Now and Forever: 1 Peter 4:7-11

As I have studied Peter’s first letter, I have been thinking a lot about where we live, as strangers – people who have a different sence of place. But this paragraph and the next are reminding me that Christians also have a very different sense of time.

Life is not merely cyclical. God has a plan, and He is bringing His plan towards a conclusion. So when Peter says in 4:7, “The end of all things is at hand;” people who subscribe to the “on and on” view of life must think his words very strange. Do we really stand on the precipice of change, in which a new world will dawn whose look and operation will differ significantly from the world in which we now life? Are we living our lives with that kind of hope and expectation?

If this is true, then how should we live? Several options are possible: 1) run and hide; 2) eat, drink and be merry; or, 3) make the most of the time that we have. The third option is the one that Peter advocates. He admonishes these mis-placed, yet God-placed believers to spend themselves completely, and joyfully, for others in the remaining, difficult days.

Why? For God’s glory. And when we serve for God’s glory, we are not investing in a dying world or in an uncertain future. We are banking on the one thing that is more sure than anything else, that God is real, and that He is glorious.

At one time there was such a thing as the “gold standard” – that every dollar was backed up by gold. Peter is advocating a “glory standard” – that every act of every pilgrim life is to be done for God’s glory. That’s a good investment, both now and forever.

Your Grace is Showing

“For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.” (1Peter 2:19 ESV)

And there’s the rub – Christians who are not “mindful of God.” Having been saved by grace, we resort to living by our wits, trying to figure out how not to get beat by the system. We’ve got our ticket to heaven. Now we must find our way in the world.

But there is such a thing as a Christian calling, and that is to be a Christ-follower. When Jesus submitted to suffering, he introduced to the world a scent from heaven – grace, that must be dispersed again and again by scattered people.

So here you are, caught in a system that you did not create, a slave to a master you did not choose. So long as it works well for you, it is tolerable. But when it pinches, then we are trained (by the world, not God) to cry and complain. “This is not right. It is not fair. I don’t deserve this.”

That’s what Jesus did, right? When he was reviled, he whined. When he suffered, he protested. When he was nailed to the cross, he vowed to retaliate. No, he submitted, in order that the grace of God could do it’s powerful work in a sinful world, in sinful people who in no way deserve God’s grace.

I think of Naaman’s servant in 1 Kings, an Israelite captured in a Syrian raid and now working in a foreign captain’s home. When he contracted leprosy, she could have wished that he would rot in hell. Have you ever wished that on a boss? But what showed was not her resentment, but her grace. “There is a prophet in Israel. He can help.” Why stick out her neck? Why bother? Because grace was a powerful force in her life, and she was “mindful” not merely of her self and her own situation, but “of God.”

Don’t Fear What They Fear: Fear Christ

There is more than meets the eye in Peter’s famous evangelism text: “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1Peter 3:15 ESV). The verse begins with the tail end of a quotation from Isaiah 8:12,13 “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy.” “The last part of the verse (underlined) has been recast by Peter as “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy.”

If we begin to circle out from this quotation, we find materials to form a chiasm, a literary structure that may have been in Peter’s mind, and not just in my own imagination. Even so, I find it helpful in relating ideas to one another. Here is my outline.

A. Evildoers are Active (13)

B. Good Cause (13)

C. Zealous (13)

D. Suffer for righteousness sake (14)

E. Blessed (14)

Don’t fear what they fear: Fear Christ! (14,15)

E’ Prepared (15)

D’ Speak concerning hope (15)

C’ Gentleness and Respect (15)

B’ Good Conscience and Conduct (16)

A’ Evildoers are Ashamed (16)

Let me give you just a few thoughts on the matching points:

Concerning “A. and A’”, sure, evildoers are active. But in the end, they will be reduced to humiliation. See many of the Psalms with regard to this theme.

Concerning “C. and C’”, I think you can find the materials for “How to be a Zealot, but not a Terrorist,” or, “How to Share the Gospel Graciously.”

Concerning “E. and E’”, the Greek words actually match up better (visually) than the English (and also, word order in Greek supports this outline better than the English word order). To be “blessed” means that we don’t have to worry about securing our place in the world, or getting the “stuff” of the world. But the other word, “prepared, ready,” shows that we are not to be at ease, apathetic. We are filled with sense of urgency and expectation, even as we are marked by a sense of blessed security.

