Studies Through 1st Peter | 1 Peter 1: 17-25 | The way to live - The word of God

This is the last the study on the first chapter of Peter, if God does not bring into His light more things that we can share in the coming Sunday.

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for

“All flesh is like grass

    and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

    and the flower falls,

but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:17-25 ESV)

This is a long passage. But we have looked at it. Today we will be doing something different. I would be setting up the key points and we would pray together on the key points.

The first passage beginning from "and if you call him Father" ...

Why do you call Him - God - Father?

• Because of Jesus: Jesus came to show the love the Father has for us
• See As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him (Ps. 103:13).
• See Jeremiah: Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord (Jer. 31:20).
• “He who has seen me has seen the Father,” he said (John 14:9). “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).
• See John: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (John 20:17).
• Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God (Gal. 4:6–7).

Remember the story of the Prodigal son. What happens there? When the son was given mercy, what did the son desire to be? A hired servant or slave. But what did the Father call him? Son! That is right. God is into adoption. He is into adopting us the prodigal as children. We can pray because we are not slaves, we are not servants, we are not hired day labourer but sons and daughters. This is our first Identity. We have a father who loves us.

Now Peter is saying that God judges without partiality: Is that not amazing? He is saying that because God is a just God, justice will be given to all who seek Justice. God not only hears our prayers, but he answers them in the highest point of justice,

But then Peter brings his warning, but in reality it is an encouragement. He says that because we have a good and just father, we have freedom from sin. The father did not want to leave us to our sin and punish us, but he knew that there was freedom from sin in Jesus. Jesus died not because you loved him, but because He loved you. That is your promise. 

So live your life in fear. What is this fear? This is not a bad fear of God sending punishment down. This is not to fear that God will take the lives of those you love, this is not a fear that God is against you. The bible clearly says "therefore there is no condemnation", so if there is no condemnation, why is there fear? No brothers, this fear is not the kind of fear that makes you hide. This fear is the fear of a good and just King. That is the point here. God is good, God is just therefore fear Him. CS Lewis tries to potray this by using a sentence in his Narnia series. There Jesus is shown as the lion Aslan. People keep wishing Aslan to be present to their every wishes. The statement says "he is not a tame lion" " He does what he wishes, where he wishes". But he is good. That is the promise. In the same way, Jesus is not here to fulfil the dreams - we seen that earlier. That is what Peter is saying here. God is good. There is one thing that saves: faith. And there is one standard of judgment: life (deeds). God is strict. That is why we live with fear. Our fear should be that we always rely on Him. Our fear should be that we never seek our glory where His is due.  What we are to fear::  Peter means, is not hoping in God (see Romans 11:20) 

But Peter does not want us to think that our salvation is depended on our selves. That is why he says We have been saved not by Gold or silver. In the media you see that criminals are released on bail. What is bail? Bail is a huge amount of money. In Germany there is geldstafe instead of life sentence. The person must pay a huge price for the mistakes they make. But imagine with me if you may, a dangerous person paying off all the penalty. Then committing the crime again? Peter is saying, that it was so bad that our sins were that God or silver could not pay it off. Only the blood of Jesus could. Jesus who knew no sin, became cursed for our sake. This is why your fear is good. Fear that you do not walk back to sin not because You are saved with this price

Imagine a bride dressed to get married, will she go play football? No, she will not in her gown. (Terry Virgo)

This is the point Peter was making so far.

You have been saved, You then live like it. 

You love like you are a saved man.

You eat like you are a saved man.

You be like you are a saved man.

The world is not waiting for a new demonstation of what it means to be born again

Brothers remember how Jesus told about the Spirit. Be ready to listen to him.

In Isian 40 6-8 after the messiah has been fortold, Isiah is told to say that what remins is the Word of God

So how do we live our lives

The word of God preached to us by Peter

The word of God that endures for ever 

The word of God inspired by the Holy Spirit

The word of God that never changes

In John 6, Peter says -- you have the word of eternal -- you have been born again through this word.

(63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”)

Brothers, how then shall we pray. hope in the grace of God! And fear not hoping in the grace of God! Fear the behavior that would show you don't trust in the all-satisfying preciousness of the love of Jesus.

This is the reason for our Hope. 

God saw us

God loved us

God send his son

Jesus took our sins

Jesus became curse for us

Jesus died for our sins

Jesus bore our sins

We who died with Jesus through faith in Jesus have new life

But Jesus knows that we are not fully away for Sin

So God came down to us in the Holy Spirt to guide us

This word was made to keep us

He is there to make us Holy

So We have HOPE that cannot be take

We have Hope that no one ever has

Be hopeful that your prayers are not in vain becuase of your adoption

He hopeful that your race is not over becasue of the faith He gives

He fearful that you never think about it as your doing but find it holy to say, 

YET NOT I BUT CHRIST IN ME

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The lamp of love is held up and made possible by two pillars. One pillar is God's sovereign act—his causing us to be born again through the living and abiding Word of God. The other pillar is our response to that divine act: as newborn children of God we hear the Word of our Father and obey by putting our hope in him. And when we hope in him—that the future he plans for us is greater than all the glory the world can offer—then our hearts will be clean, and we will be free to love each other earnestly from the heart.

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Point to pray over:

1.  We have a father who has adopted you
• Prayer " Thank you for adopting us, thank you that we can bring every request to you because I am your Child. Thank you that you will answer every request because I am your child. Help me understand you as my father"
• Let Him have all your worries and cares, for He is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you. (1 Peter 5:7, TLB)
• Psalm 56:8; (You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle.Are they not in your book?)

2. We have a just father
• Prayer: Thank you Lord that you are just and that means you are not swayed by anyone or anything,
3. We live our lives with fear
• Prayer: God we thank you that you demand us to be Holy. You demand that we will only find you all satisfying. Help us O Lord that we are not moved away from this thought.
4. The word of God
1. Prayer: we pray that our heart will be inclined to your word. Give us the first, second and more taste of your word. Let us cling on it. For we know that salvation is from you. Let the hope that shakes, Let the faith that seems thin be made stronger, Let our eyes that are filled be dry. Your word says that in
2.  Revelation 21:4 ESV - He will wipe away every tear from their eyes ... Lord let your word come true in our lives. 
3. Isaiah 55:11: ..so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
4. Hebrews 4:15-16 Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.
5. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)