1st Peter - A Living Hope (First Love Discipleship Series Book 4)

I do not think we need to debate that, though some have tried to question it. When the Roman soldier pierced his side with a spear, John's Gospel tells us, "blood and water came out," John Any doctor will tell you that that indicates the circulation of the blood had long since ceased. He had been dead for some time, thus allowing the plasma and red corpuscles to separate so as to give the appearance of blood and water. Then he was taken down; his body was wrapped in grave clothes all around so he could not move, and a wrapping was bound around his head -- as in the oriental style of burial -- so tightly that it would have been impossible for him to breathe.

He was laid in a tomb and sealed in with a rock, and left there for three days and three nights. So there is no question about death. And yet from that he returned. Here is the difference between the resurrection of Jesus and the books we are reading about today. These people who supposedly died returned back to the same life they left, and they will die again some day.

When Jesus Christ came back, he came back the same, but different. He identified himself to his disciples so that they had no doubt that it was he. Thomas was invited to put his hands in the wounds and see that it was the same body that was crucified, and yet it was not the same. There was a difference.

He was living in a different dimension of life. When men are resuscitated they die, supposedly, and then come back, but it is said of Jesus that having died, he dies no more. He came back, not merely having resisted death and recovered from it, he came back having conquered death. He was the master of death and of Hades. This, therefore, is the guarantee upon which our hope rests as we must face, one of these days, our own death. But that is not all. Peter speaks of this as a living hope, and living means it is something that comes to us every day; it is something that is available all the time.

It is in that sense that I want to conclude this message this morning by showing you that Jesus Christ alive from the dead is the answer to all the broken dreams, the collapsed hopes of your life and mine, the pressures that we feel from day to day, the sense of our failure and the inability to perform as we would like to perform. In the New Testament you can see how these early Christians were filled with a constant sense of the presence of Jesus with them. Everywhere they went they did so with joy and optimism and expectation.

When you read the book of Acts you see that from beginning to end it has a ring of triumph. I have in my library a book called The Empty Tomb, and it is supposedly the letters imaginary ones of Caiaphas, the high priest, to Annas, his father-in-law, describing his reaction to the resurrection of Jesus. This is an imaginary account, but it captures something of the surprise that the high priest must have felt as he observed the behavior of these early Christians:. How they could one day plan and carry through a gigantic hoax, and the next day be themselves taken in by it, is another thing that utterly defeats my understanding.

But that is what happened, and it changed them almost out of recognition. You could practically see them becoming new men before your eyes. Instead of the frightened, dispirited, weak creatures they were on the day of their leader's crucifixion, they were all at once transformed men of boldness, confidence and strength. Instead of being in terror of us as they had been, they did not seem to care a rap for any threat we made or even for any action we took.

They openly paraded their false doctrine in the very streets of the city and deliberately flouted our every effort to silence them. And still the perplexities continue to pile up. There is no explanation of this strange behavior on the part of the disciples other than the fact that Jesus was risen and he was with them. Nobody could see him but he was there, and he was strengthening them, helping them, and ministering to them.

You could take all these three promises that have to do with our death -- the promise of his companionship, the promise of an absence of fear, and the promise of a greater ability to function -- and you can apply them to every single hour of life if you know Jesus Christ. Now that is the great good news of Easter to me, that I am not left alone to face the problems of life without help. A man said to me last week, "My marriage was about over and my wife and I were on the verge of divorce.

I had given up all hope and didn't want to live anymore. Then I came to Christ. Just yesterday a woman said, "For years I was on a guilt trip in my life.

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There was never a moment that I had any peace, never a moment that I was free from the condemnation of a guilty conscience. Then I began to understand how Jesus loved me and that he is with me, and that he has made ample provision for every failure of mine. All I need to do is to acknowledge that failure and I experience afresh the restoration of his forgiveness.

What a peace that has brought into my heart and life! A few years ago I knew a young couple that had just recently married. Shortly afterwards the man came to me and said he had left his wife. I told him, "You can't do that," but he replied, "I have. I'll never go back to her, either.

I hate that woman, and she hates me. We don't want to see each other again. You can't talk like that. I can't stand her, and I'll never go back. That's your problem, between you and him. He replied, "Well, I read in the Scriptures where it says that Jesus will be with me to help me. If he's going to go with me, maybe he can make it different. I have been watching that marriage now for a number of years and it is a beautiful marriage.