I wouldn’t die for this outline. But I am thankful for the cross-germination of thoughts that it fosters.

Solid Citizens for the Gospel

1 Peter 2:13 - "Be subject, for the Lord's sake, to every human authority."
(notes from the message)

Granted, no system is perfect, including our own.

Granted, leaders are sinners, and they often are cruel and/or corrupt

Granted, this system may abuse you personally, as Jesus’ government abused Him

Nonetheless, the Grace of the Gospel Shines in Submission

Not in lordship – co-opting government position to enforce one’s point of view. Christian politicians must be public servants.

Not in belligerence – opposing the government with legitimate concerns, but using ungracious means

Not best even in protest or resistance – though citizens hold these as rights. But if Christians use these rights, they must accompany their words by gracious actions consistent with the measures that they advocate.

Grace Shines in Doing Good

While temporal praise is arbitrary, doing good will shine as it is seen in the many-colored shades of kindness

Eternal praise is authentic, and, in addition, the glad-hearted doing of good produces both joy and peace

Am I a Solid Gospel-Citizen?

Solid Gospel-Citizens are not measured by their vote, nor are they measured by their political action

Submission is a constant theme for Solid Gospel-Citizens, rendering obedience to God-appointed authorities, even as they await God’s “kingdom” resolution.

Doing Good always outweighs talking politics. It is Doing Good that constitutes the praiseworthy expressions of obedience, kindness and service.

Who Is Watching?

Peter tells that two parties are watching (1 Peter 2:12). The “nations” or “Gentiles” are observing. And God is watching (day of visitation). We need to think about both of these from a Gospel perspective.

In Bible translations, the “Gentiles” are all those nations who are not Jews. They were, from an OT perspective, in large part, not the people of God. In the NT, since the Church is not identified with the Jewish people, it seems that a better translation is the “nations.”

In 1 Peter 2:9, the Church is called, among other things, “a holy nation.” The nations mentioned in v.12 then, are the “unholy” nations. The one has an interest in the holiness of God. The other has no interest in His holiness.

Now why is it that the nations are observing the lives and conduct of Christians? Normally, we don’t even notice, unless, of course, there is something interesting. That is, there is something distinctive, unique, or strange (as in “strangers,” 1 Pet 1:1).

1 Peter 4:4 says that the Gentiles, or nations, are “surprised when you do not join them” in their ungodly activities. There is a contrast in the lives of those without God, and those who are children of God. Other differences become apparent as we review 1 Thessalonians 4:1-7 and Ephesians 4:17ff. In fact, I think it is a beneficial exercise to actually think what the contrast would be to the miserable conditions or ungodly behaviors mentioned in relations to the nations. For instance, in Eph 2: 1-4, they are described as:

Dead – we have been “made alive” (1 Pet 1:3)

They belong to “the course of this world.” We understand that the course has been changed “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet 1:3)

They have a prince (small “p”). We have a Prince (capital “P”) (I know that there are not caps in the original, but the little “p” only bruised His heel, while the capital “P” crushed his head (Gen 3:15).

They have a spirit. We have the Holy Spirit

They are driven by lusts. We are characterized by love for God and neighbor. (It strikes me as I write this how far we fall short, which is why the nations find us so un-interesting.

They are given over to self- indulgence. We are to be known for sacrificial service.

They are called “children of wrath.” We are children of mercy (1 Pet 1:3; 2:10).

The list then is continued in Eph 4:17-24:

They are characterized by sensuality. We are to be known for a spirituality that is due to the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Drunkenness is countered by a sobriety and seriousness that is taken up with eternal and ultimate issues.

Carousing and drinking parties that end up in disgrace are contrasted with gatherings in which grace is given and blessings are shared.

Abominable idolatries bespeak a continual search to find that which is worth living for – while Christians are linked and locked in to “the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom (He) has sent (John 17:3).

We are to be “a light to the Gentiles (or nations)” (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6; Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47; 26:23). Our light is dim in that we have sunk to many practices that look suspiciously like the nations who do not know God. We aren’t all that interesting.

