For the past three days we have looked at dealing with suffering from Peter’s perspective in 1 Peter (here @ Bible Gateway).
We have seen that Peter sees what we go through in the Christian life under the umbrellas of both God’s foreknowledge and great mercy.
Further we have seen that the anchor or focus of our lives, in order to persevere in suffering to the glory of God, is the sure inheritance we have in heaven and the salvation for which we are protected.
The main idea here is, contrary to some current teaching, our focus is not to be on our time here, rather it is to be on eternity. All suffering here is, by definition, temporary. As we are reminded in James 4:14 (here @ Bible Gateway), our lives, our time on earth is a vapor. It is critical then that we focus on what we have been promised by the Father through the Son and Holy Spirit, an imperishable inheritance and a certain salvation.
There are other passages that support this understanding of 1 Peter:
It is my hope this series has challenged you to think and encouraged you at the same time. I would welcome any comments about how you have processed this.
Further we have seen that the anchor or focus of our lives, in order to persevere in suffering to the glory of God, is the sure inheritance we have in heaven and the salvation for which we are protected.
The main idea here is, contrary to some current teaching, our focus is not to be on our time here, rather it is to be on eternity. All suffering here is, by definition, temporary. As we are reminded in James 4:14 (here @ Bible Gateway), our lives, our time on earth is a vapor. It is critical then that we focus on what we have been promised by the Father through the Son and Holy Spirit, an imperishable inheritance and a certain salvation.
There are other passages that support this understanding of 1 Peter:
- Psalm 139:2 – 5 (here @ Bible Gateway), The Lord knows our thoughts and word before we have or say them, scrutinizes our path (He analyzes our path as closely as a civil engineer would use a nested sieve to analyze aggregate in a concrete mix.), He covers us up behind and before and puts His hand over us (we are protected by His grace).
- James 1:2 – 4 (here @ Bible Gateway), trials, suffering, produces endurance.
- Romans 5:3 – 5 (here @ Bible Gateway), we exult in our tribulations producing perseverance, proven character, and hope.
- Hebrews 11:39 – 40 (here @ Bible Gateway), those in the Faith Hall of Fame did not receive what was promised, because like us, it is in eternity we receive the inheritance and salvation
It is my hope this series has challenged you to think and encouraged you at the same time. I would welcome any comments about how you have processed this.
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