Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:3–5
Do you like spoiler alerts? When it comes to movies, do you love to know anything or nothing about what happens? Are you the kind of person who even grieves at the previews because you feel like all the best parts of the movie will be seen? How about this… do you watch your favorite movies more than once so you can look for more subtleties that you missed the first time?
Well, if you have been tracking with Peter throughout his letter, he has already “spoiled” the end. As he states in the verse above, the security of where we will end up and what we will receive has already been revealed and is being guarded. Did you catch that? Peter began his letter reminding them of the glorious conclusion of all things so that we get to live on mission in the “here and now.” Peter knew that we are easily distracted, discouraged, and get distraught over the daily struggles and conflicts of life. He also knew the remedy to living in fear is living in faith. Faith that what Jesus has accomplished is sure, and what Jesus has accomplished will secure the end!
Friends, I believe this is what Peter has been driving at along. You see, we are being forged so we can steward our forging for kingdom impact. How are we to steward our forging? What purpose would God have for difficult things in life? How can the Church be unified when everything seems to want to pull us apart? I believe answers to these questions and others await us in our text this week! In preparation for Sunday, read 1 Peter 4:1-11 and come ready to hear how we can, in fact, steward our forging for the glory of God!
See you Sunday,
Pastor Nate |
