What do you say to someone who is badly broken, whose dreams have been shattered and whose life is in constant disarray and turmoil? How do you comfort a Christian who wakes up every day to a job he hates or to a chronic pain she can barely endure or to the frustration of dealing with people who disregard your opinions and mock your faith?
Where does the believer, the one who has been elected according to the foreknowledge of God and set apart by the gracious work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus, where does that person find strength to persevere and courage to keep getting up in the morning when the easiest thing would be to simply pull the covers over your head and tell the world where it can go? How do you encourage that person whose faith in Christ and efforts to live humbly and righteously result only in disappointment and slander and mistreatment and disrespect?
The answer here in 1 Peter virtually jumps off the page! Although this morning I’m only going to look at one portion of vv. 3-5, I wanted you to see the broader context in which it is found because it is in that context that we find the answer to our question. Vv. 6-7 are Peter’s first explicit reference to the suffering and trials his readers are experiencing. He speaks of them being “grieved by various trials” (v. 6). In 1 Peter 2:12 he refers to the slander they endure from unbelievers. In 2:19 he talks about them enduring sorrow and “suffering unjustly.” In 1 Peter 4:12 he mentions the “fiery trial” that many of them have endured.
So how does one survive such hardships? How does one stay the course in following Jesus when all your efforts at living godly and humbly bring only persecution and mockery and deprivation? More important still, how is it humanly possible to experience even a modicum of joy in the midst of such trials? The answer is found right here in our passage!
“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials” (v. 6). There is something in which we rejoice in the midst of pain. There is something in Peter’s thinking that serves as a fountain and reservoir of deep delight in God that sustains and strengthens the Christian soul when everything else threatens to destroy us. There is something that produces an unshakeable and enduring joy no matter how badly the world may treat us and no matter how badly life turns out. What is this something? It is “this”, says Peter in the opening sentence of v. 6. OK, what is the “this”? To what does “this” refer?
It clearly refers back to what he has just described in detail in vv. 3-5! Do you see what this means? Do you see that if we are ever to persevere in pain and overcome the temptation to abandon our faith because of harsh and unrelenting tribulation there is something we must understand, something we must believe, something we must grasp with our minds and hearts and wills, something to which we must regularly return and on which we must cast ourselves daily? And that something is found in vv. 3-5.
Before we even begin to look at vv. 3-5, don’t ever let anyone tell you that theological truth is impractical! Don’t ever let anyone tell you that doctrine doesn’t matter! Don’t ever let anyone tell you that understanding the deep truths about our salvation in Christ Jesus doesn’t help much when the screws have tightened and life is falling apart. It is the only thing that matters! It is the only thing that will see you through! Let me prove it to you.
What will make life livable and pain tolerable and disappointment endurable is knowing deep in your soul that God is infinitely and gloriously merciful, and that because of that mercy he has caused you to experience a new birth, new life, through the resurrection of Christ from the dead; it is in knowing deep in your soul that this new birth has given you a hope that lives and is fruitful; it is in knowing deep in your soul that this hope is for a heavenly inheritance that cannot be destroyed, corrupted, or defiled; it is in knowing that God is committed to keeping you and guarding you for that final day when your salvation will be consummated. If you don’t know this deep in your soul, if you don’t rejoice in this marvelous and majestic truth, you don’t stand much of a chance when trials come and heartache descends upon you.
So we would do well to take time to unpack what Peter says here. We may take two weeks to do so, but I make no apology for proceeding slowly through this paragraph. The simple fact is, your life now and forever depends upon it!
Even before we look at this glorious truth that Peter says will bring joy in the midst of suffering, we need to take note of the spirit and mood that has obviously gripped Peter as he reflects on this truth:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”
Don’t miss the fact that he begins with wonder and praise and worship and awe and exultation in who God is. He does much the same thing in 4:11 – “To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Again in 5:11 – “To him be the dominion forever and ever! Amen.”
This is no theological lecture for Peter that he delivers in a detached mood with a monotone voice. This is exuberant celebration! “Blessed be God!” “To him belong glory and dominion!” “To him be the dominion forever and ever!”