The second point is that God is “visiting” or “overseeing.” Jesus, in 1 Peter 2:25, is called “the Shepherd and Overseer (or Guardian) of our souls.” He is watching.

But many people have erroneous views of God’s oversight. Some think that He is watching, waiting to pound us when we mess up. But they miss the all-important point that, in Christ, we are “accepted in the Beloved.” There are no paybacks for Christians. Our punishment has been meted out to Christ, and it found satisfaction in the righteous judgment of God. He is not watching us to catch us, but because He delights in us.

On the other hand, some view God’s interest in His children as inconsequential. They suppose that, now forgiven, they should give no thought to what God thinks of their conduct. This is a denial of authentic faith. Faith in God is a dynamic presence in the life of a man that manifests itself in expressions of faith, one of which is fear and love for God. Luke 12 reminds us that if God has His eye on the sparrow, then He certainly will observe and care for His children far more.

We sometimes live as though no one is watching, neither the world around us, or God. We live as though there is nothing or no one to life for. How can we miss the point so badly?

The Cure for a Sick Soul

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” (1Peter 2:11 ESV)

When we go to the medical doctor for examination or surgery, he can find our brains, but she cannot repair our minds.

When the doctor opens our chests to do surgery on the heart, he is unable to do anything about our character.

When we receive a physical, there are no reports given on the state of our souls.

The Bible diagnosis for man in general is that we have great sickness of soul.

Mankind tends to ignore the soul, and thus to misunderstand the most weighty issues of life. Mankind places great emphasis on what the Bible calls the flesh. They may speak of human nature, human condition, wholistic health, etc. – but when considered apart from God, man is flesh – independent and temporary; willful, but weak.

The soul, in Biblical language, is the organ for relationship with God. When God formed Adam (Gen 2:7), he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man, a-dam, became a living soul – a creature made to correspond with the Creator in faith and fellowship.

But a dead or dormant soul does not have faith. We cannot enjoy fellowship with God with a captivated or collapsed soul. And it is not only God who desires your soul, but also the devil (1 Pet 5:8).

I am going to allow the context of 1 Peter 2:11 to control our thinking about the soul. In addition to the reference to “soul” in our text, Peter also refers to the soul in 1:9; 1:22, and 2:25.

Nothing to Look Forward to

1 Peter 1:9 speaks of “the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” This is followed, after a brief (but important) aside in vv. 10-12, with the admonition to “set youre hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (v.13). A sick soul has nothing to which it can look forward.

A sick soul has no dream of a future revelation (v.13), but is instead stuck in the present or perhaps the past. A sick soul has no sense of the holiness (vv. 15-16) of God which is above, beyond and behind all that we can see with our senses. The sick soul is then unable to respond to God with a proper fear (v. 17) that is due Him. He is left, by default, in the futility (v. 14) of a short-sighted, mortal and mundane existence.

Nothing to Act as Its Guide

The soul, by God’s gracious revealing, is broken free from its prison of blindness and ignorance to a whole new kind of life. This new life includes a consecration to God (1:22) which frees us from self-indulgence. God is gracious in that He has given our souls a guide in what is a trackless wilderness of life for those who are sick of soul.

This guide for the soul directs toward self-sacrifice rather than self-indulgence. We are to practice a brotherly kindness which is strenuous and which arises from only the purest of motives (v.22). Further, this kind of energetic direction does not allow for the crippling distractions mentioned in 2:1. These are to be put away so that our lives, as living stones (2:5), might be properly aligned with the Cornerstone, Jesus Christ (2:4,6). He is the Guide for our lives, and the Director of our souls.

Word studies lead toward to Biblical illustrations. The first is Joseph (Gen 39:8-9), who, in submission to his master and allegiance to God, endured false accusation and affliction. The second is Moses, recorded in Hebrews 11:24-26, who “refused,” “chose,” “considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.” These men had a guide from above that remained unaffected by the circumstances taking place here below.

