Advent 2017: Hope - 1 Peter 1:3-5

Thank you, Caleb and crew. I'm pretty sure at some point in history, the number one criteria for the writing of a Christmas song was that it'd be difficult to sing.

! Please turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 1.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

As previously stated in today's gathering, today marks the first Lord's Day of our Advent season.

The word Advent is from the Latin Adventus, which simply means coming, or I prefer, arrival.

Our tradition of lighting Advent candles and preaching sermons concerning the topics of each candle is aimed at helping us place Jesus Christ at the very center of our holiday season.

Now, I know that because you have gathered with a Christian church this morning, it is most likely that you are very aware that Christmas is the celebration of the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I know that some of you may be thinking that our Advent practice is an exercise in redundancy.

But I also know how very fickle our hearts can be.

While giving Jesus lip service during this season, we, just like the world, so often get wrapped up into all the trappings that accompany it.

We stress ourselves through all of its busyness.

We get distracted by the glitz and glimmer of lesser things.

And we functionally forget what the incarnation of God means for today.

What it means for this month.

And what it means for next year.

We are so forgetful.

So we need reminders.

I am repetitive because we are slow learners.

My prayer for us this morning is that we will be reminded of Jesus Christ's immeasurable worth so that we will treasure him as we ought, as we consider the hope that is ours in him.

J.I. Packer once said,

The Christian message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity.

Hope of pardon.

Hope of peace with God.

Hope of glory.

Because at the Father's will, Jesus became poor and was born in a stable so that 30 years later he might hang on a cross.

Our text for this morning is 1 Peter 1, verses 3 through 5.

1 Peter 1:3–5

And before I read this for our benefit, beloved, let me remind you that this is God's word to us.

It was written for his glory and for our good.

And we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

1 Peter 1, verse 3 and following.

1 Peter 1:3

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.

Our study this morning will be outlined in the following three points.

Number one, the praiseworthiness of God.

That's right, note takers.

The praiseworthiness of God.

Number two, the hopelessness of mankind.

And number three, the hope of the born again.

So number one, the praiseworthiness of God.

Peter begins the body of his epistle with a phrase of praise to God.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But what does Peter mean by saying blessed?

Blessed.

We use that word in ways much like hope and we'll see joy and peace and love across this coming month.

That the Bible does not use it.

This is not the Greek word translated in other places in the Bible as blessed.

We may read it, but rather blessed, meaning happy or fortunate.

This is an entirely different Greek word, which means praised.

So it could be read, praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The indicative mood of the Greek word for blessed is used instead of the optative mood.

Don't write any of that down.

The optative mood is used to express a wish.

The indicative mood is used to make factual statements.

So not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed,

but rather the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is blessed.

In our Bible reading from two weeks ago in the book of Ruth,

when Ruth returns after gathering barley in the field of Boaz and Naomi sees what she was able to bring home,

Naomi exclaims,

Blessed be the man who took notice of you.

This is from Ruth 2.19.

Naomi is not wishing fortune on Boaz,

but rather praising him for his generosity toward Ruth.

Peter's doing the very same thing here.

Blessed be.

Praised be.

He is, in fact, to be.

Because of the text that will follow.

Peter begins with an exclamation of God's praiseworthiness

before elaborating on his reason for praise.

But the rest of our text does just that.

Why is it that God is so praiseworthy?

27 times in the Old Testament,

the phrase Baruch Adonai is used.

Blessed be God.

So it was a very common way to give praise to God.

But here Peter adds something pivotal,

something extremely important to this phrase.

He adds,

and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In John 5.18,

amongst many other places,

this is recorded by John of what Jesus claimed of himself.

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him.

Why?

Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath,

but he was even calling God his own Father,

making himself equal with God.

And so what Peter is saying is that we now relate to God

through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is God incarnate.

And all those who will worship God rightly

will worship him through his Son.

And because of all that was accomplished by his Son.

Which is what Peter is going on to elaborate

in the following writ.

The point being,

theology should lead us to doxology.

Rightly understanding who God is

should move us to rightly praise him.

This book was not written for us

to merely know things about God.

If we see him rightly by this book,

then we will know him,

and we will be known by him,

and this will necessitate our praise.

So do not miss the praiseworthiness of God

this morning.

Secondly,

let's look in brief at the hopelessness of mankind.

In order to see this point from this text,

we need to read a bit through it.

Peter says in verse 3,

according to his, God's great mercy,

he has caused us to be born again.

Mercy is compassion shown where wrath is due.

We would have no need of mercy

if we had not transgressed God's law.

Had we not rejected him as our king,

doing what is right in our own eyes,

things would be all good.

But we have.

All mankind has acted with great wickedness.

Apart from Christ,

you and I are not all right.

