1 Peter 1:10-21
September 30th, 2018
Main Idea: In response to being recipients of salvation promised in the Scriptures, we are called to live in holiness through Christ.
I. A CALL TO BEHOLD (1:10-12)
1. The Bible is one unified story
2. The Bible is centered on Jesus Christ
3. The Bible is illuminated by the Holy Spirit
4. The Bible is for us
The cosmic sweep of God’s redemption is all centered in Christ, whom we know and love. The petty dreams of earth’s little tyrants shrivel before the majesty of the kingdom of God, ministered by prophets and apostles, but now realized for those who know Jesus Christ - Ed Clowney
The angels are literally “obsessed” and “stooping down” or “straining” to see this story of redemption. Are we doing the same? Are we reading our Bible this way?
II. A CALL TO HOLINESS (1:13-16)
“Therefore” reminds us that the indicatives of the gospel always come before the imperatives. What God has done for us in and through Christ always precedes what we are called to do for him in response.
“Being “holy” includes the sense of belonging to God, a people marked off and separate from the world by their way of life.” ~ I. Howard Marshall
Our motivation for holiness is the very holiness of God himself, which we have experienced through the work of Christ.
In Leviticus, the holiness of God is dangerous, because the people of Israel are unholy and sinful. Jesus comes as the fulfillment of the message of Leviticus by transferring his holiness and his purity to us.
III. A CALL TO FEAR (1:17-21)
Peter sees the “fear of God” and the “Fatherhood of God” as being completely compatible. The “Fear of God” is a reverent awe and respect for God who is omnipotent and omniscient.
But God is also our Father- the one who loves us and whom we must give an account. This is all meant to be an incentive toward holiness in our lives.
“Ransomed” literally means that we are “bought-back.” This is not by silver and gold, but by the precious blood of Christ. His blood is our redemption.
When we are tempted to return to “the passions of our former ignorance,” we are commanded to remember our ransom; we have been bought with a price, which means we are not our own. We belong to God, our Father, who through Jesus Christ has made us believers and given us faith and hope.
