Holiness and Hope: 1 Peter 1

1 Peter 1 describes one primary way God develops holiness among his people. Hope. Hope is one of the principal means by which the Spirit of God does his sanctifying work. At this point, it is important to understand what the New Testament means by the word often translated, hope. Some difficulty is found in the fact that our English word, hope, does not carry the same meaning as the Greek word often translated, hope. In English, hope necessarily implies uncertainty. I hope New England doesn't win another Super Bowl. I hope the Bears find a good quarterback. I hope the milk isn't sour. I hope I find my wallet. In each of these sentences, uncertainty is assumed. In the New Testament however, the idea of uncertainty is NOT present in the Greek word. In fact, the standard New Testament lexicon defines our word as "The looking forward to something with some reason for confidence respecting fulfillment" (BDAG). When we take a long drink of milk that doesn't quite taste right, and we respond: "I hope that milk wasn't sour," we are implying that there is a reasonable chance this experiment might not end well. This is exactly what the New Testament does NOT mean when we see the word, hope. Notice the element of confidence in 1 Peter surrounding the concept of hope.

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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1:3–4, NIV) 

Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. (1 Peter 1:13, NIV)

Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:21, NIV)

Brothers and sisters, our hope is our confident expectation. It is an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. Our hope is guarded in heaven for us. The New Testament doesn't teach us to think Jesus will probably return, but he might not. No! The one who was raised from the dead will come back to earth and raise all who are in him. Beloved, this is our hope and we confidently expect it to happen.

What's more, the Scriptures teach that when we confidently expect Christ to appear again, this confident expectation makes us holy.

Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure (1 John 3.2-3, CSB).

Did you catch that? When we confidently expect to see Jesus again, we will be like him and this hope purifies us. Expecting to see Jesus in the future and expecting to be transformed when we do, has a purifying effect in the present. The New Testament is calling us to imagine the holiness of Jesus, and the holiness we will then experience, and the Gospel promise is that we will begin to develop holiness now.

One of my first non-Chicago baseball memories was game one of the 1988 World Series between the Oakland A's and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Oakland was heavily favored to win the World Series and the lowly Dodgers weren't even expected to put up much of a fight. It was the bottom of the ninth and the A's were leading 4-3 with Dennis Eckersley on the mound, who was at that time the best closer in the game. With a runner on first and two outs, Dodgers' manager Tommy Lasorda rolled the dice and called Kirk Gibson to pinch hit. Kirk Gibson was the leader of that team, but was also dealing with severe injuries - a bum knee on one leg and a pulled hamstring on the other. With the count 3 balls and 2 strikes, Gibson launched Eckersley's back door slider into the right field bleachers to which Vin Scully responded: "In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!" Jack Buck's call was even better: "I don't believe what I just saw!" Oakland never climbed up off the mat and the Dodgers won the Series in five games. In an interview shortly after his iconic home run, Kirk Gibson described his approach. "I mentally imagined hitting a home run and it happened just like I imagined." Gibson had hope. He confidently expected success and success was his. Likewise, we are called to hopefully imagine the holiness that will be ours in the age to come and by the Spirit, holiness will become ours.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13, ESV)

Click here to download and listen to this morning's message, Holiness and Hope.

    

Monday Morning Thoughts about Sunday: The Resurrection and the Gospel

As Gospel Christians we must see the world through the lenses of reality and hope. The tension between reality and hope is something the Gospel of Jesus helps us maintain.

The Lens of Reality

Without apology the Bible teaches that we are going to die. Because of the trespass of Adam and all who are in him, death spread to all men (see Romans 5.12). So if the Lord tarries, death is a reality each of us must face. Scriptures teaches us that this reality must shape they way we live. The wisdom of the Psalmist is quite clear. 

For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh (Psalm 90.9, ESV).  

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90.12, ESV). 

It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart (Ecclesiastes 7.2, NIV). 

Not only do these words teach us the reality that "death is the destiny of everyone," but these words also exhort us to take this reality to heart, that is, to allow the reality that death is our destiny to shape how we live each day.

Brothers and sisters life is short. We (the younger) can sometimes be tricked into living like we, or others are immortal. If we remember that life "is a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes" (James 4.14, ESV), we won't take ourselves too seriously, nor will we be enslaved to the fear of others. When we are tempted by pride, we must repeat to ourselves: "I am a mist that appears for a little time then vanishes." When we are overwhelmed by fear of our real or imagined enemies, we must repeat to ourselves: "They are a mist that appears for a little time then vanishes."

Brothers and sisters, in over 15 years of ministry in the local church, I have been present at the end of life for approximately 40 individuals. While death should always be considered an enemy (1 Corinthians 15.25-26; Revelation 20.13), it seems that death is always surrounded by a mixture of regret and gifts. What's more, how the dying have loved always determines whether or not their death is more characterized by gift or regret. Beloved, if we are to take to heart that death is the destiny of everyone we will devote our lives to love.

The Lens of Hope

The false teachers Paul is calling Timothy to confront have been handing out heavy doses of reality. They believe strongly in the reality of death, but they are missing the Gospel necessity that death will not have the last word. The Apostle Paul describes them this way.

Their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some (2 Timothy 2.17-18, ESV).

