Text: 1 Peter 1:1-2
OPEN:
Today, we begin a new series of messages that I've entitled, "Life Lessons from a Lifelong Fisherman." We will study a small letter that the Apostle Peter wrote near the end of his life. It contains some amazingly practical advice for Christian living and church life, but we shouldn't be surprised at such down-to-earth advice from such a down-to-earth kind of guy. After all, Peter was an earthy fisherman when Jesus called him to be his disciple, and Peter never fully abandoned his love for the sea. His vocabulary may have cleaned up (thank Heaven), but he never forgot his roots as a fisherman.
In the first couple of verses of 1 Peter, the aging fisherman gets right to the heart of what matters most in life--grace! "May grace and peace be yours in abundance" (v. 2b).
Immediately, when reading the statement in verse 2 (”grace and peace be yours in abundance”) I have a serious problem. The problem is produced by knowing the context of this letter:
1. Its author was no stranger to trouble.
This is a letter written by Peter, one of Jesus’ original 12 apostles. He was the one named Simon that Jesus renamed “Rocky” on the basis of his confession: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
As Eugene Peterson writes by way of introduction to Peter’s letters, "Peter seems to have been a natural leader, commanding the respect of his peers by sheer force of personality. In every listing of Jesus' disciples, Peter's name is invariably first."
Peter exerted enormous influence in the early church due to his relationship with Jesus and forceful, if not erratic, personality. By virtue of his position, he was easily the most powerful figure in the Christian community.
Peter knew persecution firsthand. Beaten and jailed, Peter had been threatened often and had seen fellow believers jailed and die and the church scattered.
This letter was written by Peter while he was in Rome not long before his death at the hands of Nero in 64 AD.
2. The recipients of the letter were familiar with trouble too.
Persecution of the early Christians began in Jerusalem at the hand of Jewish leaders, then spread to the rest of the world and climaxed when Rome wanted to rid the Empire of those who refused to bow to Caesar as god. The early Christians were persecuted for basically four reasons:
1) They refused to worship the emperor as God—so they were labeled ‘atheists.’
2) They refused to worship at pagan temples—business fell off from lack of idol sales.
3) They were accused of being cannibals—eating the body and drinking the blood of Jesus.
4) They were accused of being immoral—“agape or love feasts”—like the mystery cults.
Nero blamed all the problems of the decaying Roman Empire on the Christians—used them as human candles to light his gardens. Blamed the burning of Rome on the Christians.
Peter wrote to the church scattered and suffering for their faith, giving comfort and hope, and urging continued loyalty to Christ.
So, how can Peter speak of abundant living to this persecuted audience? Seems like he is adding insult to injury. The key to understanding this is your point of reference.
- If the American Dream is your point of reference for prosperity, success, and abundance, what Peter writes (and the rest of the Bible, for that matter) will make no sense to you.
- If, however, Jesus Christ is your point of reference, Peter’s instruction will make perfect sense and will form a roadmap for navigating difficult waters.
What we can say is that according to Peter, believers are actually chosen by and set apart for God to experience God’s fullness and abundance.
Irenaeus, 3rd Century Bishop of Lyons said, “The glory of God is the human being fully alive.”
In other words, God’s glory is most clearly seen in you and I living lives of abundance.
Jesus himself declares, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and live it to the full.” (John 10:10)
So, what is this abundance we are supposed to have?
I. BELIEVERS HAVE SPIRITUAL ABUNDANCE (v. 2)
“Grace… be yours in abundance”
To understand this aspect of our abundance, look back to verse 1.
"Exiles"
Parepidemoi=persons belonging to some other land and people, who are temporarily residing with a people to whom they do not belong. There are for the time being aliens, foreigners, not natives. Aliens are often held in contempt by the natives among whom they dwell. Yet, despite this estimate of the natives, Peter exalts his readers far above the natives among whom they live.
"Chosen"
“Chosen and destined by God… to be obedient to Jesus Christ.”
There is obviously something incredibly special about being chosen.
Rom 8:33, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?”
Col 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved…”
Eph 1:4, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”
Destined
“Foreknowledge” is prognosin, from which we get our word “prognosis.” It is a compound word in Greek made up of pro—before; gnosis—to know intimately.
This is makes us the object of loving care. God literally loves us to himself.
Jesus died for us while we were still alienated from God (Rom 5:6-10).
He also set us apart for himself as his own unique possession. This is the sanctifying work Peter speaks of in 1:2 (“sanctified by the Spirit”).
"And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses; erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross."(Colossians 2:13-14, NRSV)
Here’s what grace is—God knew all about us and chose us anyway, forgave us and declared us righteous in Christ before we ever knew him.
This is not based on anything in us; it is all by the mercy and love of God.
This is abundant life—all our sins forgiven—an infinite number of new beginnings/fresh starts.
II. BELIEVERS HAVE EXPERIENTIAL ABUNDANCE (v. 2).
“Peace be yours in abundance.”
Eirene (peace)=harmony, balance, everything in its place.
1. God wants to help sort your life, put everything in its place with himself surrounding us.
This peace is much more than the absence of conflict.
Jn 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Phil 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the
peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Picture this as a circle with a dot in the center. We are the dot and Christ is the sphere around us.
Acts 17:28, “For in him we live and move and have our being.”
Nothing gets to the dot without first passing through the circle. God is truly in control.
Hannah Whithall Smith: “The darkness of our doubts or our fears, of our sorrows, or our despair, or even of our sins, cannot hide us from him, although it may, and often does, hide him from us.”
2. Joy comes from surrendering to his control.
He is in control—that’s not up for debate or question. The secret is to surrender to that control.
Mt 5:5, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (in other words, ‘everything good from God will be theirs’).
The meaning of ‘meek’ is that of the horse that is “broken”/trained, still with all the strength and fire but under control—not “sacking out” but ‘Join-Up.’
This was Job’s difficult lesson (Job 38-41)
CLOSE:
When you have this kind of abundance, you have everything!
Believers are actually chosen by and set apart for God so that we may experience God’s fullness and abundance.
God loves us to himself.
He is the Good Shepherd, not a cattle herder.
He draws us to himself.
God’s grace is our spiritual abundance.
Surrendering to God’s control provides experiential abundance.
How would you describe your life?
Miserable and miserly or abundant and flowing?
What do you need to do to move into abundance?
Receive & relish God’s grace and live like the chosen, forgiven, holy person that you are in Christ,
Surrender to God’s control—acknowledge on an ongoing basis his control and bow to his leadership.
(Dr. Dane Fowlkes)
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