Our Birth: Cosmic

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I'll be reading today's scripture lesson from the first letter of Peter,

chapter 1, verses 1 to 5, and 23 to 25, and chapter 5, verses 12 to 14.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, exile scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus,

Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father

through the sanctifying work of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,

who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,

through the living and enduring word of God.

For all people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.

The grass withers, and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly,

encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God.

Stand fast in it.

She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark.

Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Good morning, Christ Church.

As we gathered together last Sunday, we introduced the themes of this great letter of 1 Peter,

and we looked at those first two verses.

And today, I want you to notice the way that this Christian, one of the first Christians,

and this great apostle of Jesus Christ, notice how he speaks as he begins this letter.

He says in verse 3,

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter can barely start talking.

He can hardly get past his introduction, and he's just bursting forth in praise at the beginning of this letter.

And in this, he's doing what all the early Christians did.

The moment he mentions the triune God, the moment he says the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

he's like a little child on Christmas morning who can hardly contain herself.

He says, Praise be, glory be, thanks be to God.

And this is characteristic of the early church, and it's been characteristic in all the periods of reformation and revival and renewal in the church.

There's just this sense of joy, this sense of praise that comes bursting forth from God's people.

And Peter, to remind you, he's writing to these Christian exiles and foreigners who are living in, quote unquote, Babylon,

who are suffering many trials, suffering a lot of grief and difficulty because they're following the way of Jesus.

And he's writing to them saying, Here is something that you can greatly rejoice in.

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

And what is Peter responding to?

What's causing him to just burst forth in praise and worship and adoration and thanksgiving?

It says in verse 3, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

He's rejoicing in the great mercy of God.

He's rejoicing in this God who has mercifully given us these three glorious gifts.

And that's what we want to explore today, these great gifts from this merciful God.

And what Peter is telling us is that Christianity, biblical Christianity, historic Christianity,

rejoices in a living hope, a new birth, and an eternal inheritance.

Christianity, Christianity rejoices in a living hope.

First of all, Christianity rejoices in a living hope.

Again, this is what he says,

In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is vital and central and foundational to the Christian faith.

In fact, there's no Christianity apart from the resurrection of Jesus.

And as we think back to those events at that time, we remember that Peter himself, Peter who's writing this letter,

Peter disowned Jesus three times.

And in that moment, when he was disowning and denying Jesus, he called down curses on himself and he said,

I don't even know this man.

I don't even know who you're talking about.

And in that moment, we're told in the gospel that he broke down and he wept.

And he was utterly downcast in misery and sorrow.

And then shortly thereafter, Jesus died on the cross.

And in that moment, Peter's hopes came to an end.

Peter was stuck in his failure.

Peter was condemned in his guilt and his shame and his fear of what is it going to be like now to stand before the judgment of God.

And so what was it that relieved Peter of his misery?

What came in to Peter's life to give him relief from his great failure and his great condemnation?

Well, it was this, that on Easter Sunday morning, Peter himself went and saw the empty tomb.

And he heard the message from that tomb that he's not here, he's risen.

And Peter later on that day, he went and he saw Jesus that night.

On Easter Sunday night, he heard Jesus and he touched Jesus.

And he ate with the resurrected and living Jesus.

And this happened over the course of those next 40 days until Jesus' ascension into heaven.

In fact, we're told in the gospel of John, this great story at the end of John's gospel, that last chapter, chapter 21,

Jesus asked Peter three times,

Do you love me?

Do you love me?

Do you love me?

And in that moment, he's restoring Peter for his threefold denials.

And he's saying to Peter, feed my sheep.

Feed my sheep.

Feed my sheep.

Feed my sheep.

So what was it that transformed Peter?

How did hope come alive for Peter?

Well, he had these encounters with the living Lord.

And what was it that happened to Peter then when the Holy Spirit came,

when the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost?

Peter, he gave the first Christian sermon in Jerusalem.

And here's just a little portion of what he said in that sermon to this gathering of Jewish people.

He said,

God raised Jesus Christ from the dead,

freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

God raised this Jesus to life,

and we are all witnesses of it.

Exalted to the right hand of God,

he, Jesus,

has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit

and has poured out what you now see and hear.

What is Peter saying?

Well, he's saying that if Jesus has been raised to this new sort of bodily life,

this new sort of transphysical life,

then we can have the confidence that this crucified man is actually now the living Lord

and that he now occupies the highest place in the cosmos,

that he's exalted to the throne of God the Father himself

and that he is even now pouring out the Holy Spirit upon his church

as his people are praying for the Holy Spirit.

