Great Expectations What Can We Expect From God{ }

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SERIES:     GREAT EXPECTATIONS

LESSON:   WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM GOD?

READING: I PETER 1:3-9

INTRO:       “Great Expectations” finds ample illustration in a pregnant mom. We even use the phrase,

“she’s expecting”. Until that baby arrives everything is

different. This 9 month period is a little like the time we spend on earth with Great Expectations to hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.” Read Titus 2:11-14- between the two advents of Christ.

            Why do we have such Great Expectations? Our heavenly Father made promises to us and the Bible says He always keeps His word.

New Birth

Living Hope

Inheritance

Protection

Recognition

Salvation

I.    GOD’S GIFTS TO US ARE SPOKEN OF AS:

      A.   I PETER 1:3-9 AGAIN

      B.   CHART:     GOD’S GIFTS

II.   GOD’S EXPECTED BLESSINGS MEAN TO US:

      A.   We Can Be Brand New----“The New Birth”

            1.   Life can begin at 15 or 30 or 60.

                   a.   Jesus came to living people and declared he wished to give them life(John 10:10)

                   b.   “The ‘new birth’ differs from turning over a new leaf as much as does whitewashing a rotten old house differs from building a new one.”

            2.   This new birth is a direct result of “His great mercy”

                   a.   Jesus introduced being born again to Nicodemus, also saying we must be born of “water and the Spirit”

                   b.   With that we saw baptism. Be careful. God is the cause. It is not something we do.

      B.   We Can Now Live With Great Expectations—“A Living Hope”

            1.   While faith derives it substance from the past, hope seeks the future. Faith is founded on what is in the Bible, hope on what is in heaven.

            2.   “Work w/o hope draws nectar in a sieve; hope w/o an object cannot live”(Coleridge)

            3.   Hope is “Expectant Desire”

                   a.   A little boy did poorly in school. Near the end he was asked if he thought he would pass. He said, “I hope so.”

                   b.   Paul gives true meaning to hope in Philemon 22.

            4.   This “living hope” is based on “the resurrection of Jesus”(3) and is therefore God’s work and reason for Great Expectation.

      C.  We Can Approach The End With Confidence----“An Inheritance”

            1.   We are going to get something good!

            2.   Heir is used this way with regard to Christians:

                   a.   “Heir of God, fellow heir of Christ”(Rom. 8:17)

                   b.   “Heir of the grace of life”( I Peter 3:7)

                   c.   “Heir of salvation”(Heb. 1:14)

                   d.   “Heir of the kingdom”(James 2:15)

                   e.    “Heir according to the hope of eternal life”(Tit. 3:7)

            3.   This inheritance is safe and secure:

                   a.   In heaven

                         (1)  Free from human blunders and plunderers.

                         (2)  Recall a man expecting lots and got $1.00.

                   b.   Kept in heaven

                         (1)  Kept is TEREO- “to keep guard, to preserve”

                         (2)  Reservation already made. No tickets at door!

                   c.   Can never perish, spoil, or fade

                         (1)  All thing are on earth are decay prone.

                         (2)  Roofing, pots and pans, pressure treated lumber offer guarantees, BUT.... I Peter 1:23

      D.  We Have Protection-----“shielded by God’s power”

            1.   Two fold protection: inheritance kept in heaven and the inheritors are kept on earth. Who can lose?

            2.   “The power of God works on both sides of the veil, preserving the inheritance for the heirs and keeping the heirs for the inheritance. “

      E.   We Receive Recognition----“praise, glory and honor”

            1.   Living in this world could cause us to lose direction or question our decision to be a follower.

            2.   But a day is coming when it be worth it.

      F.   We Receive Our Final Salvation—“the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

CONCLUSION:       I got off at the Pennsylvania depot as a tramp, and for a year I begged on the

streets for a living. One day I touched a man on the shoulder and said,

 "Hey, mister, can you give me a dime?" As soon as I saw his face I was shocked to see that it was my own father. I said, "Father, Father, do you know me?" Throwing his arms around me and with tears in his eyes, he said, "Oh my son, at last I've found you! I've found you. You want a dime? Everything I have is yours." Think of it. I was a tramp. I stood begging my own father for ten cents, when for 18 years he had been looking for me to give me all that he had.


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