A Living Hope

They have been going through some deep trials and discouragement, together, shoulder to shoulder. What that young man could not do, and did not think he could do, he found he had the ability to do when he obeyed and reckoned upon the power of Christ to help him. That has been the story of thousands of people today. I call attention, in closing, to the gateway by which this experience comes to us. How do you find Christ like that? Peter's answer is, "By his great mercy we have been born again unto as a living hope. Everybody is talking about them.

Chuck Colson has been born again; Eldridge Cleaver has been born again; Larry Flynt has been born again; Dean Jones has been born again. What does it mean? It simply means there came a time when, in their emptiness, in their loneliness or despair or whatever it may be, they responded to the invitation of Jesus Christ to come into their lives, and they invited him in. Jesus came in, and he began to make these changes.

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They were born again to a living hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Johnny Cash said, "A few years ago I was hooked on drugs.

I dreaded to wake up in the morning. There was no joy, peace, or happiness in my life. Then one day in my helplessness I turned my life completely over to God. Now I can't wait to get up in the morning to study my Bible. Sometimes the words out of the Scriptures leap into my heart. This does not mean that all my problems have been solved or that I've reached any state of perfection. However, my life has been turned around. I have been born again. One of the men very influential in the conversion of Charles Colson was Tom Philips, president of Raytheon Corporation.

I went, curious, I guess, hoping maybe I'd find some answers. What Graham said that night put it all in place for me. I saw what had been missing in my life -- the personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the fact that I have never asked him into my life and had never turned my life over to him. So I did it that very night at the crusade, and I was born again. Now that my life has been turned over to Christ, I can function with an extra power bestowed by God. Now, those are living, up-to-date testimonials of men who have found the truth of this 2, year old document to be the same today.

He is ready to meet us in the hour of death, but more than that, he is ready to meet us in the pressures of life. If you do not know him, you are going to have to struggle all through the weary weeks that lie ahead, doing the same old thing -- hoping, and finding your hopes dashed, trying to be sincere, and finding it all come apart until you can put your life into the hands of the only One who is capable of handling it.

That you can do in a moment of acceptance of his invitation to come into your life. We thank you Father for this great truth that Jesus Christ lives. He lives in many of our hearts this morning. He lives to forgive us, to sustain us, to encourage us, to strengthen us, to correct us. We thank you for his living life that guides us all the way through life to the end, and then does not leave us desolate, but takes us on through to that life beyond.

For that we give grateful thanks, and pray that everyone here this morning may know him as a personal Lord and Savior. With this in mind, consider using the materials as follows: For Week 1, there is no homework. The study begins with a video introduction. You will find a fill-in sheet on pages that you can use as you listen to the introductory material. Each guide begins with an introductory question to help group members get to know each other and feel comfortable contributing their voices to the discussion. These questions may prove to be most helpful during the early weeks of the study, but as the group grows more familiar with one another, group.

The remainder of the leader guide includes four questions to help group members compare what they have learned from their personal study on Days 2 through 5. These questions are either pulled directly from the personal study or they summarize a concept or theme that the personal study covered. Each two-part question covers content from a particular day of the personal study, first asking group members to reflect and then asking them to apply. The reflection questions typically ask group members to report a finding or flesh out an interpretation.

The application questions challenge them to move beyond intellectual understanding to identify ways to live differently in light of what they have learned. As a small group leader, you will want to review these questions before you meet with your group, thinking through your own answers, marking where they occur in the personal study, and noting if there are any additional questions that you might want to reference to help the flow of the discussion.

These questions are suggestions only, intended to help you cover as much ground as you can in a minute discussion time. They should not be seen as requirements or limitations, but as guidelines to help you prepare your group for the teaching time by allowing them to process collectively what they have learned during their personal study.

As a facilitator of discussion rather than a teacher, you are allowed and encouraged to be a colearner with your group members. This means you yourself may not always feel confident of your answer to a given question, and that is perfectly OK. Because we are studying for the long-term, we are allowed to leave some questions partially answered or unresolved, trusting for clarity at a later time. In most cases, the teaching time should address any lingering questions that are not resolved in the personal study or the small group discussion time.