The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 2,

Ephesians 2:12

verse 12,

of the Ephesian believers

before Jesus' intervention in their life,

he said this,

remember that you were at that time separated from Christ,

alienated from the commonwealth of Israel

and strangers to the covenants of promise,

having no hope and without God in the world.

So to be apart from God,

the true God that we worship through Jesus Christ,

is to be hopeless.

Apart from the mercy of God

and the personal work of Jesus Christ,

mankind is utterly hopeless

because their end is destruction.

Paul wrote to the Philippians,

Philippians 3, verse 18, part of 19,

Philippians 3:18

many of whom I have often told you

and now tell you even with tears,

walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.

Their end is destruction.

If you have not believed

in Jesus' accomplished work on your behalf,

you are hopeless.

As you see the hope of the born again

and long for the hope that we have

turned from the hopelessness of mankind

in repentance and faith this morning.

Third, and we'll spend most of our time here,

let's look at the hope of the born again.

Peter tells us that God is praiseworthy

because according to His great mercy,

He has caused us to be born again.

Notice first that it is according to His great mercy

that we have been shown mercy.

God is merciful.

It's part of His very character.

Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 4, 31,

The Lord your God is a merciful God.

We have nothing to offer

to the equation of our new birth.

So it is owing to the character of God

that we receive any benefit from Him.

It is because He is merciful

that He shows mercy.

Because of God's mercifulness toward mankind,

He has caused us to be born again.

Now, what does it mean to be born again?

And how does this happen?

I want you to turn with me to John 3.

I'm going to come off of 1 Peter for a bit,

but we'll get back there.

So mark it if you'd like.

What does it mean to be born again?

And how does this happen?

In John 3,

Jesus has a conversation

with a priest named Nicodemus.

And beginning in verse 3 and following,

John records,

Jesus answered him,

Truly, truly, I say to you,

unless one is born again,

he cannot see the kingdom of God.

So we get some clue

to what it means to be born again

that in order to see the kingdom of God,

we must be born again.

Those who are not born again

will not see the kingdom of God.

Verse 4,

Nicodemus said to him,

how can a man be born

when he is old?

Can he enter a second time

into his mother's womb

and be born?

I think this is some of the question

we may have.

We're going, wait a minute,

what does born again mean?

Verse 5,

Jesus answered,

Truly, truly, I say to you,

unless one is born of water

and the spirit,

he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

So clearly a different kind of birth

to be had.

Nicodemus said,

wait a second,

how is it that you're born again?

And he says,

no, I'm not talking about that birth.

I'm talking about a different birth,

a birth of the spirit.

This is a spiritual being born.

Verse 6,

That which is born of the flesh is flesh,

and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Do not marvel that I said to you,

you must be born again.

So, to be born again

is to be born of the spirit.

Here we find the precious doctrine

of regeneration.

God makes us new.

We do not and cannot work our way

into the kingdom of God.

We are not in some degree of rightness with God.

We are either not justified before Him,

or we are made new,

regenerate,

placing faith in the personal work of Jesus Christ.

We are justified before God.

It's positionally different.

So, we see that to be positionally different,

to be born again,

is to be born of the spirit.

In Ezekiel chapter 36, verse 27,

Ezekiel 36:27

God speaks to the prophet Ezekiel and says,

And I will put my spirit within you,

and cause you to walk in my statutes,

and be careful to obey my rules.

So, we see that this does not happen by human design.

It is not our plans that cause us to be born again.

It is not our willing that causes us to be born again.

God, by His great mercy,

has caused you to be born again.

And, I will add from John 3,

by the power of the Spirit.

He goes on in John 3, verse 8,

John 3:8

The wind blows where it wishes,

and you hear its sound,

but you do not know where it comes from,

or where it goes.

So, Jesus is saying,

the wind is a bit of a mystery.

Right?

We see the effect of the wind.

We see it moving through.

But, where does the wind come from?

Where does the wind go?

So, it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

This great mystery that God works within us.

New birth.

So, turn back with me a bit in the book of John, chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

Let's continue to explore this idea a bit

of what it means to be born again.

Verse 12 and 13, John chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

To all who did receive Him,

who believed in His name,

He gave the right to become children of God,

who were born, not of blood,

nor of the will of the flesh,

nor of the will of man,

but of God.

Okay?

So, we see once again,

it is not this working of ourselves,

not a working of the flesh,

nor of our will,

but we are born.

Well, what is the contingent placed upon that

in John 1.12?

Belief in His name.

Belief in His name.

And if you are familiar at all,

and I hope you are in some degree

with the gospel of Jesus Christ,

you know that we must believe in Christ.

Right?

In His personhood.

His name represents all of that.

But how does that come to pass?

Turn with me now to 1 John, chapter 5.

