Greetings, from Peter
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” -1 Peter 1:1-2
EXILES: being barred from one’s native country, typically for political or punitive reasons (banishment. expulsion. deportation) —
Let’s get into it.
Technically, before the death of Christ, before knowing the hope we have today in Christ, we were exiles. We had no way of being in Eden after Adam and Eve. What was Eden? Eden was where perfection was first witnessed, where God created all that we see today, where man and woman were created to tend and create. It was supposed to be the place we were to be today but sin took that away. Adam and Eve were escorted out.
Can you imagine the thoughts they must have been going through, while they were leaving?
Wow, it was true, all that He said.
That dumb snake, why did I listen to Him, why did I want to believe what he said to me?
WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
The first thing we see take place in Genesis 4 is intimacy. Eve got pregnant and gave birth to Cain and the first thing she said was, “I have had a male child with the LORD’S help.”
Do you ever do something outside of the Lord’s help and regret it later and then you humble yourself and trust in the Lord and realize, ‘wow, I can do nothing without him, nothing outside of His will that will give him more glory than me letting go and trusting that Hi way and timing is best.’
I know that without the Lord’s help I most certainly would not be here or even alive but it was only by the Lord’s grace and mercy that He led me out of the black hole and into His marvelous light. Doesn’t mean that my days are perfect and I do not sin, it mean that I am daily reminded that I need him and cannot walk this life without him. Eve saw this as the first thing she did was give birth to a baby boy and knew that alone she would not have been able to.
I can’t imagine being Eve. Living in perfection and did the one thing God told her not to and it resulted in casting out, and not just her but all. WOW.
What is the hope?
The love of God for his creation. The knowing of God, that he knew we would falter, he knew we would doubt, yet, he still chose to create us and share his perfection with us.
The hope we have today is that the cross of Jesus Christ wasn’t the end of the story. He didn’t just die. He rose again and is seated at the right hand of the father, interceding on our behalf.
God had a plan since the beginning of time because he knew we would fall. The plan was that through the sacrifice of His Son, we would put our hope and faith in and be one with God. Only by putting our faith in Jesus can we be restored into relationship with God, and through it we are called to live our lives in submission to God, “to be holy, because I am holy.”
The only way to be holy is to be in Christ. The world thinks holiness is doing all the right things, but it is not, apart from Christ all that is done is in vain. In 1 Corinthians 15:58 we read, “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” We also read in John 15:4, “Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.” Nothing we do apart from Him will produce lasting fruit. If you are doing holy things without the spirit of God in you, that He has freely given us when we step into faith in Christ, just stop doing those things. You need to repent, you need to humble yourself, you need to recognize that Christ alone is the answer to all your questions. Christ is the answer to your desire to do things for attention, another like, applause, and recognition. The desire for every disciple of Christ should be to do nothing but serve God with all their heart, mind, strength and soul and to love their neighbor.
WARNING.
Even as believers we can get stuck in the doing holy things, but not truly walking in the Spirit, if we are not remaining and abiding in Christ. We can be doing things in our own strength and then get so frustrated and burnt out, why? Because we have forgotten our first love.
So, why choose to walk holy as Jesus?
It sanctifies us. It sets us apart from this world, so that they may see the goodness of God in us.
It builds our intimacy with God. Our intimacy with Him is what we need to walk with Him faithfully. If we don’t spend time with him how will we know what to do? Just like what you study is what will come out of you. You aren’t going to just let anyone fix a bone in your body, no your going to go to someone who has experience, who has studied and done the work to know how to fix what is wrong with you. Do you trust God with your whole life or not? It is either you do or you don’t.
It frees us from sin. Our desires change. We won’t want to do anything that will be bring sadness to God, we will stay clear, we will see it and not go to it, we will pray for those that are in it and desire to share the gospel to them.
STRIVE TO BE HOLY.
STRIVE TO BE HOLY BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT MERCY .
STRIVE TO BE HOLY BECAUSE OF THE NEW LIFE YOU HAVE ONLY BECAUSE OF CHRIST.
STRIVE TO BE HOLY BECAUSE OF THE LIVING HOPE.
STRIVE TO BE HOLY BECAUSE THE WORLD IS WATCHING.
STRIVE TO BE HOLY BECAUSE YOU DON’T KNOW WHEN YOUR LAST DAY WILL BE AND JESUS IS RETURNING, MAY HE FIND YOU READY WITH YOUR LAMP BURNING.
Let the Beauty of God’s sanctification take place, you will never be the same.