No One to Look Up to

Jesus is called by Peter the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (2:25). For those with sick souls, we have no one to look up to. For those who are wandering, their goal must be to either remain anonymous in the room, or strive to be the biggest person in the room. And when I try to “enlarge” myself, I cannot admit to a Leader or a Captain. But Jesus is the one who has blazed a path for us, “leaving you an example” (v.22). He suffered and died, and now serves as the One to whom we look (Heb 12:2), the Author and Finisher of our faith, for those with souls that are being healed.

The Cure for a Sick Soul is not education for our ignorance, but rather God’s gracious revealing of things that we cannot see with our eyes. The Cure is not moral improvement in order to overcome self-indulgence, but is rather the Call to become part of something that is bigger than us and our private dreams, and that will last eternally longer than a temple made with stone. The Cure for my soul is not heroism, unless that means that I finally find in Jesus what I can never be in myself.

Treasure for Treasure

Comfort for Comfort

2 Samuel 12:3 uses our word for “special possession” of a pet, a little lamb, bought and nourished. We can relate, can’t we, nuts about pets as we are. There’s just something about the way a pet conforms to the shape of your lap, adjusting itself to you. And that’s how we are to be with God, adjusting our shape to Him.

But some of your pets are not quite that way. They are demanding, and they master you. You quickly find that you are the one adjusting to them, rather than the other way around. And that’s what we often do with God, in our minds at least, adjusting Him for our comfort.

For instance, some aspects of the being of God are uncomfortable for us. We struggle with His sovereignty, since it rubs hard against ours. We can fix that, right? Just adjust (g)od to what your sense of (g)od should be, and the pet is happy, even though the house is in ruins.

Good for Good

Malachi 3:17 refers to the son who is joined to the father’s inheritance by virtue of relationship. The son is his pride and possession. And the son seeks the good of the father. Sure, the son realizes that, since everything that the father has will one day be his, when he serves the father, he is serving his own interests as well. But the interests of the father come first.

So the son does not ask, “what is good for me?” Rather, he asks, “what is good for the father?” He is not focusing on feathering his nest, but on serving the interests of the father.

We sometimes leave a church service and ask, “was it good for me?” “Do I feel better?” “Was I entertained?” We ask these questions in dozens of life situations. But shouldn’t the question be, “was it good for God?” Isn’t He the Father to be served, even as we realize that the path to an experience of indescribable goodness leads first through “seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness (Matt 6:33).

And the father, says Malachi, has compassion on the son who serves him. God delights to shower love upon His children as they serve the interests of their Father.

Treasure for Treasure

Matthew 13:44-45 speaks of men, one finding buried treasure, the other finding a pearl of great value. One goes and buys the field in order to have the treasure. The other sells all he has in order to obtain the pearl.

We are God’s treasure. That’s what our verse, 1 Peter 2:9, and our phrase, “a people for His own possession,” indicates. And He has “bought the field” and “sold all he had” for us. And we are to reach out to him like two-year-olds when daddy comes home, and treasure Him.

Our world is full of so many lonely people who do not have the experience of being treasured by God. They may have many comfortable, good treasures. But they are still empty. Why in the world would we trade this blessing of being God’s treasured people for mere bubbles?

Priests with a Royal Bearing; People with a Holy Calling

The Spirit guided Peter to write “royal priests” in 1 Peter 2:9 (adjective followed by verb), quoting from Exodus 19:6, the LXX (Greek), not the Hebrew. In Revelation 1:6, John quotes the same verse, but evidently from the Hebrew, which shows two nouns, “a kingdom and priests.”

Why? I think it fits with Peter’s point, which is that we are priests with a royal bearing, rather than kings with some added priestly duties. After all, Peter has made clear right at the beginning that we are outsiders, sojourners, and he will do so again in 2:12. We are related to the King, but we do not live life here as kings. We are servants, priests.

A priestly people is a little strange. From the Old Testament, we are used to have a priestly class within the people. Isn’t that what pastors are supposed to do today? Peter doesn’t think so. We all are priests.

Priests are blood-spattered. In New Covenant terms, this certainly does not involved animal sacrifice. But it certainly does involve Christ’s sacrifice. We show our blood-sprinkled (1:2) condition when we do two things: when we think often of our sin; and when we think often of our Savior.

