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Redeemer Community Church is located in the historic Avondale neighborhood of Birmingham, AL. Our church family exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
For more information on who we are, what we believe, or how to join us, please visit our website at rccbirmingham.org.
So we are continuing our study of first Peter. We we've been in this chapter here in chapter one for the last three weeks. We are continuing on. We will mostly be looking at verses 10 through 12, but to start our time together, we're actually gonna begin with verse three. So in your Bibles, you wanna turn to first Peter chapter one beginning in verse three, it's also printed there in your worship guide.
Jeffrey Heine:So first Peter chapter one beginning in verse three and let us listen carefully for this is God's word. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice. Though now for a little while if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials.
Jeffrey Heine:So that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ was leading was in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you, and the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
Jeffrey Heine:Things into which angels long to look. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let's pray together. Almighty God, today we join together as a household of faith to worship you, to hear from your spirit.
Jeffrey Heine:Lord, we need your truth to ground us, to train our hearts for love and holiness, to correct us and comfort us, and to lead us in your goodness. And as we seek to both understand and respond to your word this morning, We know that we need you to lead us. So we ask that you would speak, Lord, for your servants are listening. We pray these things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Jeffrey Heine:In the early centuries following Christ's resurrection and ascension, new spiritual practices began to be developed among Christian communities. These new daily rhythms that we now call devotional practices or spiritual disciplines. One spiritual discipline that developed in the March among early Christians in Northern Africa was a practice called Lectio Divina. You may have heard of it or even practiced it before. The term Lectio Divina is Latin for divine reading.
Jeffrey Heine:It's a monastic discipline that approaches the reading of scripture in a routine of prayerful attention. And by the sixth century, Benedictine monks had shaped the practice into four movements. First reading the passage, meditating on the words, prayerfully asking the spirit to bring understanding, and then contemplating the manifold truths therein. And then, they would start the practice over again. They would repeat, sometimes three or four times through the same passage.
Jeffrey Heine:And it's that repetition that is probably what the practice is most known for today. And one of the reasons that I personally appreciate this little framework for scripture reading is that I am very good, some might say exceptionally good at losing the thread. In neurobiological terms, it's that I'm high associative skills, but my teachers just called it chasing rabbits. Jeffrey is a pleasure to have in class, but his mind often wonders. Especially when I'm trying to focus on the words of scripture.
Jeffrey Heine:My mind will go in all sorts of different directions, and I will easily forget what I just read. And I will miss the point entirely. And perhaps, you've felt the same way before. The easily wandering mind in scripture reading or in prayer. These simple tools of the spiritual disciplines can be used as just little impediments, little speed bumps to slow down our hearts and our minds, so we don't just see the words on the page, but we would behold the living God.
Jeffrey Heine:Although we've only spent three weeks in first Peter, I can already feel myself as I look at the beginning of this letter in our passage today and thinking, wait, what's going on here again? And of course, Peter is not doing us any favors as Joel has already noted, verses three through 12 in our English translation in the original Greek was one run on sentence. From verse three to twelve, one sentence packed full. So what is the thread of first Peter chapter one? And how do we keep hold of it as we continue through this letter?
Jeffrey Heine:That's what I want us to answer together this morning. And to do this, to best understand what is occurring in our section in this beautiful run on sentence where we're gonna focus in verses 10 through 12, I think it's most helpful for us to go back to the start and relocate that thread and follow it as it leads us through the beauty and the power of the truth of God. So back to the start. Starting in verse three and beginning Peter's great run on sentence. Let's look together.
Jeffrey Heine:Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Here we find the thread. Peter declares that God has done something. God the Father has accomplished something.
Jeffrey Heine:And this something was done in accordance to or because of the Father's great mercy. So because of his great mercy, God has done something and it is through Jesus Christ. And furthermore, this achievement of God is directly relevant to the reader of Peter's letter. God has achieved something because of his mercy for us through Christ. That's the thread that runs through this run on sentence.
Jeffrey Heine:Everything else that will be said, not only in this paragraph but for the rest of Peter's letter, will spring forth from this first pronouncement. So what has God done? God the Father has caused you to be born again. God has done this because of his great mercy through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. In that we find the what, God caused you to be born again.
