I've Been Thinking About This…

Some thoughts on chapter 2 as promised:

(v 1-3) milk – Put aside the old junk from your life (malice, etc.); start all over again (milk) and if you’re really born all over again, the simple single-focused approach is what you’ll want. Straight answers, nothing devious or convoluted. Stuff from God is pure and good.

(v 4-8) The cornerstone was the first one laid in a building; it was always visible from the front and side of the building; it was used as a guideline so the walls would line up true; it was huge and unmovable; it was foundational. This cornerstone (Jesus) was placed by God, and although it was rejected by men, that didn’t stop it from being exactly what it was supposed to be. We are to be imitators of that stone, and together become a temple acceptable to God. For those who rejected the cornerstone, it turned into a stumbling block – they fall to their doom through His rejection.

(v 9) Priesthood – I have nothing to add to this utterly glorious verse!

(v 11-15) Again with the old ways! How often we need to be told. There’s a battle going on inside each of us, even though the war has already been won. It’s not just for us, though; our behavior influences others; they either copy or mock our faith walk, so we need to get it right.

(v 16) Live free – not to say, “I’m free so I can do whatever I want, including the old evil!”, but live in such a way as to show that you are free of the old evil.

(v 17-18) Honor everyone – Christian and non-Christian alike; presidents and all those in charge. Honor those generally and specifically to whom you owe responsibility.

(v 19-23) Don’t be proud of how you accepted with grace that smackdown that you deserved – it’s how you behave when it’s undeserved that counts. And it counts because you are behaving as the sinless Jesus did when He was executed as a criminal on your account.

(v 24-25) He was an example, but more than an example He was a conscious, deliberate sacrifice. (cf Isa 53:5)t have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. – 1Peter 2:1-25 (ESV)

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Some introductory notes to the letter:

1. This is known as one of the ‘general epistles’ – written to the church in general, rather than to a person (Timothy, Titus) or a city (Corinth, Philippi).
2. Peter is one of the ‘big three’ in the inner circle (Peter, James & John), and was the first to step up to lead after Christ’s death. His letters would have been considered very authoritative/important. No other disciple is quoted more often in the Gospels. He was both rebuked and praised more than any other disciple. He was impetuous and bold.
3. He speaks of the Christians in this letter as ‘pilgrims’ or ‘sojourners’, suggesting that they have a different home (Heaven) and are travelling toward it through a foreign land controlled by someone who doesn’t think as they do (Satan).
4. (v 2) Obedience – note that we see this word 3 times in this chapter – in vv 2, 14 & 22. Christians are ‘elect’ (pre-chosen – v 1) and ‘sanctified’ (made holy – v 2) for the express purpose of being obedient to Jesus Christ.
5. (v 2) Sprinkling of the blood of Jesus – Guzik notes that there are 3 times in the OT when blood was sprinkled: (1) at the establishment of the covenant on Mt Sinai (Ex 24:5-8), (2) at ordination (Ex 29:21) and (3) at the purification ceremony for a leper (Lev 14:6-7). Christ’s blood has bound us to Him, ordained us and cleansed us.
6. (v 3) A living hope – Christians are born again to a hope that never ends, thanks to Jesus being raised from the dead.
7. (v 4) inheritance – our inheritance is guaranteed safe; kept imperishable for us in Heaven.
8. (v 5) guarded – we are being guarded by God’s power – Heaven awaits!
9. (v 6-7) trials – we rejoice in what awaits, although we may well have trials initially. Those trials are to test the genuineness of our faith – (do we fall away? Then that faith wasn’t real). This testing will show it to us.
• NOTE – Part of the value of gold lies in its permanence – it doesn’t rust and is difficult to dissolve. Peter here calls gold ‘perishable’ when compared to our faith.
10. (v 10) The OT prophets knew OF the Messiah, but didn’t know who or when, although they searched diligently.
11. (v 11) The angels – who watch us (1 Cor 4:9) – wanted to know too! It must have been hidden from them as well (Mk 13:32, Eph 3:10-11).
• NOTE: At this point, Peter switches over to speak about how we should live:
12. (v 13) Action – prepare your minds for it! God’s plan is one of action, not passivity.
13. (v 13) Sober – get focused; get serious.
14. (v 13) Hope on the Grace – Grace is on its way when Christ reveals it to us.
15. (v 14) obedient – oh dear – here it is again. It only works when we are obedient. He’ll do the planning, we do the follow-through.
16. (v 14) passions – don’t stop half-way over the fence; don’t hang on to your old ways.
17. (v 15-16) holy – we are set apart by God as holy. We need to keep ourselves that way. (Lev 11:44, 19:2)
18. (v 17) fear – Peter isn’t suggesting we should have a cowardly, craven cringing fear, but an attitude of awe at God’s power revealed.
19. (v 18-19) ransomed – awe about being ransomed. The closer we come to Jesus, the more we can see how little we deserve His ransom.
20. (v 18-19) gold is perishable; His blood is not.
21. (v 21) Put your FAITH and HOPE in God
22. (v 22) obedience – purifies your so your love can be sincere and earnest.
23. (v 23) the Word – God’s Word caused for you to be born again, this time an immortal.
24. (v 24-25) the Word will abide forever.

