1 Peter (Program #22) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (10)

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we have received as part of our full salvation, an escape from the eternal perdition that awaits the disobedient and rebellious.  But many believers mistakenly take this to mean that Christians face no manner of judgment at all from the righteous  and holy God.  Regardless of how popular such a thought might be, the Bible does just not support it.  Take for example Peter’s word in his first epistle in chapter 4.  In verse 12 he says “Beloved do not think that the fiery ordeal among you coming to you for a trial, is strange.”  Then in verse 17 he adds “For it is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God;”  These verses made very clear that our righteous and loving Father does judge, discipline and purify His children will never putting our eternal destiny in jeopardy.

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1 Peter (Program #21) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (9)

The Old Testament record is one that includes many accounts of God’s judgment.  He not only judge rebellious and evil persons but even cities were condemned and judged by God.  Today many people believe that the time of God’s  judging has passed and that is New Testament believers we need to have no fear of God.  But this kind of thinking reflects not only an inadequate understanding of the truth of the Scripture but also a totally inaccurate one  as well.  In fact God is still judging.  But what is striking to know and most often overlooked in this age of comforting words is that His judgment in this age begins with His own household.

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1 Peter (Program #20) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (8)

1 Peter 4:1-2 say “Since Christ therefore has suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same mind (because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin), no longer to live the rest of the time in the flesh in the lusts of men, but in the will of God.“

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1 Peter (Program #19) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (7)

The apostle Peter said that the water of baptism saves us and he referenced the picture in the Old Testament of Noah’s family being saved in the Ark from the judging water and separated from the condemned world of that time through the water of the flood.

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1 Peter (Program #18) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (6)

The apostle Peter encourages his fellow believers in Christ to suffer for righteousness by the will of God as Christ did.

We have some wonderful pictures of how we can sanctify Christ in our heart through suffering and also what happened when Christ’s Spirit was made alive in His death.

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1 Peter (Program #16) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (1 & 3)

The New Testament book of 1 Peter in chapter 2 gives us some marvelous and very experiential expressions concerning our relationship with Christ.  In verse 24 and 25 we see Him not just as our redeemer but also as the shepherd and overseer of our souls.  What does it mean “Christ is our shepherd and overseer?”  To understand these aspects of Christ, we should go back to verse 12 in the same chapter and see that this is Christ in His loving care for His people, even as He comes to inquire of them in the day of His visitation.

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1 Peter (Program #15) -Christian Life and Its Sufferings (2)

The word “grace” bears tremendous significance in the New Testament, yet like so many biblical terms, it has become almost a clichéd to many people and it’s been greatly devalued in the understanding of most Christians.  God’s unmerited favor has become the most common definition among believers.   While this does convey a certain  limited sense of the word, it’s obvious by considering Scriptures that this definition is grossly inadequate.

Consider Peter’s use of the word “grace” in 1 Peter 2:19-20 “for this is grace” he writes “if anyone, because of a consciousness of God, bears sorrows by suffering unjustly.  For what glory is it if, while sinning and being buffeted, you endure? But if, while doing good and suffering, you endure, this is grace with God.“

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Colossians (Program #10) – The Stewardship of God

Colossians 1:24 says “I now rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body, which is the church.” Did you ever consider that there were still a lack concerning Christ’s suffering?  After all that He endured on our behalf to accomplish our perfect redemption on the cross, how could anything yet lack? But here is the Apostle Paul pointing us to the need that he sensed to fill up on his part that lacked. This can be a troubling even perplexing verse but it can also be the source of tremendous light concerning God’s ultimate heart desire.

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