When we emphasize how good we are, either trying to convince ourselves or others, we are not functionging as priests, or as Christians. One of the key differences between non-believers and believers is that the former often work hard at justifying self, while the believer finds his/her justification in Christ. The one covers and excuses sin and sins; the other confesses sin(s) and hates that which caused the death of Christ. If you are unaware of any struggle with sin, then I wonder if you even have a Savior.

Priests also are teachers of the ways of God. They take the hand of God with one hand, and the hand of man with the other, and seek to see them reconciled in Christ. If I let go of God and embrace man alone, I am no longer functioning as a priest. And if I forget about men and isolate myself in God, I also am no priest. Priests are continually concerned with a right relationship with God, for themselves, and for others.

Remember, we are priests, with a card in our wallet or a truth in our hearts that we belong to the King. We are not kings who practice religion on the side.

The other term under consideration is “holy nation.” The Greek word transliterates to a kind of “ethnicity,” leading me to think that this is about a distinctive group of people (as in the first term, “chosen race,) in whom an appreciation and hunger for holiness is evident and obvious.

God’s holiness speaks of His “otherness.” He is, so to speak, “out of this world.” That is, this world cannot contain Him, nor even describe Him, because He stands apart in key ways from anything that is known in the world or by the world. For God’s people to know God, they have, in a sense, their “head in the clouds,” not in the sense of being aloof, but rather, they can see or sense horizons that are beyond what we see and experience in this physical world. His holiness is not to be profaned, that is, made common or coarse. He is not ordinary. We should not treat Him, or His name, as such.

Of course, holiness also includes a concern of moral purity. It is the desire to see reflected in human terms what it means to be pure. We are not animals, and we are not to live like animals. The image of the holy God has been impressed upon us, though far from distinct as it once was.

In the OT, we were acquainted with the idea of holy “territory.” The burning bush, Mt. Sinai, the Tabernacle, the Temple, the Holy of Holies – had borders and boundaries. This seems to no longer be the case. The “holy nation” scatters with itself the holiness of God throughout the world. Our own “otherness” and striving for purity; our appreciation of the eternal dimension sets us apart, for God.

We are accustomed to driving past small towns or driving into large cities and seeing the spires of churches, pointing to heaven, reminding us that there is a God. This may be an excellent architectural feature, but it is not what God designed as testimony to His holiness. Rather, he is forming a people with a high calling, a holy nation, to point the world to a God that they do not know.

Gene Selection

(1 Peter 2:9, “a chosen race”)

Racism is a highly charged subject in our society. We struggle with properly admitting that there are different “kinds” of people, and then with ensuring that all “kinds” of people are treated equitably.

The Bible also speaks of “kinds.” It is the prerogative of God to establish kinds of plants (Genesis 1:11-12), and kinds of people (Gen 11). In the Bible, a “race” of people seems to designate a line of descendants from a particular father. Part of the reason for this may be because God delights in variety.

So when God chooses to designate “a chosen race,” He does so by selecting out Abraham to be the father of a new people (Gen 12). A major reason that God chooses is that He desires to accomplish His wider purposes (blessing all the families of the earth) through His particular choices (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob). Over time, this people is redeemed by God from slavery in Egypt, and formed into a covenant people at Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19-24). They are to be characterized, as was their father, Abraham, by a strong attachment to and dependence upon God (Deuteronomy 10:12-22). This distinctiveness of people, if not strong attachment and dependence, continue even into the captivity, where the apocryphal addition to Esther speaks again of the distinctiveness of God’s chosen race: “For Almighty God hath turned to joy unto them the day, wherein the chosen people should have perished.” (Esther 16:21 KJVA)

Again, “race” in the Bible speaks of a distinctive “kind” of people, descendants of a common father. Peter seems to show this in advance of 1 Pet 2:9 with his comment in 1:17, “and if you call on Him as Father, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.” We are a chosen race if we have in common this heavenly Father.

Let me make three points of application with illustration:

1. Until we fully embrace our identity as a part of God’s chosen race as obedient children, we will never make sense of the Christian life. We continue to be painfully aware of racial differences as determined sociologically, but painfully unaware of the kind of distinctiveness that ought to be honored and preserved as God’s people. We show this in our marriage patterns, where more consternation arises from the joining of people with different skin color than does the joining of two people whose spiritual fathers are antithetically opposed to one another.