These false teachers and those who followed them have swerved away from the Gospel by denying that death will one day be overthrown through resurrection to eternal life on an earth made new (1 Corinthians 15.20-23) We have fallen into the same false teaching when salvation is reduced to "going to heaven after we die." As Jesus reminds us when he teaches us to pray, our desire is for the Kingdom of God to come to earth.

Brothers and sisters, the lens of hope frees us to be honest about death. It is bad. It needs to go and one day, death will go to hell (Revelation 20.13)! Thanks be to God!

Listen to our exposition, Pastoring Toward Resurrection.

I'm reading, The Pastor as Minor Poet, by Craig Barnes.  

  

 

Monday Thoughts About Sunday: Habakkuk

Here's the deal about Habakkuk. As I think back over what the Father was saying to us through the Prophet, four summaries occur to me. May the Spirit of God shape our desires throughout this week with these truths.

1) There is never a time when God is not acting.  

As Habakkuk surveyed the religious and international worlds of his day, it seemed as though God was doing nothing. Judah was acting with just as much injustice as Israel. They were being just as unfaithful to Torah as Israel. Yet, God had not sent Judah off into exile as he had with Israel at the hands of the Assyrians. Many of us have felt a similar emotion as Habakkuk and Israel. "Why do you idly look at wrong (1.3, ESV)," is a question many of us could have asked God at one time or another. With Habakkuk, and often with us, God changes our perspective when we direct our complaints toward him. "Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would believe if told" (1.5, ESV). Often when it seems God is doing nothing, that is when God is up to something. Indeed, there is never a time when God is not active. 

2) The saving power of God works in unexpected ways.      

What was God up to in Habakkuk's day? God says clearly to his prophet: "I am raising up the Babylonians, that ruthless and impetuous people" (1.6, NIV). "Wait! What?" must have been his response. Yes. God would prove faithful to judge Judah and Assyria. His method, however, was to cause the Babylonians to prosper and increase in power. Babylonian prosperity served a purpose greater than the Babylonians. Through the Babylonians, God had plans to discipline his people by sending all of them - both Israel and Judah into exile. At this point, we must remember that although God planned a difficult exile for his people, God also promised an even greater return to the land (Jeremiah 29.10-14). Furthermore, the exile and return of Israel is meant to point to an even more difficult exile, Jesus' crucifixion (Luke 9.31), and an even greater return, Jesus' resurrection, which will lead to all the earth becoming the promised land (Rom. 4.13). It is indeed strange that God would use the Babylonians to accomplish his will on earth. It is even more outlandish (some would say foolish, 1 Cor. 1.18ff) that God would use a Roman cross to accomplish our salvation. But the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ works his saving power in unexpected ways. 

3) The people of God are saved in hope.        

In 2.3, Yahweh says to Habakkuk: "For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end - it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay" (ESV). Patient hope is the posture to which God though Habakkuk calls us. While the Israelites wait for God to judge Assyria through Babylon, their responsibility is to keep waiting. Instead of choosing to center their vision on the iniquity of Judah and Assyria, the Israelites can gaze with hope into the future. In the same way God challenges us "to wait expectantly for Him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the man who carries out evil plans. Refrain from anger and give up your rage; do not be agitated—it can only bring harm. For evildoers will be destroyed, but those who put their hope in the Lord will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked person will be no more; though you look for him, he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land and will enjoy abundant prosperity" (Ps. 37.7-11, HCSB). Where does your mind wonder these days? When my mind is idle, I am faced with a choice. Do I pick up my phone and check for more political rhetoric? Instead, let us choose to invest our idle thoughts in imagining how glorious the new earth will be when all wickedness has been judged and transformed by the "restless raging fury that they call the love of God" (Rich Mullins).

4) Hope rests on the foundation of God's faithfulness. 

Hebrews defines faith as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Because faith and hope are inseparably linked to the absence of sight, they can be difficult to endure. Andrew Peterson puts it this way:

I say faith is a burden
It's a weight to bear
It's brave and bittersweet
And hope is hard to hold to
Lord, I believe
Only help my unbelief.

From the beginning, our life with God has been fueled by faith. The Bible is clear about this. God has always required faith of his people. It is by faith "the people of old received their commendation" (Heb. 11.2). The Bible is also honest about this. The life of faith is filled with ups and downs, detours and breakdowns, grit and grace. Faith, in its essence, is trust in God's ability and promise to save. You see, during times of weak faith, God does not call us to become what Bonhoeffer called "spiritual navel gazers." Instead, when our faith grows weak, instead of turning inward, we turn to Christ and ask for him to cling to us. I've heard both D.A. Carson and Tim Keller express it this way: "It is not the quality of our faith that saves. It is the object of our faith who saves." This is how our hope can begin to be described as confident. Our hope does not rest on our faith. Rather, our hope rests on the faithfulness of God in Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, many of us are facing situations that require faith. As we look upon these circumstances we are tempted to think God is idly watching. That is not true. God is active, in albeit mysterious ways, and in those moments he is calling us to believe and to hope - to rest on the foundation of his faithfulness on our behalf. Thanks be to God.

Take a listen to our exposition of Habakkuk from Somonauk Baptist Church.