Sunday 18 April 2010

His Kingdom...not yours

Been doing some work on 1 Peter for a CU talk in a couple of weeks... seems that Peter wants to give the Christians confidence, that while their life is now difficult, tough, pressured and as they are marginalised simply for being obedient to Jesus... so they need reassurance to stand firm... in 1:1-12, that confidence seems to be: God is for them (he chose them); they have an awesome, secure future ahead of them that will never perish, and not be taken away from them; and that even through trials - they can rejoice, deeply, for the most precious thing they have - their faith - is being refined to make it stronger, more beautiful, more pure...


They're exiles... in the world, but not of the world - set apart, marked out, as being obedient to Jesus. And that obedience to Jesus causes them to be reviled, mocked and maligned... but that should not be a surprise to them, for it is the pattern that Christ himself sets up, follows and experiences (as foretold in the prophets) of suffering in this world, but glory in the future world... that living hope, that awesome inheritance.

Reminds me of this quote (from Tripp):
"Jesus didn't give you his grace, to make your kingdom work... he gave you his grace, to invite you to a better kingdom!"

"this is the true grace of God... stand firm in it!" 1 Peter 5:12

1 comment:

Samuel Bostock said...

I just posted up my visual summary of 1 peter:

http://awakeforchrist.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/1-peter-on-the-back-of-an-envelope/

seems pretty similar to yours at a glance.