2. Until we accept our God-given place as God-redeemed outsiders, elect exiles (1 Pet 1:1), we will never adequately proclaim His praises. When Muslims become our next-door neighbors, we wonder what “they” are doing “here.” But Peter’s truth expressed several times is that they are not the outsiders; we are. We are the aliens, the strangers, the sojourners who are seeking to share our way of life with the insiders of this world. We are not to resist the infiltration of “different” people into our cocoons. We are, by race, the infiltrators.

3. Until we understand that we are no more “children of men,” but rather “children of the Heavenly Father,” we will not experience our greatest comfort. Others have no Father like ours. By comparison, it is as though all the world is orphaned, going to bed at night untucked with no story told and no prayers prayed. But we have a Father who never leaves us alone. What a blessed comfort to be a chosen race that can rightfully claim to be “children of the heavenly Father.”

Why Do People Stumble Over Jesus?

“A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (1Peter 2:8 ESV)

We stumble over things that we do not see. People stumble over Jesus because they do not see him. People stumble because they do not see the beauty of Jesus.

Some people do not see him because they are distracted. In chapter 2, Peter quotes Isaiah 28, describing the northern kingdom, distracted by their prosperity. People today, prosperous as we are, find themselves generally distracted. In fact, the busier we are, the more healthy lives we think we are living.

Our lives are filled with beautiful and attractive things. They attract our attention to the degree that we cannot see the most beautiful thing ever presented to humanity, Jesus. If only we could stop and think, and answer the penetrating question – what is really important? What will last for eternity?

We need to learn to ask people questions that stop them in their tracks. What do you think God is like? Really? What do you think God thinks of you? Could you take the time to find out what He is really like, and what He really thinks?

Some people do not see him because they are misdirected. They are looking for something else. And so they miss Jesus. Two stories can help us with this.

Saul/Paul held a vision of religion that was pleasing to God that excluded Jesus. Keeping the Law was central, and faith in Christ was leading many Jews away from the “beauty” of Judaism. He hated Christians and their way of life. But on that road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul, and all of a sudden, God caused Paul to see the beauty of Christ (Acts 9). And his life was changed. He no longer stumbled over Jesus. He embraced him.

For years, even centuries, the Temple was the place where God’s people, Israel, could meet with their God. Never mind that Temple-worship was compromised by Roman government, Herod’s crooked benevolence, and priestly political compromise. The Temple was central. But the apostles, confronted by the risen Lord, realized the significance of Jesus’ words, that the Temple would be destroyed, and that they would be build around him, the Living Stone (1 Pet 2:4) as living stones (2:5).

Stories can help people see a reality that has been invisible to them to this point. The Bible is one, grand, dramatic story filled with many smaller stories. Jesus told stories, parables to help people see his beauty.

We need to listen to the stories of the Bible to have our own view of reality shaped and re-shaped. We need to be able to relate stories to people stumbling over Jesus, that they might see him for the first time.

Some people do not see him because they are disobedient. The testimony of the prophets, from whom Peter draws (Isaiah 8) is that God’s people consistently rejected light. It seems to be one of the ways of God that, when we choose our own way, he allows us to have what we say we want. Romans 1 shows this three times (24,26,28), that when man rejected God’s way, He “hands them over” to the consequences of their actions.

So if people reject the light of God’s beauty, why should God favor them with the beauty of Christ? If people prefer darkness, why not allow them to stay where they want to be?

And so, if the light of the beauty of Christ has become evident to you, do not be so wicked as to turn your back on him? And do not presume that, if that light is available to you today, that it will be tomorrow.

As we talk with people who are stumbling over Jesus out of disobedience, we must warn, and confront. God issues a summons through His witnesses: “Repent, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” And for believers, we also must pay full attention to the warnings. Do not allow sin to cloud the beauty of Christ in your life.

I Will Build My Church

According to 1 Peter, God takes the initiative. He gives us birth that allows us to love and believe in Jesus (1:3, 8); He plants the seed that has its fruit in it (1:23); He builds the Temple, the residence of His glory, by incorporating people like you and I, living stones, which, by the way, are practical impossibilities apart from His initiative (2:5).