What Peter's saying is that the resurrected Jesus is alive

and he's active in our lives even now.

He's not just a figure of the past,

he's our living contemporary.

He's the living focus of our lives.

He's the living reality of our worship and our fellowship and our mission.

The historic Jesus is the contemporary Christ,

and he's filling his disciples with this electrifying intensity

of his resurrection power.

Now, that's how Peter preaches to Jewish people,

but what about when he's not with Jewish people?

How does he preach?

What does he say to non-Jewish Greco-Roman pagans?

Virtuous pagans, but pagans.

Well, we're told that when he goes to the Gentile centurion of the Roman army,

his name's Cornelius,

and he goes to his family, his extended family, his whole household,

probably a hundred different people of all his employees

and the folks who are related to him,

and here's what Peter says in that message in Acts chapter 10.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

He says,

They killed Jesus by hanging him on a cross,

but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.

He was not seen by all the people,

but by witnesses whom God had already chosen,

by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify

that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead,

and all the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him

receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

Again, what Peter's saying is that even now,

Jesus is alive and Jesus is active,

and he is the one who's orchestrating the preaching of the gospel.

He's the one who's enabling people to believe.

He's the one who's doling out the forgiveness of sins,

and he is the one, Peter says,

who will judge the living and the dead

as the one whom God has appointed to that awesome task,

and that all people, all the people that have ever lived

and all the people you've ever met

are going to stand before this Jesus

and look at him in the eyes

and given accounting to him as the judge of all the earth.

Christians are people who believe objectively

that Jesus has been bodily raised from the dead,

and we're people who experience subjectively

that Jesus is among us,

giving us his life and his power.

And this is why he says in verse 3,

in his great mercy he has given us new birth

into a living hope

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Peter is encouraging these Christian exiles and foreigners

who are experiencing a very hard time.

They're suffering great trials

because they're being faithful to the ways of Jesus

in their culture,

and what Peter is saying to them

is that your hope is not a dead hope.

Your hope is not a lifeless hope.

Your hope is a lively and a living hope.

It's not shadowy.

It's not uncertain.

It's not nebulous or indefinite.

Your hope is as vibrant as Jesus Christ,

the resurrected Jesus,

is full of life and power.

And this, my friends,

is not mere optimism or cheerfulness.

This is not the power of positive thinking

that minimizes our problems

and our difficulties and our trials.

No, what Peter is saying

is that however badly you are treated

because of the way of Jesus,

what's more true than all of that

is that you have a living hope to sustain you,

is that you have a living hope

that can enable you to endure,

that you have a living hope

that enables you to live as more than conquerors,

a living hope in which you share

in the triumph and the victory of Jesus himself.

And again, this does not negate

any of our negative experiences.

This does not mean that we will not continue

to feel all those basic human emotions

of sadness and anxiety and all the rest,

but what Peter is saying is that

there's just a deeper and a wider reality

that we've all come to live in.

That this Jesus, the Lord Jesus,

who was crucified on Friday,

came out of his grave on Sunday.

And Peter says,

that is what is gripping me.

That's what is moving me and thrilling me

and making me cry out,

blessed be the God

and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

blessed because Jesus didn't remain in his grave.

Jesus was brought out from his tomb

and he conquered over death.

And if Jesus is not dead,

Peter implies,

then he went through sin

and he went through death

and he went through hell

back into that eternal realm of glory

from whence he came to us.

He vanquished sin

and he conquered death

and he triumphed over hell

and he's gone victoriously

through all of those things

for us

to the other side

where he rules

and he reigns in glory

as the King of Kings

and the Lord of Lords.

This, Peter says,

is our living hope.

Our living hope is not a thing

that can be dashed

and lead to disappointment.

Our living hope is a person

who is indestructible

and who can deliver, therefore,

on all of his promises.

In most churches,

that's where you say amen.

Amen.

If you're here exploring Christianity

and you have questions

about the resurrection,

as we said on Easter Sunday,

there's a lot of wonderful,

rich resources for you

to examine the evidence of this.

And I'd point today to a book.

Unfortunately, I gave out all my copies

in this Easter season,

but Rebecca McLaughlin

has a great short little book

called Is Easter Unbelievable?

Four Questions Everyone Should Ask

About the Resurrection Story.

And if that's you

and you're exploring that,

I commend that little book to you.