1 John 5 · chapter mention

1 John 1.12.

It's a helpful hermeneutic principle to you

as you're studying the Bible,

and you see things that seem confusing.

You need to go and see where else

the Bible talks about these things.

The Bible, God so cleverly helps us

to turn an idea over

and get our minds around

what these phrases mean.

So, 1 John, chapter 5, verse 1.

1 John 5:1

So, we're seeing that we must be born

of the Spirit.

God works as He causes in us

this new birth,

and that new birth necessitates

believing in Christ,

I'd say, His person and His work.

You can hear me say that to you often.

1 John, chapter 5, verse 1.

1 John 5:1

John writes,

Everyone who believes

that Jesus is the Christ

has been born of God.

And everyone who loves the Father

loves whoever has been born of Him.

So, see what John's doing for us.

Everyone who believes

that Jesus is the Christ.

So, there we're going back to John,

John 1:12

chapter 1, verses 12 and 13, right?

Those who did receive Him,

who believed in His name,

He gave this right to.

But in 1 John,

He clarifies for us, right?

Those who have been born of God

believe.

If we believe,

if we place faith in Jesus Christ,

it's because we've been born of God.

You see that in 1 John 5, verse 1?

1 John 5:1

I hope you do.

That's why I had you turn there to it.

Everyone who believes

that Jesus is the Christ

has been born of God.

God causes new birth

by the power of the Spirit

through His Word.

So, He brings all of this about.

It's a presentation to us.

He works it in us by His Spirit,

makes us new so that we will believe.

And this is a highly contested doctrine

in the church today.

And it's altogether biblical.

Go back to 1 Peter, chapter 1.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

I want to show you the one other place

that Peter uses the phrase,

born again,

and kind of drive it all home for you.

Look down in verse 23 and following.

Peter writes,

Since you have been born again,

not of perishable seed,

but of imperishable,

through, what?

The living and abiding Word of God.

For all flesh is like grass

and all gets glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers

and the flower fails,

but the Word of the Lord

remains forever.

And this Word

is the good news

that was preached

to you.

So,

God has caused us,

if you have in fact been born again,

He has caused you

to be born again

by the power of His Spirit

in the proclamation

of the good news

of Jesus Christ.

Whether you heard that in preaching,

or you read it from the Scripture,

or a friend told you about it,

watched a well-done YouTube video,

there are many ways

in which the truth of Jesus Christ

can be communicated to us.

And the Spirit of God

uses the Word of God

to bring about this new birth,

to cause us

to believe.

So,

why belabor the point?

I know many of you are going,

yeah, yeah,

like, we get it.

God saved us.

Why?

Because Peter takes the time

to do that.

It's the very thing

he's trying to say to us.

Why?

Because he wants us

to say with Him,

blessed be

the God and Father

of our Lord and Savior,

Jesus Christ.

Look at what He has done

for me,

an unworthy sinner,

a wicked man.

He,

because of His great mercy,

has caused me

to be born again.

Beloved,

this is the fuel

for Christian living

that we recognize

that God

in His good,

sovereign purpose

has saved us.

So,

not only has He

caused us to be born again,

but He's caused us

to be born again

to

a living

hope.

I think it is important

at this point

to make sure

we are clear

of what our Bible means

when we speak

of hope.

I've got a quotation here

from a man named

R.C. Sproul

that I think will serve us well

to that end.

He wrote,

Hope is called

the anchor of the soul.

That's from Hebrews 6.19.

because it gives stability

to the Christian life.

But,

hope is not simply

a wish.

That, by the way,

my wife,

I found out was sick

this morning.

Hope is not simply

a wish.

I wish that such

and such

would take place.

Rather,

it is that

which latches

on to the certainty

of the promises

of the future

that God

has made.

I'm going to read

that to you again.

Not simply a wish.

Rather,

it is that

which latches

on to

the certainty

of the promises

of the future

that God

has made.

Hope

is faith

in future tense.

Peter tells us

not only

that we

have

this hope,

but that it is

a living

hope.

What do you

suppose

is meant

by that?

It could

refer

to an active

hope.

As in a hope

in the future

promises of God

that will yield

fruit for us

today.

That it means

something now.

It's living

in that way.

And I think

in some measure

it does

mean that.

It could

refer to us

being

born again.

Peter is using

lots of

living

language here,

isn't he?

We're born again

and he talks

about it being

through the

resurrection

of Jesus

Christ.

So maybe

he's simply

trying to

characterize

hope.

And I also

think that

it could

and probably

does

mean that.

I think,

however,

that most

directly

and most

importantly,

it refers

directly to

the phrase

that immediately

follows

through the

resurrection

of Jesus

Christ

from the

dead.

I think

that Peter

means to

tell us

that we

have a

living hope

and that

hope is

Jesus Christ.

He's alive.

He is

our

living

hope.