We believe in this God, but we also show by our practice that we believe something else. The initiative of yesterday may belong to God, but the initiative of today belongs with us, with me. We read and write books, we attend and conduct training seminars, and we build like the Babelites (Gen 11), constructing our human significance, demonstrating our own importance and success, because, of course, we are the initiators of all good things that really matter. Good ideas. Great plans. Monumental projects.

We have growing confidence in technological manipulation – even to create life. God is the author of life, but we are learning how to produce it without him, though confronting us with haunting ethical issues. We contribute unceasing energies to a management control that will leverage better results this year than last, pressuring the perishable seed (1:23) to see what can be wrung from it, and leaving behind bruised and burned-out casualties. We tear down our barns to build bigger ones (Luke 12:18), hoping that that the bigger church building will compensate for the disciples’ immaturity, or the bigger house will make one feel better about the family’s dysfunctionality.

But being practically involved in God’s temple has not only to do with recognizing God’s initiative in its construction. It also demands that we be properly aligned with God’s select Cornerstone, Christ. The question is really not, “Do I feel good about myself” but "Is my life correctly aligned with Jesus Christ?” That question is more difficult than merely saying, “Follow Jesus.” Due to the distance caused by centuries and cultures, let alone sin and selfishness, we often have a hard time answering how it is that we are to align our lives with Christ.

And so when we face “life” questions, we tend to take the initiative and resort to our most trusted resources. They are doctors, psychologists, financial advisors, and school counselors. Most have no regard for God, or your faith, or the Cornerstone. They advise according to their own faith – faith in science, or faith in proven principles of (temporal) investment, or the secret of happiness as found in prescription drugs.

Does science, medicine, etc., have a role? Of course. We ought to thank God for what has been learned about how His creation works. But these things must be applied spiritually. They will not – they cannot – be applied spiritually by these people alone.

Our present and usual course of actions denies a practical faith in God. Our handling of life’s biggest and most painful issues denies full confidence in pursuing Christlikeness (Hebrews 3). We shortcut the Spirit’s guidance in our lives by resorting to other guides who will not direct us to the Cornerstone or give God His due.

How do we expect the Spirit to work? Through God’s Word. And how is God’s Word brought to bear upon one’s life? Through reading, study and meditation. Have you submitted yourself to that kind of investment in God’s Word? Also, through various individuals’ teaching of the Word. But also through the discernment of life issues as evaluated in light of Scripture and as lovingly handled by trusted Christian brothers and sisters.

God’s House is built upon the Cornerstone, and with many living stones. The Christian life is not to be lived alone, but in community. We find our proper alignment with the Cornerstone by the help of other living stones, other believers who are handlers of God’s Word and bearers of God’s Spirit, (being) equipped to hear and to help.

Is there another believer whom you trust? Are there others with whom you could share your heart, and allow them to ask questions, and understand? The sad reality is that many of us are more likely to reveal our doubts, questions and hurts to an unbeliever. Is it because we don’t really believe in God, we don’t really care about Christlikeness, and we simply cannot trust the Spirit to use other believers spiritually in my life?

What God builds will last forever, for His glory. What is built without faith (Hebrews 11:6) and apart from Him (John 15:5) will be destroyed, to our shame.

Spiritual Application

I’ve used my paint illustration before to try to describe the Trinity. This illustration has not been widely publicized, which has spared it being justly criticized.

The Father conceives a color. Think of a color that has never before been painted. You can’t. We may mix and match and “arrive” at a color, but we cannot say, “I am thinking of a color that does not exist.” God can. Not only does He create it. He also names it. Let’s call this new color “grace.”

The Son embodies the color. The name of the color and the description of the color (“it’s kind of like x, but not exactly”) cause us difficulty. We need to see it if we are to know it. We had never before seen or experienced “grace” until we saw it in Jesus.

The Spirit applies the color. For those who come to see “grace,” appreciate its beauty and love its lustre, there is the desire to bring it within one’s own space or room, into one’s own life. The Spirit takes the grace of Christ from its vessel (Jesus himself) and distributes it, applies it, paints it in and on our lives.