Worship happens when the mind is gripped with the revelation of great truths about God and the heart and affections are set on fire with joy and satisfaction and gratitude and gladness and admiration and the mouth explodes in songs of praise and proclamations of the incomparable greatness of God. Peter couldn’t possibly have responded any other way. I hope the same is true of you and me.
And what is it precisely that prompts him to explode in this blessing of God? He mentions four things in particular, only three of which will concern us this morning:
(1) In accordance with his great mercy God has caused you and me to be born again!
(2) This new birth, this new life results in the precious gift of a hope that is alive and powerful and fruitful!
(3) This hope is the confident assurance that we have an inheritance in heaven that is not subject to the corrupting and corrosive influence of things on this earth!
(4) This God of great mercy who caused us to be born again so that we might always have hope is also committed to keeping us safe and secure through faith until we finally enter into the consummate experience and enjoyment of this salvation that we have in Christ!
Wow! What can one possibly say to all this? “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”
(1) In accordance with his great mercy God has caused us to be born again!
In vv. 1-2 it was God’s foreknowledge, his love and affection that he shed upon us in eternity past, that accounted for our election. Now we see yet another characteristic of God: his great mercy!
I often have feelings of pity rise up in my heart. I often feel sorry for people and certain situations. I experience deep, often wrenching, emotional anguish and grief in my heart. I feel merciful towards those in need and pain. But most times there is very little I can do about it. I watch on TV as children in Darfur starve on a daily basis and I’m moved to deep emotional pain. I hear of those who’ve lost every dollar in the world because of the economic collapse and I’m heartbroken. But I often lack either the power, opportunity, or resources to do anything about it. I can’t reverse or overcome their circumstances.
Thank God that is not the case with God!
Is there a distinction between “grace” and “mercy”? Yes. Grace contemplates sinners as guilty while mercy contemplates them as miserable. Mercy is the response of the divine heart to us when the results of our sin and corruption are seen: we are pitiable, pathetic, helpless to extricate ourselves from the condition into which sin has plunged us.
I can’t think of a single word in the Christian’s dictionary that is more horribly misunderstood and abused than that of being “born-again”! There is so much that could be said about being born again, so let me restrict myself to just a few observations.
First, we need to fully grasp the need for the new birth or regeneration. Problem: we live in a world where the vast majority of people have no grasp of the fact that they are spiritually dead. Why, then, would they have any need for spiritual birth? They perceive themselves as very much alive and as fundamentally good. Perhaps the greatest obstacle in evangelism isn’t getting people saved; it’s getting them lost! Explain.
If people don’t perceive themselves as spiritually dead they will misunderstand and casually dismiss the need for spiritual re-birth. At first glance it strikes people as odd that Paul, in Ephesians 2:1-2, would describe people as “dead”, for
“lots of people who make no Christian profession whatever, who even openly repudiate Jesus Christ, appear to be very much alive. One has the vigorous body of an athlete, another the lively mind of a scholar, a third the vivacious personality of a film star. Are we to say that such people, if Christ has not saved them, are dead? Yes, indeed, we must and do say this very thing. For in the sphere which matters supremely (which is neither the body, nor the mind, nor the personality, but the soul) they have no life. And you can tell it. They are blind to the glory of Jesus Christ, and deaf to the voice of the Holy Spirit. They have no love for God, no sensitive awareness of his personal reality, no leaping of their spirit towards him in the cry, ‘Abba, Father’, no longing for fellowship with his people. They are as unresponsive to him as a corpse. So we should not hesitate to affirm that a life without God (however physically fit and mentally alert the person may be) is a living death, and that those who live it are dead even while they are living” (Stott, 72).
There’s no escaping the fact that the NT tells me that I was dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1ff.), utterly lifeless. I was blind to spiritual truth, insensitive to the realities of the spiritual realm, hardened and calloused against the claims of Christ. I wallowed in spiritual darkness, insanely thinking that the insights of my intellect and the achievements of my education were the same as spiritual enlightenment. I had no sense of my sin and thus no repentance in my heart. I saw no value in Christ and thus had no faith in my heart.
