If

Rev. Dr. Rocky Ellison
1 Peter  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  17:25
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Sermon Sept. 5 2021

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IF 1 Peter 1:3-12 September 5, 2021 The most devastating, and crippling, word in the English language may be 'if'. Singer song-writer John O'Callaghan has a lyric which says - the what if's, and should haves, will eat your brain. And, I think he's right. If - it is a word which destroys confidence. And, it is a word frequently used to control and manipulate others. After Jesus is baptized he goes into the Judean wilderness for 40 days to seek God in prayer. The Devil keeps interrupting this preparation for ministry. Satan wants to put Jesus off track. And, the weapon he chooses is 'if'. If you are the Son of God, tell these rocks to become loaves of bread. If you are the Son of God, jump off the Temple and angels will catch you. If you will kneel and worship me, I will give you the world without being crucified. Of all the tools Satan could use, he considered 'if' his best option. The letter of first Peter is written to the churches in modern day Turkey. They are going through struggles, and trials, and suffering, and persecution. And, the suffering they are most dealing with, is 'if'. If Jesus was God, why did he die? That doesn't make any sense. If Jesus was resurrected, why don't we see him now? Oh sure, some people saw him a long, long time ago. But, why not now? If Jesus is coming back, how much longer will he wait? It's been 30 years. Seems like he didn't keep his promise. If you are a Christian, why aren't you a better person? You still lie, sometimes you cheat, you lust after your neighbor's home and his wife. I thought you were supposed to be better. And, if Jesus really loves you, why are you suffering - why isn't your life much, much better? What kind of God allows so much suffering? Well, today, Peter strikes back. In the Greek, everything we read this morning - the entire text, is one sentence.1 In theory, I was supposed to read all of this morning's text in one breath. That was a common tactic in the opening of an argument. It set the stage for everything you think is important and needs to be discussed. So, today, Peter basically gave us an outline of the most important answers to the 'if' questions. And, he starts by thanking Jesus for being born again. That's a phrase many Christians use, but I'm not entirely sure we all understand. The phrase first shows up in the Gospel of John, chapter 3. Jesus is talking with the Pharisee Nicodemus. Jesus says, you cannot go to Heaven, unless you are born again. And, of course, Nicodemus freaks out. How can you go back inside your mother's womb? This is ridiculous. Jesus simply says - it's a spirit thing. Today, Peter revisits born again. And, he makes two points. First, born again is tied to Resurrection. If Jesus doesn't die, and rise again, you cannot be born again. That resurrection is what breaks the penalty of sin, and frees you to be born again. If Jesus is God, why did he die? So you can have eternal life.2 The world is wrong when it says this is all there is. There is life after death. The world says, you cannot possibly know that until you die. And then, it's too late if you're wrong. But, the Resurrection of Jesus is our proof. We all personally know someone who lived after death. And, he promised us we would live after death. Our dead, dusty bodies will rise again, born again, to live eternally with Christ. Then, Peter takes born again a step further. He says born again isn't just what happens when you get a new body in Heaven. Born again, begins here on earth. Peter uses a different word than Jesus when he says born again.3 Peter writes the Greek word anagennāō. We frequently translate that word as born again. The technical phrase is regeneration. And, regeneration is important because it begins not in Heaven, but the moment you get saved. The instant you say yes to Christ, changes begin happening. Good changes. Changes you could never effect for yourself. Changes only the Holy Spirit can make in you. The Apostle Paul describes it like this (2 Corinthians 5:17), "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" Paul goes on to explain being born again means being a completely new, totally better person. Now, when you were a brand-new baby did you feed yourself, bathe yourself, speak seven languages, and formulate nuclear physics? Of course not. You had to learn how do everything. And, that's happening to you Christians now. You are learning how to be one with Jesus. You are learning how to respond to the Holy Spirit.4 No one expects you to get up and dance on day one. So do not beat yourself up. If you're a Christian, why aren't you a better person? Peter says, because you are born again. You are learning to be someone brand-new. In time you will get there. Now, this process of regeneration, of becoming better, is going to be rocky. It is not a smooth and easy process. Very few worthwhile changes come easy. Do you want an excellent healthy body? Then you need to change the way you eat, and the way you exercise. And, that can be quite challenging. You want to be more intelligent? Then you need to pay attention in school. You need to study hard, and do extra work. And, that can be quite challenging. You want to be born again? You want to be a better Christian? You want to be more like Jesus? Then, there are going to be challenges, and trials, and suffering along the way. Peter says think of it like gold. You don't dig up a perfect gold ring out of the ground. Right? You don't prospect in the hills for pure gold earrings. You dig up tons of ore, which have grains of gold in them. You subject that ore to tremendous