So what is Spiritual Application?
We call it sanctification. It is the process by which the Spirit of God renovates and redecorates the lives of believers so that they, more and more, reflect the beauty of the character of Christ.

It was never God’s intent to keep grace contained. God has appointed this work of the Spirit. And we know that we are to be involved in seeking Christ and the reflection of His character weekly in each message and daily in each devotion.

How do we live Spiritually in a Material world?

How do we live Spiritually in a Material world? Although the word “spiritual” is currently being used in many strange and plastic ways; and although we are severely impacted by a materialistic way of life, we must pursue the Bible’s teaching. Peter addresses this subject in the beginning of 1 Peter 2.

First, Let’s think through the issues in Trinitarian fashion (1. Spirit; 2. Father; 3. Son). Along the way, we will grab hold of some of the images involved (1a, 2a, 3a). Finally, I will suggest some practical expressions of spiritual living (1b, 2b, 3b).

1. To live spiritually must surely have to do with the Spirit. We are being built into a spiritual house as a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrificies (1 Peter 2:5). What this means is that, in our relation with others (as priests have relation with others) we must be chiefly concerned, not with the material element of their existence, but with the immaterial; not with the temporal expression of their existence, but with the eternal. The eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14 ) would have us correspond with the souls of men and women.

1a. Jesus, in his earthly ministry, faced a decidedly unspiritual blindness. The religious leaders were fully cognizant of his humanity. But they could not see his divinity. And they hated him. Our inability to see people only from a fleshly point of view is similar. We are holding them in unholy disregard.

1b. Led by the Spirit, we are called to “love one another earnestly” (1 Peter 1:22). We are to love the souls of men and women, not because of their bodies or their appearance or their image, and not even in spite of what we see with our eyes of flesh. Rather, we are to love them regardless of their appearance.

2. The Father is the Giver of Life. He creates out of nothing. He consistently does the unlikely, and surprises with the impossible. As children of the Father, we do not plan his surprises, but we can expect to be surprised.

2a. Now what should we expect from a stone (1 Peter 2:4,5)? Well, if we consider only the stone, then we should expect very little. Stones don’t do much, which is why they make good boundary markers. But if we consider God who can make the stones cry out in praise of the Son (Luke 19:40 ), or if we look at stones as divinely appointed wombs from which children of Abraham may emerge (Luke 3:8), then we begin to look at dead entities with a sense of expectancy.

2b. Do I have the kind of faith in God that expects him to radically re-engineer the dead ends of life? My faith was not given so that I could tell God what to do, but it is given so that I might grasp what God can do. He can rescue a marriage from the rocks. He can raise a church from the dead. A key question is: Do I want him to? Lazarus’ sister objected, “Behold, he stinketh.” Sometimes it is easier for us to be done with dead entities. God doing the unlikely can end up being uncomfortable.

3. We come to Jesus (1 Peter 2:4), but it seems as though we often have little influence over others in getting them properly lined up with the cornerstone (1 Peter 2:6). We know that we ourselves did not do the heavy lifting in securing our own relationship with him, so it would seem that there is little that we can do for others - Except that we act and serve “in Jesus’ name.”

3a. Matthew 10 mentions the “cup of cold water” offered to little ones. Quickly consumed. Easily spilled. Often forgotten. What good does it do? What about the salvation of our neighbors, or the return of our kids to the fold. We pray, in Jesus’ name.

3b. Sowing seed can be a wasteful activity. In the parable of the seed and soils, much is lost. I feel that way. Words are cheap, sometimes useless. They’ve heard it all before. They are accustomed to tuning out. Sometimes we wonder why we should bother. But we are to serve in little ways and we pray with hope that the redemptive activity of Jesus will be extended to the lives of the people to whom we serve and for whom we pray. And because of this hope, we do not give up. We continue on, in Jesus’ name.

So to be Spiritual – what does it mean? It means to be involved with the Spirit in love, with the Father in faith, and with the Son in hope. It means that we see people for their souls, that we dare to believe that God can and will again do what only God can do. It means that redemption still changes lives today, using weak and clumsy instruments to achieve his ends. This is at least a little bit of what it means to be spiritual in a material world.