‘IN THIS YOU GREATLY REJOICE’ – 1 Peter 1:3-9
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 1, 2018 under 2018 |
Bethany Bible Church Resurrection Sunday; April 1, 2018 from 1 Peter 1:3-9
Theme: The resurrection of Jesus guarantees a future that sustains us in the present—if we do what we should with it.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
This morning, I want to share with you about the resurrection—and about its impact upon daily Christian living. But I hope you wont mind if, instead of sharing my own thoughts, I share the thoughts of someone else. I happen to believe he was a true expert on the subject.
His name was Peter.
Now; if Peter were here this morning, I promise you—I would immediately get out of the way and let him preach! And I believe that I even know what he would tell us. I believe he would step up to the pulpit with a big fisherman’s smile on his face; and that he would tell us that this is a great morning. It’s the morning on which we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus together; and Peter would encourage us all to rejoice in it.
But as a true authority on the resurrection of Jesus, I don’t think he’d be happy if we only celebrated it once a year. He’d exhort us that we need to rejoice in the reality of it every single day. He’d urge us not to rejoice in it as a mere superficial feeling, but to make sure our rejoicing comes from having truly embraced the full reality of it with all our hearts. In fact, he’d tell us to ‘greatly rejoice’ in it; because by doing so, the resurrection will transform our sense of hope and will bring its life-changing impact into every area of our lives as Christians.
I’m pretty sure that he would say that—because that’s what he said at the beginning of his first letter—in 1 Peter 1.
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The New Testament letter of I Peter is one that he wrote to Christians who were suffering some hard times. They were Jewish Christians who, because of their faith in Jesus, had been driven from their homeland by persecution and had been scattered into various parts of the Gentile world. He calls them ‘pilgrims of the Dispersion’, because they had been dispersed everywhere by persecution. And so, he begins his first letter with these words;
To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:1-2a).
And what would he tell these suffering Christians—going through such horrible hard times as they were? Surprisingly, he says,
Grace to you and peace be multiplied (v. 2b).
Now; how could such a greeting be meaningful to such suffering Christians? How could they experience the grace and peace of God?—and even have that grace and peace be ‘multiplied’ in their experience? I believe that he goes on to tell them how—and he tells them right at the very beginning of his letter to them. And it all has to do with ‘greatly rejoicing’ in the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. In verses 3-9, he tells them;
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls (vv. 3-9).
Do you see the key to it all? It’s in verse 6. He says, “In this you greatly rejoice …”; and the “this” that he speaks of is the “living hope” we now have ‘through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”.
Peter puts it in an indicative way; that is, just as a statement of fact that they ‘greatly rejoice’ in this. But it might also have been put to us in an imperative form; as if he were to say to us today, “Now dear folks at Bethany Bible Church; on this special morning, I ask you to heed my advice to you. Make up your mind now that you will greatly rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus. Don’t just sit there passively on a holiday; but truly rejoice in what this holiday celebrates. And of course do it today; but even more—do it every day as a regular pattern of your life. Let the truths of what the resurrection of Jesus has given us become the cause for you to have a sustaining hope in the present—even in the midst of your daily trials. It will make all the difference to your Christian life if you—with a true and sincere heart—’greatly rejoice’ in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
I believe that’s what the apostle Peter—that great authority on the resurrection of Jesus—would tell us today. And so, by God’s grace, that’s what I hope to share with you this morning. The resurrection of Jesus guarantees to us a future that sustains us in the present—if we do what we should with it.
And that thing we should do with it is to ‘greatly rejoice’ in it.
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Let’s look a bit closer at these words from Peter in verses 3-9.
Peter begins in verse 3 by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ …” And as an aside, I must point out to you what a wonderful beginning that is. Did you know that this description of God is the first thing that the Lord Jesus announced to His followers after He was raised from the dead?—including to Peter? When Mary Magdalene met Jesus at the tomb on that first Resurrection morning, He had told her, “go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’” (John 20:17). It was good news! It was a victory won for us! Jesus’ Father is now our Father because of what He accomplished for us; and Jesus’ God is now our God. And that’s the good news that Peter begins with too in writing these words of encouragement to suffering Christians.
Now; I believe you can divide what he then goes on to tells us into three questions that he answers about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the tomb, the Son of God who was crucified for our sins and raised again for our justification.
