Peter wants us to remember that the Christian life does not depend on our weak grasp on God, but rather on God’s sure grip on us.
Sermon Title: REALITIES OF THE CHOSEN
Sermon Text: 1 PETER 1:1-7 (NIV)
Sermon Series: 1 PETER: HOPE IN A HOSTILE WORLD
By: PTR NIC SY
Sermon Notes:
1 PETER 1:1-7 NIV
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,
2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
7 These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Living out our faith in the current culture is increasingly becoming more difficult.
I. IDENTITY: We belong to Jesus
Peter wants us to remember that the Christian life does not depend on our weak grasp on God, but rather on God’s sure grip on us.
ROMANS 8:33 NIV
33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
Behavior flows from identity.
1 PETER 4:12 NIV
12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.
What God says about us matters much more than what we see or experience around us.
II. EXILE: We are different because of Jesus
strangers | Greek: parepidémos
literally, someone “passing through”
Christians are strangers residing on the earth whose home is in heaven.
Salvation makes a Christian a stranger in the world.
The Christian living in light of eternity changes his/her priorities.
III. HOPE: We are secure in Jesus
ACTS 13:51-52 THE MESSAGE
51 Paul and Barnabas shrugged their shoulders and went on to the next town, Iconium, 52 brimming with joy and the Holy Spirit, two happy disciples.
Does our hope show?