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Here are the supporting Scriptures from the message on ‘How Then Should We Live?’, May 2, 2010 – they are all from the ESV. You can listen to the audio message here:

The Hardest ‘Q’ Ever

… and the slides are here:

Further readings on ‘our way’:
Ps 36:1-2 - Sin whispers to the wicked
Matt 7:21 - Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter Heaven
2 Tim 3:1-5a - They have the appearance of godliness, but deny its power
Amos 6:1 - They say, “I don’t need anything”
1 Peter 4:4 - They are surprised that you do not join them
Rev 3:15-17 - The cost of being lukewarm

Further readings on ‘His way’:
Rev 3:20 - Open the door
James 1:2-4 - Count it all joy,…
Matt 22:37-38 - Peter’s epistle summed up

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Mirrors can bring light in dark places
(Still from `The Mummy`)

Today’s Verse of the Day (Twitter ‘@votd votd’) reminded me of the incredible truth that, although God is jealous for His glory and His name (Ex 20:5; Ex 34:14; Deut 4:24; Deut 5:9; Deut 6:15; Josh 24:19; Eze 39:25), He delights in sharing His glory with us, which He does by working His will through us. We are told to act in His name (John 14:13-14), and in doing so become His agents.

The glory of the Lord is reflected by us, as a mirror reflects the light; the mirror has no right to boast in its light-generating capacity, for it has none, ‘though it can be praised for its smoothness and its reflectivity. It only works in the sight of the light – a mirror in a dark room has no value, be it never so perfect; when reflection of light is your sole function, you really need light!

Further, being the smoothest, clearest, cleanest, purest reflector possible will show the Source of Light most clearly. When a mirror has imperfections, those imperfections not only show up in light, they also distort the image being reflected.

Finally, when the mirror is reflecting something that is out of sight (so that the mirror is the only way you can see it), the value of the mirror is radically increased. For us as mirrors, reflecting the Image without distortion is vital. Our perfection lies in our truest reflection of the Light. Our value as transmittors of the One Light is inestimable.

Our praise lies not in being gods, but in being God’s.

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Just been thinking about the verse of the day – you can see it by twittering “@votd votd” – Psa 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (ESV)

Getting into mischief

- and thinking about how often I am my own trouble. I’m an expert at causing all sorts of issues for myself, mostly because I ignore what is right in my quest for almost anything else. And yet, at the end of the day, when I realize how I’ve messed up yet again; when I’ve managed to prove to myself yet again that I can rocket off the straight and narrow path at a moment’s notice; when I recognize that I’m drowning – I am deeply grateful there is help at hand.

The danger, of course, is that we can take this help for granted. How are YOU doing?

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I’m perfect.

Oops – that was pride slipping in there. Maybe I’m not quite perfect.

In which case, I’ve also just told a lie. (Gack!)

Oh, like you’ve never fibbed before. (Uh-oh, that wasn’t a very nice thing to say. I’m getting in deep here.)

OK, I’m not perfect. There. I’ve admitted it. (Phew! That wasn’t too hard.)

So I can’t be all that bad. (Arggh! Pride again! It just snuck up on me!)

If I had been made perfect, I’m wondering what the implications would be…

1. Being perfect, I would never sin – never hurt anybody, always do the right thing.
2. Therefore being perfect, I would have no personal understanding of what sin is.
3. Therefore being perfect, I would never have a sense of wrong-doing.
4. Therefore being perfect, I would never be aware of my separation from God.
5. Therefore being perfect, I would never understand the power of sin.
6. Therefore being perfect, I may experience sympathy, but would never experience empathy; and any compassion would be academic and patronizing.
7. Being made perfect would have removed my free will, because I would be able to do nothing but perfect things.
8. Therefore being perfect, I would never have the chance to fail. I would never have the opportunity to succeed despite myself.
9. Therefore being perfect, I would never be stretched. I would never grow.
10. Therefore (also from #8) being perfect, when God told me to do something and I did it, there would be no just reward because there was no chance I’d do the job badly or fail to do it at all.
11. Therefore being perfect, I would never experience humiliation, shame or contrition; but I would also never experience forgiveness, rebirth, reward, praise and grace.
12. Being perfect, God’s righteous perfection wouldn’t astound me, terrify me or shatter my complacency because – hey lookee! Me too!
13. In fact, being perfect, I would be self-contained, so I would have no reason to reach for God.

On the other hand:

1. Since I’m not perfect, eternal damnation is not my guaranteed end.
2. Since I’m not perfect, Perfection took compassion on me.
3. Since I’m not perfect, Perfection chose to redeem me.
4. Since I’m not perfect, Perfection perfected me.
5. Since I’m not perfect, Perfection adopted me.
6. Since I’m not perfect, Perfection uses me (yes – Because, not Despite).
7. Since I am far, far from perfection, I have a great many chances to blow it completely… Ah, but when I get it right the angels go nuts and God Himself says, “Well done!”

And that last is really where I’m headed here. Amongst other reasons, I was made imperfect in order that God could give me a piece of His action – a task that He wanted completed. And each time I fulfill a task in obedience to His design, I – Mr. Imperfect – get the pat on the back from the Everlasting King of Glory.

And that, I think, is a pretty good trade-off.

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