Then God took sovereign, saving initiative, and caused me to experience new birth. Although I was spiritually lifeless, according to Ephesians 2:4, “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” Although I was spiritually blind, according to 2 Corinthians 4:6, “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
It was not by my will or choice or decision that I was born again or that you were. As John wrote in his gospel record, God adopted into his spiritual family those “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13).
Yes, I repented and believed in Jesus Christ. So too did you. But that was because God sovereignly bestowed on us the gift of repentance and faith and drew us to himself.
No one takes credit for being physically born. It is not something you do but something that is done to you. You did not cause it. You did not choose it. So also with the second, spiritual birth.
Who or what is the cause of this radical spiritual transformation that the Bible refers to as "regeneration" or being "born again"? Some understand regeneration to be nothing more than reformation, a mere exchange of one set of habits for another set (achieved, of course, by a free act of will). Being “born again” in our society has tragically come to mean little more than you stopped smoking or you lost 50 pounds or you’re spending more time with your kids.
If man is not constitutionally depraved, that is, depraved by nature, being at worst the innocent victim of bad examples and other circumstances beyond his control, he does not need re-creation, only redirection.
Others believe that regeneration is brought to pass by the divine will and human will working in conjunction with one another. Or if they say that God alone regenerates, he does so only when and because the individual believes by a free act of will, or does not resist the overtures of grace.
But I believe that the sole cause of regeneration or being born again is the will of God. God first sovereignly and efficaciously regenerates, and only in consequence of that do we act. Therefore, the individual is passive in regeneration, neither preparing himself nor making himself receptive to what God will do. Regeneration is a change wrought in us by God, not an autonomous act performed by us for ourselves.
Man's status in regard to regeneration is that of a recipient, not a contributor. Man is spiritually, in relation to regeneration, what Lazarus was physically, in relation to resurrection: dead, passive, unable to do anything at all, wholly subject to the will of him who gives life and breath to whomever he desires.
Here, then, is my point. In the doctrine of regeneration we are asserting that beneath and before all positive human response to the gospel, whether faith, repentance, love, or conversion, there is a supernatural, efficacious, and altogether mysterious work of the Holy Spirit. This work of the Spirit is both prior to and the effectual cause of all activity on the part of man. To sum up, the Holy Spirit regenerates a person in order that a person may convert to God.
We must keep in mind Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John 3:6 ("that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit"). The point is that all human and earthly effort can do nothing but produce that which is human and earthly. It cannot generate spiritual life.
The point of describing salvation in terms of "divine begetting" is to highlight the initiative of God in making alive or giving birth to that which was either dead or nonexistent. To suggest that man can act spiritually before he exists spiritually, that he can behave before he is born, is not only ridiculous but also undermines the force of the analogy between physical begetting and spiritual begetting.
The illustration our Lord employs in John 3:8 is especially instructive. Like the wind, the work of the Holy Spirit is invisible and mysterious (“you do not know where it comes from or where it goes”). Like the wind, the work of the Holy Spirit is efficacious and sovereign (it "blows where it wishes") and cannot be pinned down by human contrivance. And like the wind, the work of the Holy Spirit reaps observable fruit ("you hear its sound").
In sum, “regeneration is God's work, not man's. Do you know what it means to be a Christian? Do you stand amazed and speechless that you are a Christian? Do you look back with wonder and awe at the miracle of your new birth? Or do you take so much credit for it yourself that it doesn't occur to you to fall on your face and thank God that you are a Christian?