Jesus

became a

man in order

to live the

perfect life

we should

have lived,

to die the

death that we

deserved,

and to

defeat death

by being

resurrected.

Christmas

is aimed

at

Easter.

Through

the resurrection

of Jesus

Christ,

Jesus

Christ

became

the

surety

of all

God's

promises

to us.

You see,

I think

this is

Peter's

logic,

right?

Blessed

be the

God and

Father of

our Lord

Jesus

Christ.

According

to his

great

mercy,

he has

caused

us

to

be

born

again.

He's

talking

about

our

regeneration,

our

salvation

to

this

living

hope

through

the

resurrection

of

Jesus

Christ,

who makes

all of

God's

promises

sure.

Paul wrote

in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 1:20

chapter 1

verse 20,

for all the

promises of

God find

their yes

in Jesus

Christ.

And in

1 Timothy

1,

1,

Paul opens

his letter

with this.

Paul,

the apostle

of Christ

Jesus,

by command

of our

God,

our Savior,

and of

Christ

Jesus,

our hope.

So,

we have

a living

hope,

which is

our

resurrected

Savior.

Everything

that follows

in verses

4 and

5,

I believe,

elaborate on

this idea

of being

born again

to a

living

hope.

Now,

if we

were

working

and doing

verse-by-verse

exposition

through 1 Peter,

at this point,

I would say,

and next week,

we will see

those things.

This would be

the part

2 of

1 Peter 3

through 5,

but we're not

right now.

We're working

through the

Advent season.

I want you

to see that

we have

this living

hope,

which is

Christ.

This is the

prominent thing

we want to

have on our

minds,

but I

don't want

to leave

you hanging

for the

last two

verses.

So,

in brief,

let me try

to pack

this in

before we

move on

and do

baptisms

here soon.

So,

elaborating on

this idea

of a

living

hope,

one,

we see

that through

Christ,

we have

an

inheritance.

Peter says

it is an

inheritance that

is imperishable,

undefiled,

and unfading,

and it is

kept in

heaven for

you.

We have

an

immortal,

perfect,

forever

inheritance,

and it is

secured in

heaven for

us.

We have

a much

greater and

grander

thing that

awaits us

beyond this

place.

I would love

at this point

to make an

elaborate case

to you that

Jesus Christ

himself is

that inheritance,

but I'll

digress for

now.

But this is

why we are

instructed in

places like

Matthew chapter

six to

store it for

ourselves,

treasure in

heaven,

where moth

and rust

do not

destroy,

rather than

here on

earth where

moth and

rust destroys

and where

thieves break

in and

steal.

We have

an inheritance

that is being

kept for

us.

Secondly,

through Christ

we have a

security.

Verse five

says that by

God's power

we are being

guarded through

faith for a

salvation ready

to be revealed

in the last

time,

that final

day when we

are glorified,

when we

persevere and

are preserved

to the very

end.

Those who

God saves,

he keeps.

And remember,

he has

caused us to

be born again.

Rejoice in

God's sovereignty

and your salvation

because it is

a sure thing.

If you are

his, you

are his

forever.

In John

John 10:28–30

chapter 10

verses 28

through 30,

Jesus said,

I give my

sheep eternal

life and

they will never

perish and no

one will snatch

them out of my

hand.

My father who

has given them

to me is

greater than

all and no

one is able to

snatch them out

of the father's

hand.

I and the

father are

one.

What a

precious,

truth that

we are

secure forever

in him if

we are his.

Paul wrote

in Philippians

Philippians 1:6

chapter 1

verse 6,

and I am

sure of

this,

that he who

began a good

work in you

will bring it

to completion

at the day

of Jesus

Christ.

And so we

have,

through Christ,

this inheritance

and this

security.

We have a

living hope

and a

careful

consideration

and reflection

on this

ought to

lift our

eyes from

the din of

this world

across the

next month

in order to

praise God's

name.

name.

So those

who God

has caused

to be born

again have

the living

hope to

the resurrection

of Jesus

Christ from

the dead

and a

perfect

inheritance

kept in

heaven for

us.

And we

are being

guarded

through faith

by God's

power to

the end.

this is

why we

join with

Peter and

the church

past and

present and

the chorus

of heaven

in saying

blessed be

the God

and father

of our

Lord Jesus

Christ.

Beloved,

this Christmas

season may

it be true

of us that

we will be

a people who

experience the

living hope

of the gospel

of Jesus

Christ.

Display the

living hope

of the gospel

of Jesus

Christ and

proclaim the

living hope

of the gospel

of Jesus

Christ.

May it be

true of us

this Christmas

season that

we will be

a people who

say with

all that we

feel and

do and

speak,

blessed be

the God

and father

of our

Lord Jesus

Christ.

Join me in

prayer.