And the first question he answers is …
1. WHAT IS THE FUTURE THAT IT GUARANTEES TO US?
The first thing that it guarantees to us is a ‘living hope’ to which we have been ‘born again’.
He says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead …” And notice three things. First, notice that we have been ‘begotten again’, or ‘born again’. That’s our great need. Jesus Himself said so. He said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). And that’s what we are if we place our faith in Jesus. By the abundant mercy of God, we are born again.
Second, notice what it is that we’re ‘born again’ to. God has mercifully caused us to be born again ‘to a living hope’. Our hope—our outlook—our prospect for the future—is not one that dies when our bodies die. It is a living hope, because it is based on a living Savior who has conquered death for us. If Jesus had remained in the grave, we would have no hope. But a living Savior means a living hope—a hope that will not die—a hope that will not diminish—a hope that is ever-fresh and ever-vital—a hope that involves nothing less than eternal life itself. People who are suffering for Jesus need that kind of hope.
And third, notice how this living hope is given to us. It is given to us ‘through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’. The apostle Paul once put it this way:
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:19-22).
Those who trust in the resurrected Jesus are born again to a living hope! We will be raised with Him and will live with Him forever! What a blessing the resurrection of Jesus has guaranteed to us.
Another thing that it guarantees to us is an inheritance that is kept in heaven for us. Verse 4 tells us that we have been born again to this living hope through Jesus’ resurrection, “to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you …”
It’s one thing to be born; but it’s another thing to be born into a great inheritance. As far as I know, I was not born into such an inheritance. Few of us on earth ever get that privilege. But if we have been born again to this glorious ‘living hope’ through the resurrection of Jesus, we have been ‘born again’ unto a great and glorious inheritance—infinitely greater than any earthly inheritance could ever be!
What is our inheritance in Christ like? I wish I knew more about it. But what little I know excites me greatly! I know that, as Peter tells us, it’s an inheritance that is ‘incorruptible’—or as it can better be translated, ‘imperishable’. That means that it cannot be diminished. Nothing can take from it or spoil it or bring it to an end. It’s also ‘undefiled’. That means that nothing of sin or evil can ever touch it or stain it. It will never lose its value or its purity or its luster. And it’s an inheritance that ‘does not fade away’. It will never be lessened through time. As it says in the New International Version, the inheritance that the resurrection of Jesus has secured for us cannot ‘perish, spoil or fade’.
And what’s more; this rich inheritance that cannot diminish in any way is put for us in the safest bank in the universe. Peter says that it is “reserved in heaven for you”. It’s reserved right now! Do you realize, dear brothers and sisters, that this means that this inheritance is already ours? It’s not that it will be become ours sometime in the future. We are already made rich in the inheritance that Jesus has secured for us.
That would be good news to these suffering Christians that Peter wrote to, who had lost so much of this world’s goods through their faith in Jesus. Whatever of this earth’s goods they may have lost, they would have only have lost what they couldn’t keep anyway. And what will be theirs forever through Christ is kept save and secure. They are rich; and have a rich eternal inheritance—one that already belongs to them and that is kept on reserve for them.
This is also good news to us.
And it’s not just that this inheritance is secured for these Christians. Peter also tells them that they themselves are secured for that inheritance! Peter says that a third thing that the resurrection of Jesus guarantees to us is a safe-keeping to a salvation ready to be revealed. In verse 5, he says that we have been born again to this rich inheritance, “who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Because Jesus has been raised from the dead, we know that we who trust in Him will also be raised with Him. He will not lose a single one of us who belong to Him; and He will make absolutely sure that every one of His own will share in His eternal inheritance. He Himself put it this way:
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. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand (John 10:27-29).
* * * * * * * * * *
So, dear brothers and sisters; this is what the apostle Peter tells us has been guaranteed to us through the resurrection of Jesus. We have a living hope to which we’ve been born again; we have an inheritance kept in safe-keeping for us in heaven; and we ourselves are kept in safe-keeping by God for a salvation ready to be revealed in heaven. These are spiritual realities made sure for us through the resurrection of Jesus.