Jeffrey Heine:The why, because of the Father's great mercy. And the how, through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. That is the thread. He has caused us to be born again. What does that mean?
Jeffrey Heine:What does it mean to be born again? Well, you may recall that Jesus said this phrase during his ministry as recorded in the Gospel of John. In John chapter three, we read Jesus said, truly truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And then, perhaps just like us, the response back to Jesus by Nicodemus is, what does that mean? In John chapter three verse four, Nicodemus said to him, how can a man be born again when he is old?
Jeffrey Heine:Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, truly truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
Jeffrey Heine:So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. Jesus is describing spiritual rebirth, and he's saying that it's necessary. He says, you must be born again. He means being born by the spirit. We were first born of the flesh in Adam's sin and curse And through Christ's resurrection, we are spiritually born again in his righteousness.
Jeffrey Heine:So Jesus introduces this concept of being born again and he introduces that it is necessary. It must happen for you to see or to enter the kingdom of God. And back here, in first Peter chapter one, Peter declares that God has made this happen. Because of the Father's great mercy, through the resurrection of Jesus, he has caused this to occur. Not in theory, not just in theology, not in doctrine, but in you.
Jeffrey Heine:And you didn't cause it. I didn't cause it. The father caused it. And that is what makes it certain and sure and irrevocable. He has caused it.
Jeffrey Heine:And next, see two aspects of what this being born again means for us as followers of Jesus. Peter says that the Father has caused us to be born again to a living hope and born again to an inheritance. Things are getting complex now. This is the moment where we can easily start to lose the thread. Maybe you're thinking about what your home group conversations are gonna be about.
Jeffrey Heine:This is when we start to chase rabbits, other topics. So let's calibrate. God has achieved something for us through Jesus and that accomplishment was achieved through the resurrection of Jesus. That is Jesus overcoming death with life. And through Jesus' resurrected life, God has caused, has made us to be born again to a new life in Christ.
Jeffrey Heine:And this new life is a life that bears a living hope and a promised inheritance. Let's look at verses three and four. He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. So this new life that you have been given, it bears with it the promise that there will be an inheritance for you perfectly kept in heaven. There's not a threat of losing this promise, a fear of it decaying or fading away.
Jeffrey Heine:And then Peter turns his attention to his reader. This hope, this inheritance, they are kept in heaven for you. Actually, you. Not a vague general you, but you. And who are you?
Jeffrey Heine:Well, he runs to describe who you are in verse five. You are the ones who, by God's power, are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Peter says, you. It is you who believes. And he doesn't say who believes enough, he doesn't say who who does enough good things, he doesn't say because you love and you trust enough.
Jeffrey Heine:Peter says, you who are being guarded through faith by God's power. You who are being protected and emboldened not by a faith that is out of your own strength, but whose faith is God's power at work, guarding you until the fullness of salvation is revealed. And Peter says that this great work of God's great mercy is the basis for your rejoicing. That God has caused you to be born again. And in this new life through Christ, you're being guarded by God's power which is displayed, the power of God is displayed, seen, manifested in your faith.
Jeffrey Heine:God is guarding you until we arrive at the revealing of our great and eternal rescue and redemption. And that is why we rejoice. We rejoice because of what will be revealed. Let's not forget that what is revealed is supposed to be beheld. Another way of saying that is whatever shown is to be seen.
Jeffrey Heine:And while we rejoice now, we do so knowing that we cannot see all of this now because not everything has been revealed. And what has not been revealed is hard to behold. And that's why it requires a living hope. Peter acknowledges this reality. The reality that what is in front of us, what we can and do see and experience day to day, because it does not always or even often look like life and salvation and inheritance.
Jeffrey Heine:It looks like grief and pain and sorrow. And we looked at this together last week with Joel and Ford. Peter acknowledges the reality of our suffering. Let's look at verses six and seven. In this you rejoice though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.
Jeffrey Heine:So that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Peter does not shy away from the reality that what we have been promised and what we see don't match up. But he says that the perseverance of your faith which is the guarding power of God in your life will result in praise and glory and honor at the full revealing, the full displaying of Christ and his kingdom. So even though you do not see it now, even though you cannot behold this revealing now, it is promised. It is a living hope.