On the one hand, we are troubled by the idolatry of personal consumerism and the politicization of faith; on the other hand, we are distressed by the unchallenged acceptance of theological and moral relativism. These movements have led to the easy abandonment of both biblical truth and the transformed living mandated by our historic faith. We not only hear of these influences, we see their effects. We have committed ourselves to invigorating churches with new hope and compelling joy based on the promises received by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We believe that in many evangelical churches a deep and broad consensus exists regarding the truths of the gospel.

Yet we often see the celebration of our union with Christ replaced by the age-old attractions of power and affluence, or by monastic retreats into ritual, liturgy, and sacrament. What replaces the gospel will never promote a mission-hearted faith anchored in enduring truth working itself out in unashamed discipleship eager to stand the tests of kingdom-calling and sacrifice. We want to generate a unified effort among all peoples—an effort that is zealous to honor Christ and multiply His disciples, joining in a true coalition for Jesus.

Such a biblically grounded and united mission is the. This reality compels us to stand with others who are stirred by the conviction that the mercy of God in Jesus Christ is our only hope of eternal salvation. Our desire is to serve the church we love by inviting all our brothers and sisters to join us in an effort to renew the contemporary church in the ancient gospel of Christ so we truly speak and live for Him in a way that clearly communicates to our age.

As pastors, we intend to do this in our churches through the ordinary means of His grace: We yearn to work with all who seek the lordship of Christ over the whole of life with unabashed hope in the power of the Holy Spirit to transform individuals, communities, and cultures. Each week we will begin our homework by reading through the entire Letter of 1 Peter from start to finish. By the time you complete the study, you will have read 1 Peter at least nine times. As it grows more familiar to you, watch for how your understanding expands and deepens. Your first task each week will be to note how this process is taking place.

So keep a set of colored pencils handy as you read. This week we will focus our efforts on dissecting the first 12 verses of chapter 1. Peter begins his letter with a greeting that does more than introduce the author—it is packed with intentional speech, speech that illuminates the nature of salvation, interweaving New Testament Truth with Old Testament imagery.

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Which section of the letter seems the most unclear to you? Remember our premise that the Bible is a book about God? We want to know Him better at the end of our study.

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Your notes might center on one member of the Trinity or the Godhead as a whole. Read asking these questions: What is He doing? What will He do? The father has foreknowledge about us and all things 1: The Spirit sanctifies us 1: Based on what you know from the introductory material, how do his opening lines speak directly to the needs of the people to whom he writes? To whom is Peter writing? Each of the regions is located in modern-day Turkey.

Peter most likely wrote his letter in Rome. His letter would have traveled 1, miles to reach the churches to whom he wrote. How far has his letter traveled to reach you? Google the distance from Rome to your city. We learned last week in our introduction that Peter wrote around 64 A. Across how many years has his letter traveled to reach you? Fill in the blanks below to help with your answer:. Some of the terms in 1: Read the verses in the ESV and then look up the following words in a dictionary, writing a brief definition for each:.

It is a useful study tool for a student of the Word. We will use it often in this study. Based on your definitions above, rewrite 1: How do you think his message will be relevant to us 2, years later and halfway across the globe?

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Look up the following passages and note what each adds to your understanding of this phrase: What other forms of hope are there? How is our hope superior to those? Write your thoughts below. What are you seeking to inherit in this life? Think about your desires and wants.

List some of them below. How should this knowledge affect your priorities? Specifically, what priority do you need to change? In what do we rejoice? Look up 1 Corinthians 4: Underline the phrase in which it occurs in green. Draw an arrow from the circled word to what was revealed.

An example is given below: How many occurrences did you find? Look up the following verses and note what each adds to your understanding of the purpose of trials in our lives: What point does he imply? Give a verse from elsewhere in Scripture to support your answer. How does 1 Peter 1: In this passage, what do we learn about the prophets of the Old Testament?

Specifically, what do we learn about: How has Peter challenged you to look beyond your current circumstances to a future inheritance?

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How has he encouraged you? Have you ever inherited something? If so, what was it? How is our hope superior to other forms of hope? Which of these things will not perish, spoil, or fade over time?