Perhaps the best way to drive home this point is with an illustration. It comes from the pen of that great British evangelist of the eighteenth century, George Whitefield:
“Come, ye dead, Christless, unconverted sinners, come and see the place where they laid the body of the deceased Lazarus; behold him laid out, bound hand and foot with grave-cloaths, locked up and stinking in a dark cave, with a great stone placed on the top of it. View him again and again; go nearer to him; be not afraid; smell him. Ah! How he stinketh. Stop there now, pause a while; and whilst thou art gazing upon the corpse of Lazarus, give me leave to tell thee with great plainness, but greater love, that this dead, bound entombed, stinking carcase, is but a faith representation of thy poor soul in its natural state: for, whether thou believest or not, thy spirit which thou bearest about with thee, sepulchred in flesh and blood, is as literally dead to God, and as truly dead in trespasses and sins, as the body of Lazarus was in the cave. Was he bound hand and foot with grave-cloaths? So art thou bound hand and foot with thy corruptions: and as a stone was laid on the sepulchre, so is there a stone of unbelief upon thy stupid heart. Perhaps thou hast lain in this state, not only four days, but many years, stinking in God’s nostrils. And, what is still more effecting thou art as unable to raise thyself out of this loathsome, dead state, to a life of righteousness and true holiness, as ever Lazarus was to raise himself from the cave in which he lay so long. Thou mayest try the power of thy own boasted free-will, and the force and energy of moral persuasion and rational arguments (which, without all doubt, have their proper place in religion); but all thy efforts, exerted with never so much vigour, will prove quite fruitless and abortive, till that same Jesus, who said ‘Take away the stone’; and cried, ‘Lazarus, come forth’ also quicken you” (Gerstner, Predestination, 20).
Think on it! If you have any truly spiritual desire for God, it is owing to the work of God in regeneration. If you have any love for holiness, it is owing to the work of God in regeneration. If you have any hatred for sin, it is owing to the work of God in regeneration. If you have a mustard seed of faith in Christ, it is owing to the work of God in regeneration. To God be the glory for our conversion to Christ! Consider and be astounded, all you who by nature are children of wrath, that you believe in Christ and are new children of the Almighty. Regeneration is a glorious work of God, not man” (Piper).
(2) This new birth, this new life results in the precious gift of a hope that is alive and powerful and fruitful!
In his 1733 poem, An Essay on Man, Alexander Pope wrote: “Hope springs eternal in the human breast.” I’ve taken the liberty of changing that slightly and using it for my title: “Hope Springs Eternal in the Born-Again Breast”!
The fact of the matter is that apart from the new birth there is no hope, or at least none that is alive and powerful and real. The goal, aim, and result of being born again is so that we might have hope!
What is hope?
Biblical hope is not crossing your fingers and wishing that something you want very much will ultimately come to pass. Hope is full assurance, not uncertain desire. Hope is unshakable confidence that what God has said he will do, he will do. Typically people think of hope as a desire for some future thing that they are uncertain of attaining. “Gee, I hope I receive a new laptop for Christmas.” “Oh, man, I sure hope I don’t fail this English exam on Thursday.”
But in Scripture hope is the full assurance or strong confidence that God is going to do good to us in the future and fulfill his every promise.
Here Peter describes our hope as “living”. This should be contrasted with the dead, lifeless, ultimately futile hope that we find in the world at large. Read Eph. 2:12 and 1 Thess. 4:13. Our hope is living in the sense that it is productive and fruitful and fertile; ours is a hope that has power to change how we live. It is living and alive because its focus and object is real and unchanging and true and rock solid!
But what does Peter mean when he says that we have been born again unto this living hope “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”?
Now think about it. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead and my new birth, your new birth, are separated by some 2,000 years! So how is it that our being born again is “through” Christ’s resurrection?
The answer is found at the end of 1 Peter 1, vv. 23-25. There Peter declares that “you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”
Connecting Christ’s bodily resurrection 2,000 years ago and your new birth in the present day is the gospel, the good news, the Word of God that was “preached” to you! What is the gospel or the Word that was preached? It is, as Paul writes in 1 Cor. 15:3-4, that “Jesus Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
Here then is how Christ’s resurrection gives me hope: if Jesus was raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of the Father, I have good reason to believe that his death for sin was sufficient in making satisfaction and atonement for my sin. The resurrection of Christ from the dead certifies to me the sufficiency and efficacy of his death in my place and for my sins.
(3) This hope is the confident assurance that we have an inheritance kept and preserved for us in heaven that is not subject to the corrupting and corrosive influence of things on this earth!
