The Excellency of Christ

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ - 1 Peter 1:13 The Christian life is not an easy journey, in fact, we are promised that we will encounter many trails and have to endure much suffering on our journey ( Acts 14:22 , 1 Peter 1:6-7 , 2 Corinthians 1:6-7 , Romans 8:17 ).  Grieved by various trials, enduring wave after wave of affliction, and surrounded by many whose hearts have grown cold; we are vulnerable to the tempters voice to give up and go back to the ease of the world, conforming to our former lusts.  However, suffering in the Christian life is to be expected, and is in fact necessary.  It is not merely said that we will endure trials, but that we will be grieved by them.  There are seasons when trials will be heavy upon our shoulders, and you can do nothing but shed tears of sorrow. There are many reasons God may have for our sufferings: figh...

And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of you stay here in fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct - 1 Peter 1:17-18 Redemption is not metaphorical, it is real. God offered a supremely infinite and precious payment for sin, which speaks to the vileness of sin, the merit of Jesus Christ, and how serious the call to be holy as I am holy truly is. This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. - 1 John 1:5-6 The fact that Jesus is the only one sufficient to redeem us, God testifies, not only of how perfectly righteous and pure Jesus is but also of how bad our sin actually is; mainly that our sin is evil and we are deserving of his wrath.  God has a ...

Thinking back to Our High Calling Part 1, you'll recall that we are exhorted in 1 Peter 1 to be holy as God is holy.  You'll recall that this is not a calling to be equal with God by any means, rather it is a pull towards the purpose of our salvation.  God has caused us to be begotten to a living hope through the death and subsequent resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Christ is our life and God's will is to conform us to his image ( Romans 8:29 ); a work that he will bring about.  This is a redemptive calling. Continuing on, we will look at 1 Peter 1:13-15; considering our great redeemer Jesus Christ, and how the truth of God's word can help us to fight sin, and the pull from the world, flesh, and the devil. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called...

The first chapter of 1 Peter begins by revealing the incredible hope that believers have through the powerful resurrection of Jesus Christ.  This portion of scripture is truly a delight to the soul, as it reminds us just how gracious God has been toward us in saving our souls, and the power by which we have been renewed.  Peter 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, 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." - 1 Peter 1:3-5 This is an amazing truth of scripture revealing our union with Christ.  Being dead in sin, we were void of any hope of eternal life, therefore God, in his mercy, has begotten us to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. ...