Thoughts on 1 Peter - Day 2

                                   1 Peter 1:3-8
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. This inheritance is 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 all 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 the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy


      The first thing I see in this passage is "new birth". Being an Ob, I get to see this almost every day. What inexpressible joy! What great hopes for the future! Plus they get a birth certificate to document that this new life belongs to the parents and the baby gets a bracelet which alarms if anyone else tries to take it. Have you ever led someone to Christ or seen someone truly be born again? There is nothing more exciting in the Christian life to experience. This is why John says, "I have no greater joy than to see my children walking in the truth" and Paul says, "Be active in sharing your faith so that you may experience every good thing we have in Christ".

     Not only is it the most joyful experience to experience someone else's new birth but what joy to experience your own new birth. It is thrilling to see the obedience coming from the transformation of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit that Paul mentions earlier in the passage, i.e. I am no longer tempted by the same things or I am starting to think of others rather than myself. Then we have the joy also of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. I remember the first time I had an encounter with Him. I was driving in my VW bug on the interstate from Indiana to Milwaukee to interview for Medical school. I was scared to death about the interviews, my future, my adequacy, etc. and I was talking audibly in the car to God. I was amazed to feel his presence, His comfort, His peace and I will never forget that. I long for that presence of the Lord. It isn't that He isn't always there with me, it is just that sometimes He is in the room so to speak and sometimes we are face to face. There is nothing sweeter than the joy of His presence and we get to experience that forever. And that is the last joy that Peter talks about here - the fact that because Jesus has defeated death we get to live forever in Heaven with Him. Therefore, whatever suffering we are going through here pales in the light of eternity. What's the worst that could happen - we could die - which is the best thing to happen because we finally experience the salvation of our souls, a new body, an inheritance that will never spoil or fade, and to be in the presence of Jesus!

      How do you know you have this? Have you by faith received the forgiveness of your sins through the cross of Christ? Are you experiencing the presence of Jesus in your life? Are your ways of behaving changing to conform with what is pleasing to God? Are you experiencing joy, peace, hope? Are you telling others about your faith? Lastly, when you suffer, are you trusting God or mad and rebelling against Him. Is suffering leading you to a longing for Heaven or a denial of Him. This once hotbed for Christ in Turkey now is 99% Muslim. Why? Suffering came and they chose this Earth over Heaven. Where do you stand?

     Lord, I want to experience the joy of Your presence on a regular basis. Help me to be desperate for that rather than the things of this Earth. Remind me my citizenship is in Heaven and bring someone into my path that I can share the good news with. Amen