Well, we end with the final few verses of 1 Peter 4. I must say, I'm a bit sad because this chapter has been just incredibly convicting and encouraging for me, and I hope for you as well. Verse 16:
Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And
"If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"
Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
Well, in the chapter that has talked about God's judgment, where Peter concludes, is a bit surprising. I think of what I would say to struggling, suffering people as I'm getting ready to close down my communication to them, I probably wouldn't have said, "Oh, by the way, God's judgment begins with His house, His family."
Now, that may be confusing to you because you may be thinking, "Now, wait a minute, Paul. The whole message of hope in 1 Peter is that Christ took our judgment on the cross; He bore our penalty so we will never ever face condemnation, penalty for our sin. How is it then that God's judgment begins with His house, His children?"
Well, let me give you an illustration here of what he's talking about. Imagine you have a circuit court judge in Philadelphia, and he has criminals before him every day before his bench. But he has three children at home that he loves, guides, protects, and disciplines. How much scarier is His work of judgment behind that bench before those criminals who committed those crimes, than it is to those children that are part of his family that he loves? That's the distinction that's being made in this passage. We're now in God's house. We're now His children. It's never the judgment for our crimes; it's the loving discipline-Fatherhood-judgment of those who are His children. Yes, we will face His discipline, but we never have to be afraid that we are like the ungodly and the sinner who are not part of His house, who have not surrendered themselves to Him by His grace who are not His children.
And He ends by this, "Let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator by doing what is good." We don't have to be afraid even though life is hard because we have a faithful Creator. What is he talking about? God remembers His covenant promises to His children. They go back to the garden to that moment when Adam and Eve disobeyed, and God said, "I'm going to send One who will crush the head of the serpent." That's a finger pointed to Jesus who would provide defeat of sin and eternal life for His children. Don't be afraid; God will remember His promises!