But they don’t impact our lives unless we do the right thing with the fact of the resurrection. And so, the next question Peter answers for us is …
2. WHAT SHOULD WE DO WITH IT?
And Peter answers that question in verse 6 by telling us, “In this you greatly rejoice …”
That sort of provokes a rather important question, doesn’t it? Do we ‘greatly rejoice’ in it? Do we ‘rejoice’ in it at all? Do we give much thought of it in the troubles and trials of life? To truly ‘rejoice’ in the living hope that is ours through the resurrection, we need to keep it in our thoughts—not just once a year, but every day of our lives. To ‘rejoice’ in it as we should, we need to embrace the scriptural evidence of it, and sincerely believe the testimony of it given to us by Peter and the other apostles. And to rejoice in it ‘greatly’, we need to bring the whole-hearted conviction of it to bear in times of suffering and trial and the difficulties of life.
To truly and greatly rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus means to embrace the promise of our own resurrection with Him in glory. And this leads us to a third question that Peter answers for us …
3. HOW DOES THIS SUSTAIN US IN THE PRESENT?
I believe that if Peter were here this morning, He would tell us of another three things—three ways that the victory of the resurrection sustains us. The first is one that he describes for us in verses 6-7; and that is the confidence that our trials perfect our faith (vv. 6b-7).
Peter tells us that we “greatly rejoice” in the hope that the resurrection of Jesus guarantees to us; “though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ …” (vv. 6b-7).
Now; If you read the Book of Acts, and study the story of the early church, you’ll find that the resurrection of Jesus did not bring about the end of all suffering for those who followed Him. Trials were still grievous—just as they are for us. But according to Peter—this great expert on the resurrection of Jesus—our Lord’s victory over the grave did change the way those trials were to be seen. Those trials are grievous to us for a little while as we walk on this earth; but we are now to see them as necessary for the refinement of our faith in Jesus. Just like the fire purify gold, so our trials purify our faith—so that we may grow increasingly to trust only in the resurrected Lord Jesus and make Him our all. The apostle Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 4;
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
So long as we keep our eyes on the hope that is guaranteed to us through the resurrection of Jesus—so long as we look to the ‘living hope’ that Jesus’ has purchased for us—we will not lose heart in the ‘momentary, light afflictions’ of this world. They may still be grievous to us; but we know that they are the instruments by which God perfects our faith in Jesus.
Another way that the ‘living hope’ of Jesus’ resurrection sustains us is in Jesus Himself—that is in our rejoicing in a Jesus whom we have not yet seen. In verse 8, Peter says we look ahead to that glorious day of the revelation of our Lord Jesus, “whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory …”
I wonder if you remember what Jesus once said to the apostle Thomas. Thomas, as you know, ‘doubted’ what the other apostles told him—that Jesus was alive from the dead, and that they had seen Him. Thomas said that he would not believe unless he could see the prints of the nails in Jesus’ hands and put his hand into Jesus’ side. Well; shortly thereafter, the resurrected Lord Jesus appeared to Thomas and offered to let Thomas touch him. Thomas answered, “My Lord and my God!” (which lets you know that he did believe). And do you remember what Jesus told him? He said,
“Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).
And that’s our position today; dear brothers and sisters. We have not yet seen Jesus. But because of the testimony of those who did see Him alive from the dead—including Peter—we believe. And believing, we have experienced new life in Him. His resurrection is confirmed to us because He has given us new life. And we love Him. We love Him very much, and look forward very much to the day when we will see Him. And more, we rejoice with ‘joy inexpressible and full of glory’. We have a joy in our love for Jesus that is something that the world cannot make sense of—a joy that is out of this world. And this joy transforms us and sustains us—even in trials.
And a third blessing of Jesus’ resurrection that sustains us in our present times of trial is the prospect of receiving the outcome of our faith. No matter what happens, we have a purpose and a destiny that does not change; as it says in verse 9, “receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”
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Now; since I’ve already borrowed from Peter extensively, may I now close my sermon by reading to you what Peter said at the close of one of his sermons? It was that great sermon that he preached in Acts 2—when he boldly declared that Jesus Christ is alive.
He told his Jewish kinsmen all that the Scriptures said about the promise of the resurrection of Jesus; and then he said,
“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:36-39).
That’s the first step to doing the right thing with the resurrection of Jesus. I hope you have done so. And then, you truly can ‘greatly rejoice’ in it! For the great things that the resurrection of Jesus guarantees to us will sustain us in the present—if we do the right thing with it.
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