Is Easter Unbelievable?

But if you're a Christian

and Jesus is your living hope,

I guess my question for you is,

what is your plan

to spend time

with your living hope this week?

How will you listen to

what your living hope

has to say to you

through his word?

How are you going to talk to

and respond to your living hope

about all the concerns

of your life this week?

Christianity rejoices

in a living hope.

But Christianity not only rejoices

in this living hope,

Christianity rejoices also

in a new birth.

Christianity rejoices

in a new birth.

What Peter's saying

is that we have a living hope

not only because Jesus lives,

but because by God's great mercy

we also live.

We sang about this

just a little bit ago.

That God has not only given

new life to the resurrected Jesus,

but he's given new life to us.

Again, Peter says,

in his great mercy,

verse three,

in his great mercy

he's given us new birth.

And then down in verse 23

he says,

for you have been born again

not of perishable seed,

but of imperishable

through the living

and enduring word of God.

Some of you might say,

oh dear,

is this one of those churches

where we're going to talk

about being born again?

I thought that was just

for certain types of people

with big time troubles,

not us educated,

put together folks.

I thought that was just

for certain kinds of churches,

certain kinds of Christians

who need sort of an emotional,

cathartic experience,

not for us.

But I think for many Christians

and especially among our friends

and neighbors here in the East Bay,

there's a lot of discomfort with

and even confusion by

this language of the new birth

and being born again.

So I just want to ask the questions,

what is the ancient biblical meaning

of this word?

Anaganeo.

What does that mean?

And why is the New Testament

saturated with this doctrine

that's so central and vital

to the Christian faith?

What does it mean to be begotten again

or born again?

What does it mean to experience

the new birth?

I think the best way

to talk about this

is to go to the Gospel of John,

chapter three.

It's a famous story.

It's a man named Nicodemus.

And he comes to Jesus

as a rabbi in Israel.

He's a member of the Sanhedrin,

which basically means he's a senator.

He's successful.

He's wealthy.

He's a pillar of his community.

He knows the scriptures.

He adheres to the law of God.

He's a paragon of moral excellence

and religious observance.

This is basically as good a person

as you can think of,

as good a person

as you could hope to find.

And he comes and he's humble

before Jesus.

He's open to Jesus.

He wants to learn from Jesus.

And how does Jesus respond

to Nicodemus in John three?

Jesus says,

Very truly I tell you,

no one can see the kingdom of God

unless they're born again

or born from above.

Nicodemus said,

How can someone be born

when they are old?

Surely they cannot enter

a second time

into their mother's womb

to be born.

He's astonished

by what Jesus has just said to him.

And Jesus answered,

He said,

Very truly I tell you,

no one can enter

the kingdom of God

unless they are born

of water and the Spirit.

You should not be surprised

at my saying

you must be born again.

Jesus does not say

to this great man,

You know what you need?

You need to be topped off

a little bit.

What you need is

to be supplemented here

and improved there.

And what we need

is just to kind of

complete you, Nicodemus.

No, he says to Nicodemus,

You've got to start over.

None of the good

that you've done

or none of the good

that you might be able to do

counts at all.

You've got to begin again

as a spiritual baby.

And this is so important

because many people

think that Christianity

is about putting your faith

in Jesus and his death

and his resurrection

so that you can be forgiven

of your sins.

And that's true enough.

But what happens next?

When you're forgiven

of your sins,

what do you do then?

Are you just left

to struggle

and to sweat

and to fight

and to try to live

a good life?

Are you left then

to just kind of

in your own resources

follow Jesus' example

and live according

to the Ten Commandments

and live according

to this high ethical standard

in the Sermon on the Mount?

If you've ever tried

to do that

just on the basis

of being forgiven,

you know that it's impossible.

You cannot do it.

If you try that

in your own power,

you're going to fail miserably

and be utterly hopeless.

Why is that?

Because we need a new life.

We need a new identity.

We need a new outlook

and a new power

if we're going to live

the Christian life.

Jesus does not tell Nicodemus

what you really need

is to be forgiven.

That's true.

But what he says

to Nicodemus is

you need to be regenerated

with a new birth,

a new beginning

so that you can live

an entirely new

and different kind of life.

And this is what

the Apostle Paul is saying

in 2 Corinthians 5, 17.

He says,

therefore if anyone

is in Christ,

you're a new creation.

The old has passed away.

Behold,

the new has come.

Why is it necessary

to be born again

as a new creation?