Jeffrey Heine:Peter goes on to celebrate the power of God at work in guarding you. In verse eight, because even though you have not seen him, you love him. Even though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. Obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Peter says that even though right now you cannot see the promise of living hope and an unwavering inheritance fulfilled and revealed, You still love the Lord.
Jeffrey Heine:You still believe in him and you worship him. In the midst of all this suffering and all the sorrow in life, all that does not look like a living hope, all the pain that does not look like a glorious inheritance. You still love him. You still believe in him. Why?
Jeffrey Heine:Why do you still believe? Why do you still love him? Because your faith is the evidence of the power of God guarding you until you do see what you cannot see today. God utilizes your character, your wiring, your logic, your emotions, all of you as he cultivate this faith. But the basis from which you persevere with faith is the very power of God in you, through you, at times in spite of you.
Jeffrey Heine:That is the living hope that we have. Peter says, the outcome of God's power guarding you in faith is the salvation of your souls. That is the thread. The salvation of your souls is the thread all the way back to verse three. He caused you to be born again through the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
Jeffrey Heine:That's the thread. God caused, God guards, and God saves. And Peter next seeks to expound further on this salvation. This is where we will linger for the remainder of our time. Starting in verse 10.
Jeffrey Heine:Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you, and the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Things into which angels long to look. Peter has established the thread, God caused, God guards, God saves. And he wants to dive further into exploring the result of God's work of causing and guarding and saving.
Jeffrey Heine:Peter transitions by saying, concerning this salvation. In other words, concerning your being caused to be born again, concerning this thread that I've been talking about all along. In this final section, Peter's exuberant run on sentence which celebrates God's great power and work and redemption. Peter names two groups who looked and beheld the glory of God in your salvation. Two groups who unlike you and me, we who have not seen and still do not see today, these two groups were given revelation.
Jeffrey Heine:They saw and beheld the glory of God in our salvation. And the two groups that Peter references are the prophets and the angels. Peter identifies that both the prophets and the angels saw and beheld the glory of God in your salvation. First, let's consider the prophets. Peter said these prophets who prophesied saw the grace that was to be yours.
Jeffrey Heine:They prophesied concerning the salvation of your soul through the work of the coming Messiah. The prophets searched and they sought trying to understand what was being revealed to them for them to behold. They searched and they saw how to understand this Messiah would somehow be the way that God would cause you to be born again. The spirit of Christ revealed these things in part to the prophets. They saw before it happened that Christ the Messiah would both suffer and be glorified.
Jeffrey Heine:The Greek word that's translated as predicted in English, the Greek word is so much better than predicted implies. The richer rendering is that of a courtroom witness giving testimony before the event happens. It's testimony from before. That is what the prophets offered to the people of God because the spirit of Christ, the spirit of the Messiah, the spirit of Jesus was giving them vantage into the deep things of God. And it was revealed to these prophets that they were not going to see all of these events come into fruition in their own lives.
Jeffrey Heine:So their prophecies were ultimately for the benefit of those who would come after them, and even after the Messiah. Those who would not see Christ yet would love him. Those who would look at a world full of hurt and suffering and yet in the guarding power of God would still believe in Jesus. And that love and that belief would come into life in response to the gospel being proclaimed by preachers. I know that in our modern world with pulpits and sermons, we think of preachers as nerds like me who stand here like this and give weekly bible speeches.
Jeffrey Heine:But that's not what Peter is describing here. Peter is talking about people who proclaim the good news of the gospel in day to day living. He's talking about people like you. For Peter, a preacher was anyone who declared the gospel of Christ to the world in the power of the spirit. Not simply a person in a pulpit.
Jeffrey Heine:And while I deeply value the work of the Sunday preacher, and I deeply love the absolute privilege that it is to stand before you today and to do this work of expository preaching of God's word, I stand here totally outnumbered by preachers. I am preaching to the preachers. And we live in a world that needs your sermons preached daily. We need your witness, your testimony of God causing you to be born again. Your declaration of the grace that is yours and that is ours.
