"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."
What I thought about:
This verse is PACKED with tons of truths from God! I love it! There is no way I can take it all in!
First, God is blessed! This seems more of an expression of praise from Peter's heart in the introductory statements he makes to his readers. It's almost as if God has so richly lavished Peter with Himself that the love Peter has in return is overflowing in praise and thanksgiving. He is deserving of my praise and worthy of my life--how could anyone not be overflowing with praise for what He has done?
According to his great mercy: I was looking for a place where Scripture sheds a little bit of light on this truth, to sort of help explain it more fully. I found a phrase in Habakkuk 3:2 that, I think, does this: "in wrath, remember mercy" [speaking to God in prayer]. The contrast is wrath/anger/judgement versus withholding those things to those who deserve it. Well, I most certainly deserve the wrath of God in my life. I am a great sinner against the holiness of God. My sin has angered the Lord Almighty and is deserving of his wrathful judgement. But praise Him! Praise Him because this is not so anymore! The God of the universe saw me in my sin and had MERCY on me! He has withheld his judgements towards me, and instead gave me life in His son, Jesus. Praise God for having GREAT mercy towards me.
It is according to this great mercy that He has caused me to be born again. In my sin, I was spiritually dead and unresponsive to any life-giving power from God. There was no way that I could have had faith or believed in anything in this condition. I was dead! (Eph. 2:1-2). But God cause me to be born again!! I have new life in Jesus because God did it! Praise Him for giving me life in His son! When I was deserving of wrath, He gave me life!
I was born again to a living hope. As a man that could once hope in nothing, but only expect judgement and condemnation, I can now look ahead to a glorious, hopeful, future! A future where I am forever united with Christ in eternity, and God's riches will be overflowing. I long to see the face of Jesus!! This is, by far, going to be the greatest thing about heaven...seeing my great Savior! This hope is alive and well in my soul. I eagerly wait for that day when He calls me home so that I can be in the presence of my Lord. I remember a quote from one of BJ Higgins journals that resonates in my heart: "My brightest moment, which will be beyond anything that anyone in this world can imagine, and also that will last forever, is spending eternity in heaven with my Lord." Well, BJ is already in his brightest moment and I'm sure enjoying every second of it.
This is all done through Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead. If Jesus could not have life from death, there is no way (!) I ever could. My new birth is only because Christ rose first. What a glorious truth! Jesus Christ rose from the grave so that I could be born again to a living hope! Death could not keep Him! The grave could no hold Him!
Amazing! No wonder Peter praises God right off the bat in his letter--this just scratches the surface of what God has done, but even in this, I have reason to give glory to my great God and Father.
Nothing to cross I bring, except my life--to lay it down and live and die for my Lord. He is worthy of my life because my life was bought with a price--the cost was His blood shed for me.
Thank you, Father! Thank you that You have show mercy to me instead of judgement. I am deserving of Your wrath because of how I have greatly offended You with my sin. But You chose to show mercy to me. And in that mercy, You cause me to have new life by being born again. And in that life, I have reason to hope in a glorious future to spend eternity with my great God and King. And... and... and... Just look at all that You have done for me! I can offer You nothing but my life. Even that doesn't compare to the infinite blessings You have poured out to me, yet I can think of nothing that would give you the greatest pleasure and glory. Thank You for sending Jesus to die for me, to take my sin and pay the penalty that I deserve. Thank You that He didn't stay in the grave, but came back to life so that I could have a living hope in Him. You are my greatest treasure. May I live my life in such a way that shows the world that this is true! You are a great and awesome God! Blessed be the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.
1 comment:
Welcome to the blogging world, Andy. Look forward to talking to you.
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