Why is it necessary

to be born again

into this new life?

Well,

Peter says in verse 23,

for you've been born again

not of perishable seed

but of imperishable

through the living

and enduring

word of God.

What he's saying there

is that in your first birth,

that was from

a perishable seed.

Meaning that the seed

of your parents

had sin and death in it.

It was a corruptible seed.

It was a poison seed

because of the first Adam

and Eve

and all the way down

there was a taint

of evil

and something was off

in it.

And so what is needed

for this new birth,

this second birth,

he says,

is the implanting

of a different kind

of seed.

An imperishable seed.

An incorruptible seed.

And what Peter's saying

is that when God

puts his divine life

in you,

when God puts his abundant

and eternal life

into you,

you become a new person.

A person that's

completely different

than the person

you were before.

You become,

as Peter will say

in his next letter,

you become a partaker

of the divine nature.

And that means

that you have

a new heart

and you have

a new mind,

a new will

and a new conscience.

A new outlook

and a new identity

and a new power,

a new being

because you have

the life of God

in your soul.

Now I want to think

about this for a moment

from a particular

vantage point

and that is to

think for a second

about all the

baby boom

that's been happening

at Christ Church.

It's been somewhat

prolific in this past year.

Here's all our

not yet one-year-olds

in this church

is Isabella,

Robin,

Meredith,

Suri,

Shiru,

Teddy,

Neri,

Samuel,

and Ethan.

And we've even had

like three kids

just recently move away,

three babies,

but we have

replacements coming.

Two more

are on the way

in May and July.

And that's almost

like one baby

per month

that's being cranked

out here at Christ Church.

So we can,

if you pray for anyone,

pray for their mothers

today.

But for each

of these babies,

their birth

was a definite event

in their lives

that is going to have

ongoing consequences

for them.

And it doesn't really

matter when they

were born.

You know,

if they were born

at night

in the winter

or the morning

in the summer.

It doesn't really

matter how they

were born,

natural birth,

C-section.

It doesn't matter

where they were born,

at home

or in the hospital

or in the car

from the home

to the hospital.

What really matters

for each one

of these babies

is that they

were born,

that they have

new life.

And this is the same

in the second birth

or the new birth.

It doesn't matter

how you were born.

Whether it happened

for you fast

or slow.

Whether for you

it was subtle

or quite dramatic.

What happens,

what really matters

is that this new birth

took place

in your life.

And it has ongoing

consequences for you.

And in the same way,

you know,

none of these births

is something

that we,

you know,

go and congratulate

the child,

like,

way to go.

It's not something

that the baby did.

Right?

No one gives

themselves birth.

It happens to you.

And someone did it

for you,

which is why

all of you

should go call

your mom

and tell her

how much you love

her today.

And it's the same

way in the second birth.

In the new birth,

nobody can create

their own life.

Nobody can bring

something out of

nothing but God.

And this is what

James says

in his great letter

in James chapter 1

James 1:18

verse 18.

He says,

God the Father

chose to give us birth.

You didn't choose that.

God the Father

chose to give us birth

through the word

of truth

that we might be

kind of first fruits

of all he created.

So what I'm trying

to tell you today

is that a Christian

is a person

who's been born

not one time

but two times.

And so my question

is,

have you experienced

the new birth?

And if you haven't

experienced it

but you want to,

ask God for his mercy.

In his great mercy,

Peter says,

he has given us

new birth.

Ask him

to mercifully put

his divine life

into your soul

today.

Because your greatest

need is to know

God as your Father

and to know him

as a child of God

so that you can

call on him

and be blessed

by him.

And if you have

received the new birth,

then again,

I want to ask you

what is it going

to look like

this week

to begin your day

saying,

Abba Father.

Abba Father

who gave me birth.

Holy is your name.

Heavenly Father,

thank you for giving me

new birth

and new life

into your kingdom.

I want your

heavenly kingdom

to come into the earth

through me today.

Lord,

Abba Father,

let your life

flow through me today.

Christianity rejoices

in a living hope.

And Christianity

also rejoices

in a new birth.

And finally,

I want to end

by talking about

how Christianity

rejoices in an

eternal inheritance.

Christianity rejoices

in an eternal

inheritance.

What does this new

birth and this

being born again

lead to?

It's just the beginning.

But what does it

lead to?

He says in verse 3,

in his great mercy

he has given us

new birth

into a living hope

through the resurrection

of Jesus Christ

from the dead.

