as if to say "Remember all those prophets? Well every one of them were being informed in bits and pieces of the glorious grace that was to come through Someone." Though they did not name Christ as such they knew he was coming, they knew he would suffer and die for our sins, would rise again, and would fulfill many other specific prophecies as well.

Verse 11 tells us that the prophets eagerly inquired (of the Lord, I would imagine) what person this would be and when these things would take place. What anticipation they must have had! O to be one of those fortunate and faithful men, who even though many suffered and died in the service of the Lord were able to get a foretaste of things to come. Here the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ, which is a wonderful reminder that the Holy Spirit is not some rogue part of the Trinity swooping down at Pentecost in Acts 2 and taking over. He is part of the eternal Triune Godhead, involved in every part of the creation and new creation process. He does not operate on his own, but points us to Christ and is thus the very Spirit of Christ. He is the one who witnessed to the prophets, who inspired every word in the entire Book.

Verse 12 is a verse that everyone needs to memorize... and if not memorize word for word, at least become intimately familiar with the key ideas. The prophets were told that they, who lived thousands of years ago, were not serving themselves but US! Now of course, Peter is writing to a group of people here. However he is writing to a scattered and general group of people, and this is most certainly still true today. The "you" in the text is not so much specific people, but A Specific People, if you will, the people of God. The prophets were aware that they were involved in something much greater than themselves, something that would not come to pass in their lifetime even, and yet they gladly pressed in to the Holy Spirit and shared what they received from Him. So, how did they serve us? They served us by foretelling what would come to pass in Christ, namely the "things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven." We see here that the news continues to spread through word of mouth, through preaching.

Preaching is under suspicion in many circles today, and partially for good reason. Many preachers have abused their positions of authority, manipulated and maligned the word of God, and had self-serving goals in the pulpit. However, the perversion of some preachers does not mean that the concept of preaching is to blame! Preaching is simply proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, the news that He is the Savior of the world, the One who came from Heaven, died for our sins, rose for our new life, and the One who will return to judge the living and the dead. Preaching happens when we instruct, from God's Word, others to follow Jesus Christ - his example, his teachings, his heart. Preaching is still a primary tool God uses to bring people to a saving knowledge of him. Many preachers do not preach in the biblical sense, but have made it a time for counseling sessions, nice anecdotes and self-exaltation. They will be judged harshly for this, but let us not think God does not still use preaching in mighty ways today.

Finally, this news, this GOOD NEWS about Jesus Christ which the prophets of old had some knowledge of and we now have a fuller picture of on this side of the cross, this is something into which "angels long to look". This blows my mind! Angelic creatures who serve God faithfully, who worship him constantly, are floored at the concept of God rescuing sinners. Think about it though: there are many fallen angels which we call demons, who denied God's authority and sought their own. They have been judged by God already and will be finally judged forever with Satan on the last day. However, us humans, who also deny God's authority and even his very existence (which, James tells us, even demons don't do!), God has pursued, died for, and saved?!?! This is truly magnificent, altogether mysterious and head-scratching to angels looking into it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ needs to be dwelt upon more frequently, more deeply, and it needs to cause us to be in awe of God, as the angels are. We so frequently and so foolishly believe we have it all down, and perhaps this is in part because we have so simplified it that it fits onto small brochures we can pass out to people. But angels are still longing to look into the Gospel, still awe-struck at the God of the universe for doing this. We too need hearts full of wonder at God's merciful dealings with us.

I Hate The Fall

I hate the fall. And no, I don't mean the fall that we are entering into right now. I don't hate the leaves changing colors and the air cooling down. I don't hate the rain or the wind or any of that. In fact I very much love the fall season. I love the crisp air, I love how hot drinks make you feel on a cool day, I love turning on the fire place (I have a gas fire place, unfortunately), and I love hearing the pitter-patter of the rain on the roof and the street. Yes, all of that is great. But, I really do hate the FALL.

To alleviate any confusion, I'm talking about the fall of mankind. That's the fall I hate. I woke up this morning thinking about it because I woke up with a sore throat. And I knew it was coming is the worst part. Yesterday morning I woke up with just a little something "extra", if you will, in my throat and I knew what was coming. To be sure, people are suffering much more than me at this moment, but getting even a little bit sick reminds me that my body is decaying. I'm 25 years old, which puts me squarely in the generation who still avoids thinking about death and acts like they aren't getting older. But I am thinking about it. How did we get here?

We got here because mankind has perverted our created intent, rebelled against our glorious Creator, and have been put under a curse as a result. This is commonly called "the fall" and we need to learn to attribute much more to it than we do. Yet most people, including many in the academic sphere, avoid admitting we are all fallen and the world is under a curse. We want to believe mankind can fix themselves, that if we just get more education we will be o.k., or if we get more funding in the ghettos to clean up the streets, or more cops in bad neighborhoods, and so on, that we can save the world. But if we look at history just for a few moments, we will see nothing we have tried has worked. The truth is, we need a Savior. We need Someone who can change us, Someone who can identify with our troubles, temptations, and humanity and yet Someone who is altogether different from us.

The Someone we need is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the One who came from Heaven, came to a fallen and broken world, and died for it. He died and rose so that we might die to sin and live with and for Him forever. He didn't become fallen, but He came for the fallen world. For some crazy reason, the God of the universe, the very God who has laid a curse on this world (because He is just and must punish sin), has also loved it so much that He sent His Son (because He is merciful), Jesus, to bear the weight of the curse so that we would could come to know Him, love Him, and start returning to our created intent and be in relationship with Him (redemption). The story continues... the fall is still upon us, the consequences of our sin (sickness and death especially) are all around us, and yet our hearts and minds are changed because God has revealed His truth to us. We can now live as lights in the world as a witness to his love and truth, even in the midst of this fallen world. And we are promised that the world will, ultimately, be "re-created" - renewed by its Maker to its perfect, original place to be enjoyed by all those who know and love Him. No, we will not be chubby angels on clouds, nor will we just "sing of His love forever". I'm sure we will sing - but we will eat, dance, drink, love, laugh, and enjoy eternity with God and experience indescribable glory forever.

Yes, I hate the fall. I really hate sore throats, disease, cancer, death, accidents where children get killed, the fact that mental and physical disabilities exist (though God can, and does, redeem people with them and use them mightily for his glory), and so much more. Yet when I am reminded that the fall is not final, it is temporary and will be removed, and the curse will be lifted, I am filled with hope and joy. Christ is my Savior, my Lord, my King, my Friend, my Advocate, and so much more. The Holy Spirit lives in me to point me to Christ, teaches me about my fallen state but also about His transforming power, and works through me. The Father and all His perfection is my future.

For the record, I didn't think about ALL of this at 5:30 a.m. today... it sort of just came to me as I wrote.