Jeffrey Heine:The world needs your preaching. Perhaps some of you haven't worked on your sermon in a while because we have too many preachers who are not preaching. Preachers who think that this work is to be left to the professionals. But brothers and sisters, you have a sermon to preach. And while you may never stand in a spot like this, may I remind you that this is not where sermons live.
Jeffrey Heine:Sermons are like wild animals and this is just the zoo. This is the contained location for regular preaching, and that is an essential part of the household of God. It's important. But you are called to preach in the wild, in your neighborhoods, in your jobs, in your friendships, as you hand out snacks during Sunday soccer, as you spend time making dinner with your roommates, as you study for finals, as you live your day to day life. You are the preachers announcing the good news of the living hope, all in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
Jeffrey Heine:The prophets were serving us. They're seeing and they're beholding, they served us so that when we were preached to, we would respond in faith be caused by God to be born again so that we too might go out and preach Jesus. That was the first group, the prophets. The second, the angels. Peter says in verse 12, it was revealed to them that they, the prophets, were not serving themselves but you, and the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.
Jeffrey Heine:Things into which angels long to look. The prophets looked and beheld our great salvation. And Peter says, the angels long to look at this great achievement of God's mercy as well. But why? Why do the angels long to look into these things?
Jeffrey Heine:I think it's because the angels know what we so often forget. That there is nothing greater in all of existence to behold than the glory and the power of God. They long to see God's glory revealed in the salvation of your soul. The angels long to see God's power displayed in guarding you in faith that you would persevere when what you see does not match what you believe and you keep believing. The angels long to behold it.
Jeffrey Heine:They long to see the deep things of God. In the eighteen eighties, the British preacher Charles Spurgeon remarked on this passage saying this, quote, as far as the gospel brings salvation, healing, pardon, justification, cleansing, the angels do not need it. The angels have no direct interest meaning gain in the death of Christ or the blood of Christ, and yet they desire to look into these things. What then shall I think of myself and of you? If being saved ourselves, we take little or no interest in the gospel.
Jeffrey Heine:And if the holy angels do not simply see but desire to look into the things of God, there must be some very deep things hidden within the simplicities of the gospel which you and I ought to also search out. End quote. This is the value of not losing the thread, following it all the way, to behold the great work of God's mercy in causing us to be born again to a living hope and a promised inheritance of his person. For if even the angels desire to behold God's glory, his glory displayed in your very salvation. If they are so enamored and enthralled, so enchanted by God's grace and his glory, should we not also be eager in our longing to look?
Jeffrey Heine:And not merely to look and observe it, to nod our heads in some cold agreement with it, but to behold it as the angels do with longing and wonder and awe. I propose that beholding takes a lot more than just observing. When we add attention to our seeing, we begin to observe. And when we add affection to our observing, we begin to behold. The prophets search with eagerness.
Jeffrey Heine:The angels look with longing. The greatness of God's glory and grace are on display in our salvation. And they will be revealed in fullness at the coming of Christ and his kingdom. When we follow the thread of the gospel, we learn to do more than just look, more than just see, even more than just observe. We learn to behold.
Jeffrey Heine:And in this awe, we rejoice with a resilient and an enduring joy. And we prepare our minds just as Peter calls us to do in verse 13. Preparing your minds for action, being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. We prepare our minds for action. We set our attention and our affection on Christ.
Jeffrey Heine:And in doing so, we set our hope fully on the grace that is coming to us at the full revealing of Jesus. Not just seeing, not just merely observing, but beholding the glory of Christ our Redeemer. Let's go to him now in prayer. Almighty God, we are reminded again how desperately we need you for all things. Existence, the breath in our lungs, the ability to believe, to have faith in Jesus, to love him, to trust him, to obey him, Every bit of it needs you.
Jeffrey Heine:We need your power and your strength. So by your spirit, you bring it? Would you bring it not only into this place, but into our hearts That we might draw close to you and you would draw close to us. That you would comfort us with your great mercy and love. That we would know your greatness and your graciousness, poured out in the blood, displayed in the resurrection.
Jeffrey Heine:You have caused us to be born again to a living hope and a promised inheritance. Lord, we believe help our unbelief. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.