And here it is,

into an inheritance

that can never perish,

spoil, or fade.

This inheritance

is kept in heaven

for you

who through faith

are shielded

by God's power

until the coming

of the salvation

that is ready

to be revealed

in the last time.

What Peter's

talking about here

is not about life

after death

with God in heaven

as great as that

is going to be.

What Peter's

talking about here

is the God

who made the world

as a perfect paradise.

And this God

who's not going

to be satisfied

until all of his creation

has been fully

and beautifully restored.

He's talking about

how the Lord

is going to renew

his whole creation

and he's going to destroy

everything that's evil,

everything that's sinful,

everything that's stained

and ugly

and foul

in that creation.

and instead

he's going to establish

the kingdom of God

fully and finally

and forever

on the earth.

What Peter's describing

is a coming new birth

not just of individual people

but a new birth

of the whole universe.

A new birth

of the universe

that's going to include

the resurrection

of our bodies

where we are going

to be delivered

from all the vestiges

of illness

and of weakness

and of sin

and of shame

and we like Jesus

are going to have

a glorious body.

That's your inheritance.

That's the coming salvation

that's ready

to be revealed

at the last time.

And what Peter's saying

is that this same power

that's going to renew

the whole world

at the end of history

is the same power

that comes into your life now

through faith in Jesus Christ.

Christ.

And how do you know

that that power of God

has come into you?

How do you know

that you have the new birth

and the living hope?

He says ask yourself

this very simple question.

What am I looking forward to

as my inheritance?

What am I looking forward to

as my inheritance?

Am I looking forward

to things that are going

to perish

or spoil

or fade?

Am I looking to things

that are going to be subject

to disappointment

and disorder

and darkness

and depression

and disease

and death?

Peter is telling us

that we need

an inheritance

that's impervious

to all of these

inevitabilities

in this world.

And Peter's saying

I want you to look

for a moment

dear friends

at an inheritance

that you did not earn

and that you cannot lose.

He says

there's a salvation

for you

that's finished

and it's perfect

and it's unchangeable

and it's being kept

by God

for you.

And what he's doing

is he's encouraging

these Christian exiles

these Christian foreigners

living in

quote unquote

Babylon

who are suffering

grief

in all kinds

of difficult trials.

People who literally

have been displaced

from their homes

because of Jesus.

People who have lost

their inheritances

because they're following

the way of Jesus

and what he's telling them

is that this world

and your life

in this world

as important as it is

is not your true home.

It's not your true inheritance.

We are living

and we are waiting

for the new creation

to come.

And what's so great

about your inheritance

Peter says

is that it can never

perish or spoil

or fade.

It's imperishable

meaning that it's free

from death and decay

that would ruin it.

It's undefiled

meaning that it's free

from evil and sin

and impurity

that would spoil it.

It's unfading

meaning that it's free

from the ravages

of time

that would make it faint

and feeble

and ultimately to fail.

You know many people

think that the gospel

is if I just try

to be good

then maybe someday

something good

will happen to me

God will be good

to me and bless me

but friends

the gospel is so much

more sure than that.

The gospel says

that because of Jesus

and what he's done

on my behalf

not only am I accepted

by God now

but there's a salvation

that's being kept

for me in a way

that's utterly safe

and secure

in a way that's

untouched by death

and unstained by evil

and unimpaired

by time

a salvation for me

that is guaranteed

and not only

is our inheritance

and our salvation

kept by God

but Peter says

we ourselves

are being kept

by God

even now

shielded

guarded

by his power

until the day

when we inherit

our great salvation.

so friends

have you been born again

into this living hope

and this great inheritance

this great salvation?

Have you been born again

out of this

lifeless hope

and perishable inheritance

and unreliable salvation

that this world offers to you?

the gospel says

that God

has an inheritance

that's waiting

for me

that I'm going to receive it

from him

and I'm going to be raised up

to see his face

and I'm going to be like him

and I'm going to have

a glorified body

in a renewed earth

and living in a realm

that's incorruptible

and I'm going to reign

with him forever.

Have you been born again

into that inheritance?

Have you experienced

this new birth

into a living hope?

An imperishable inheritance?

A secure salvation

that Jesus has won for you?

And if you say

yes I have

then the right thing

to say today

the right way

to feel today

is praise be

to God

the Father

of our Lord Jesus Christ

praise him

for his great

mercy toward us

in the name of the Father

Son and Holy Spirit

Amen.