heat. Outrageous heat. Soon, the gold and the impurities separate. You can begin to see what is real, and what is not. You pour the gold all together. And then, finally, you can create the beautiful object you wanted all along. Peter says, God wants you to be a beautiful object. But, it takes a lot of heat and pressure to make you pure. You get to Heaven with faith. But, if your faith doesn't go through trials, it isn't refined.5 I want to be an all-pro NFL wide receiver. I can sit on my couch every Sunday, watch those guys on TV, and claim - I'm that good. But, the truth is, I must get out on the field, and mix it up, and take my hits, if I really want to make that claim. Peter says faith is purified, and verified, and made real, by the hardships we suffer in this life. Do not be angry with God when you face trials. God is refining and purifying your faith. If God loves me, why am I suffering? Because that's how God proves to me, and to the world, that I am born again. Of course, it seems like these Christians are putting a lot of faith in a God that came out of nowhere, and just magically showed up 30 years ago. It's not like anyone, in any religion, anywhere had ever heard of Jesus before he walks out of the dessert and says - here I am. To which Peter writes - whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow your horses. That is not true. Peter says Jesus is everywhere in the Old Testament.6 Every book of the ancient Bible anticipates and educates on Jesus Christ. Peter says the prophets may not have know all the details. They would have liked to know everything. But, God only shared a part of the story with each prophet. Still, when you put all their words together - there's Jesus. So, the prophets, all believed in the coming Christ, even though they never met him and never learned his name. They had faith in someone they never met and never saw. We spent 10 weeks going through the Old Testament book of Lamentations, written by the prophet Jeremiah. And, on the surface it is a funeral lament about the destruction of Jerusalem, the devastation of the Holy Temple, and the deportation of the Jews to Babylon. And yet, when you and I read the text every week, we found Jesus. We found Jesus telling us how to deal with the damage of Covid to our bodies, our families, and our income. We found Jesus explaining how to cope with the unexpected deaths of those we love the most. We found Jesus helping us to trust God, no matter how hard the circumstance. And, to always keep hope that - God is good, all the time. Jesus was on every page. Because God always kept his promises in the Old Testament. And, because God made promises about Jesus in the Old Testament. We can count on God to keep his promises about Jesus now. And, God has promised Jesus will return. Why hasn't Jesus come back yet? Peter says, because there are still people to be saved. Part of that being born again; part of that being regenerated; part of that being purified to a stronger faith - is so you will have the courage and the incentive to witness to a broken world. No one is born a Christian. Even in a Christian family, no one is born a Christian. Christians are made. Christians are made, by other Christians. Peter says you became a Christian because the good news, the Gospel, was preached to you. Then, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that Gospel message impacted you. You made the decision to accept Jesus into your heart, and you were born again. And, Peter says, when you made that decision the angels in Heaven partied. They celebrated. Now, some day time will run out. Some day Jesus will return. When he does, the windows close and no more bets are taken. You're either in, or out. And, because Jesus loves you so much, his return has been delayed. You've been given more time. The world has been given more time. And, that's good news! Every day we have the chance to help one more lost soul find salvation. That's a good thing. If Jesus is coming back, why hasn't he returned? Because God loves us too much, to leave any potential believer behind. The churches in Turkey are being beat up and persecuted for their faith. They are being hammered with 'if' questions. But, big brother Peter steps up and says, let me help you with that. They've got 'ifs', I've got answers. If Jesus was God, why did he die? Because without death there is no resurrection. And, without resurrection I cannot be born again and go to Heaven. If you're a Christian, why aren't you a better person? I am a brand-new creation. And, like any new creature, I am learning day by day to be better. I'll get there. If God loves you, why are you suffering? Because that's how God makes me the better person you were just asking about. I'm like pure gold, it takes time and fire. If Jesus is coming back, why hasn't he come already? Because Jesus loves even you. Jesus wants even you to be saved. So, Jesus is giving you more time. That's how good my God is. Peter says you look those doubters and scoffers in the eye, and you tell them, "We are the only ones, with all the answers. No ifs, ands, or buts." 1 NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 2179. 2 Donald Senior, New Interpreter's Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 2183. 3 R. C. Sproul, general editor. New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1969. 4 William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2003), 198. 5 David W. Kendall, "1 Peter 1:3-9: On Christian Hope," Interpretation, 41 no. 1 (January 1987), 66-71. 6 Jason S. DeRouchie, "They Mystery Revealed: A Biblical Case for Christ-Centered Old Testament Interpretation," Themelios, 44 no. 2 (August 2019), 226-248. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2
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