God’s in the Details
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1 Peter 1:3-12
3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4. and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5. who by God's power are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, 7. so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8. Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. 9. As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls. 10. The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation; 11. they inquired what person or time was indicated by the Spirit of Christ within them when predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. 12. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things which have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
Verses 3-5 could be the sole verses to discuss this morning, but the climax doesn’t really appear until verse 12 does it?! An inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled and unfading-nothing on this earth can make this claim! No man-made legacy can make such a promise! Imperishable. Undefiled. Unfading. Even gold, so highly valued by man, can be melted and eventually just burn up and evaporate, if the fire is hot enough. But our faith is stronger than anything imaginable. These verses make me think of coal, and how under intense pressure over a long, long time becomes a diamond.
That’s what Christ won for us! We are coal, but we will be diamonds upon our arrival in heaven! Even the angels long to look because it will be such a glorious sight! We will be perfect and perfected. In light of that promise, hope and belief, nothing life throws at us can defeat us. That’s the ideal of course. Many of the individuals who lost their homes, jobs, schools, and everything else that made up their lives are probably a bit shaky in that department right now. And we have many family members evacuating the Houston area as I type! Those of us out of harm’s way must be hopeful for them. We must pray for them, believing the promise of the New Covenant Christ forged for our Heavenly Father.
Prophets of old searched for the time and place. Since the beginning of time, man has wanted to know the details, the why’s and the wherefore’s. But Peter is saying that we need not be concerned about any of that. God’s got the details all taken care of. We are to live out our part of the Covenant -- keep believing in a God who does not lie. Keep praying to a God who loves us too much to ever abandon us. Keep offering thanks and praise for the gift and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and resurrected.
In times like these, that may be all we have! Because of that, we should cling to this truth -- all the time!
My prayer for you today is that you experience, demonstrate and represent God’s grace to everyone you meet. And that you turn over the details to the one who laid out the plan for us all before the world began.
Mary
