Yesterday we contended that Christianity derives its joy from being
centered on the WORD and The Word. We have seen that enjoyment of both is
germane to saving faith at the beginning of salvation and that this joy is
central to the believer’s continuance in Godly living. Let’s now notice the third reason why
Christianity’s enjoyment of the Word and the Word is so crucial:
Great Hope is unending in the Enjoyment Word and
the word 1:17-25
Peter
now begins to lift us from the realm of current circumstance to viewing our
current circumstance in light of eternity.
It is in this final section where we see the character of the Living
Word and Written Word as determiners of our joy and hope. Notice how Peter unfolds for us the character
of Christian hope in the context of enjoying the Word and the Word:
Driving
Hope for Enjoying Godly living in the Word. 1 Peter 1:17-19
By knowing who we and
“whose we are”, we enjoy Christ the living Word as we live on the basis of the
price he paid with His blood for us.
Living the Godly life does not come merely from considering His example,
but more so from that fact that His gladness in purchasing us with His blood is
imbedded deep in the Christian’s identity.
Quite literally, what Christ did for us in His humanity drives us to
hope and enjoy Godly living.
Divine Hope for Enjoying
God-centeredness in the Word. 1 Peter 1:20-22
Peter speaks specifically of Christ as being “foreknown before the
foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for your
sake”. This language mirrors quite
closely with what John writes in John 1:1 of “the Word was with God” and in
John 1:14 of “the Word being made flesh”.
Only
through our partaking of Christ’s Divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4) can we enjoy
centering our lives on God. When we
center our lives on God, we will enjoy loving others from the heart. (1 Peter
1:22) This is why centering ourselves on
Christ the Word yields a truly enjoyable Christianity.
Enduring Hope brought about by the Living
Word through the written Word
1
Peter 1:23 is a transitioning point in Peter’s text, because He is going to
switch from talking about Christ, the Living WORD to the Bible, the written
Word. In 1 Peter 1:23 we find it hard to
know which one He is talking about. We
know that the new birth is brought about by Christ the Living Word calling us
from the darkness to light. (John 5:24-25)
However the scriptures themselves have this quality of being the
instrument through which the Holy Spirit brings about the conversion of men and
women to saving faith. (Romans 10:17)
The
Hope of the Christian is enduring because of its beginning and ending
point. In Christ, by His Word I hear His
voice calling me to “follow Him”. It is
in Christ, through His Word, that I can and will endure to the end.
Illustrating what is unfading
When I have gotten my wife flowers, I usually will include a little
card. The card will have a little phrase
or term of endearment written by me attached to the flowers. The flowers themselves are beautiful, and
their scent and visual appeal delight my wife.
But after about 5 days they begin to lose their color. How quickly they do fade. Yet that card doesn’t fade in
comparison. My wife can see that my love
for her as not faded, even though the tokens of my affection may have.
Christ’s
love for you never fades, neither does the power and enduring quality of the
Written Word. Our hope endures because
His Words will never pass away. (Matthew 5:18)
As
we close, let me summarize what we have looked at these past several days. We explored this main thought: “why Christianity
must be joyfully word centered”. We
discovered through 1 Peter 1 that Genuine salvation, Godly Living and Great
Hope hinge upon our enjoyment of the Word and the Word in the three headings
drawn from Peter’s statements:
1.
Genuine Salvation begins with enjoyment of the Word (and the word) 1:1-12
2.
Godly Living continues with enjoyment of
the Word (and the word) 1:13-16
3.
Great Hope is unending in the enjoyment of the Word (and the Word) 1:17-25
May
we make it our duty and delight to enjoy Christ, and His Word, and thus be the
type of Christians that are a joy to be around.
No comments:
Post a Comment