Transcript
My experience as I've been out there traveling around the world which God has given me the opportunity to do, being in good churches around the world is this -- that people tend to have a pretty good understanding of salvation-past, the forgiveness they've received in Christ and they tend to have a pretty good understanding of salvation-future, the eternity they will spend with Christ; but they're a bit confused about the present benefits of the work of Christ in the here and now.
The Now-ism of the Gospel in 1 Peter 5
What does it look like to live in light of the gospel right here, right now? What's the now-ism of the gospel look like? And I think you find an incredibly helpful summary at the end of 1 Peter. 1 Peter 5, Peter's writing people that are being hammered. They're suffering in life in a fallen world.
It's interesting that Peter's letter is not just a letter of sympathy. It's really marching orders. It's, "Okay, how do you live between the 'already' and the 'not yet' in light of the work of Jesus in this broken world?" Let me read a few verses from 1 Peter 5, beginning with verse 6.
6Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, 7casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. 8Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Five Practical Directives
There are in those little verses five very helpful, very practical directives that capture what it means to live the gospel in your everyday life. Here's the first one. Know your place. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. There is a King and He is not you.
That means two things. First, you can't allow yourself to insert yourself in the center of your world and to make it all about you -- my wants, my needs, my feelings. If there's anything that the gospel teaches us, it's not about us, it's about Him, but it means something else that's very precious.
It means you don't have to load kingly burdens on your shoulders. All the burdens of care and concern, all the what-if's, all the if-only's that you could load on your shoulders that produce all kinds of worry and discouragement and anxiety because you can know this.
A Capable King Who Happens to Be Your Savior
There is a capable King who happens to be your Savior, who rules over everything in your life. It's impossible for you to ever be in a situation, it's impossible for you to ever be in a location, or a circumstance, or a relationship that isn't ruled by your Savior King.
And Ephesians says that He rules over all those things for the sake of His body, the church. He doesn't just rule, He rules things for our sake. You'll get up in the morning and can remind yourself, "There is a King and it is not me," and everything that is not under my control, everything that would cause me worry, fear, or anxiety is carefully being managed by Him for His good, for my good and for His glory. What an awesome thing to remember.