In OT the inheritance was always seen or defined in terms of the land that God had promised to Abraham and his seed. This hope is still in many ways physical, because it is wrapped up in the new heavens and new earth and the city of God, the New Jerusalem. But it greatly transcends any inheritance possible in this life.
“Imperishable” – Let’s be honest. One thing that makes life so hard now is that virtually everything we love and cherish and trust ultimately dies. Our bodies decay and die. Our friends and family decay and die. The animal kingdom decays and dies. Plants and flowers and the beauty of nature ultimately decays and dies. But the glory and splendor of life in the new heavens and new earth will never decay or die. No disintegration. No dissolution. Constantly and forever renewed and refreshed. Always and ever alive. Always and ever vibrant. Always and ever fresh and new.
“Undefiled” – No matter how hard we try in the present day to keep things clean, they get dirty. We buy detergent and spot remover and cleansing agents and soap and disinfectants of every conceivable sort. Yet all that we see and touch and taste and own suffers defilement and is subject to impurity, both physically and morally. Not in heaven! Nothing in that place of glory will ever be anything but pristine and pure and clean and devoid of spot or wrinkle.
“Unfading” – Everything now is subject to the ravages of time. It’s called the law entropy. All creation is breaking down and losing its luster. All beauty now is fast fading away. Not all the tummy tucks or face lifts or botox or plastic surgery in the world can slow down the steady onslaught of time and age. The most beautiful of sculptures eventually wear away. The colors and hues in the most beautiful of paintings eventually lose their brilliance. Not in heaven! Nothing there will ever get old or ugly or become outdated or obsolete. With each passing moment in the new heavens and new earth there will be new colors and new sounds and new discoveries of the beauty of God. Our inheritance, unlike every possession and experience in this life, will never lose its capacity to bring happiness and joy, to enthrall and excite.
Three texts in Revelation provide some detail that expands upon these three words in 1 Peter. In Rev. 21:4 we see that no tears of grief, no death or sorrow or pain will be present. In 21:8 we are assured that no one who is cowardly, lying, or unbelieving will be present, nor murderers, or anything abominable, immoral, or idolatrous. And, as if to sum up, we are told in 21:27 that nothing unclean will be allowed to enter.
Think of the implications of what is being said! When we get to heaven there will be nothing that is abrasive, irritating, agitating, or hurtful. Nothing harmful, hateful, upsetting or unkind. Nothing, sad, bad, or mad. Nothing harsh, impatient, ungrateful or unworthy. Nothing weak, or sick, or broken or foolish. Nothing deformed, degenerate, depraved or disgusting. Nothing polluted, pathetic, poor or putrid. Nothing dark, dismal, dismaying or degrading. Nothing blameworthy, blemished, blasphemous or blighted. Nothing faulty, faithless, frail or fading. Nothing grotesque or grievous, hideous or insidious. Nothing illicit or illegal, lascivious or lustful. Nothing marred or mutilated, misaligned or misinformed. Nothing nasty or naughty, offensive or odious. Nothing rancid or rude, soiled or spoiled. Nothing tawdry or tainted, tasteless or tempting. Nothing vile or vicious, wasteful or wanton!
Wherever you turn your eyes you will see nothing but glory and grandeur and beauty and brightness and purity and perfection and splendor and satisfaction and sweetness and salvation and majesty and marvel and holiness and happiness.
We will see only and all that is adorable and affectionate, beautiful and bright, brilliant and bountiful, delightful and delicious, delectable and dazzling, elegant and exciting, fascinating and fruitful, glorious and grand, gracious and good, happy and holy, healthy and whole, joyful and jubilant, lovely and luscious, majestic and marvelous, opulent and overwhelming, radiant and resplendent, splendid and sublime, sweet and savoring, tender and tasteful, euphoric and unified!
This is your inheritance! This is the living hope to which you have been born again because Jesus was raised from the dead! And in this, says Peter, in this, you find great and deep and lasting joy. In this you, says Peter, in this you find strength to endure trials and setbacks and disappointments. In this, says Peter, you find hope when everything else is hopeless. This glorious truth is what will sustain and empower you for everything that lies ahead.
What can we say in response to this? “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”