INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• What brings joy to your life right now? I am not simply talking about having a smile on your face, or being happy baseball season is upon us, but what brings joy to your life.
• Sometimes life can be frustrating, draining, and difficult; nonetheless, in between all the difficulties that can beset us in life, we can find joy.
• We find joy in the people we love, the things we love to do, and for some they find a little joy in the stuff they possess.
• Today I want to share with you some reason as to why you can find true joy through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
• When this relationship is forged, your life will never be the same if you are willing to go all in with God.
• Over the past couple of weeks as we have been examining the subject of love, one of the main points I have been seeking to get across to everyone is that love is about priorities.
• When one properly aligns their priorities by putting God ahead of all else, or a Jesus put it, follow the greatest commandment; life will take on such a different perspective.
• The dull, dry faith one may be experiencing will turn into a true source of joy.
• As we look at 1 Peter 1:3-5 today, I want to share with you three reasons we can trust God enough to fully invest ourselves into Him.
• The three reasons we will explore together this morning will give us reason to have joy, as well as wanting to deepen our relationship with Jesus.
• Let’s begin with verse 3
• SLIDE #2
• 1 Peter 1:3 (HCSB) Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
According to His great mercy we receive…
I. A new birth into a living hope.
• As we have been examining the subject of love over the past couple of weeks, one of the things about love is the fact that love is a verb, love is not simply about words, it is about what we do.
• In verse 3 we see that ACCORDING TO HIS GREAT MERCY… God has given us something.
• There are a couple of different words for MERCY in the Greek.
• Both words include the issue of sympathy, fellow-feeling with hurting people, compassion; however, the first word denotes an inner feeling of compassion which abides in the heart, it includes the thought of pity.
• This would be like telling someone you feel sorry for them.
• The second word used for MERCY is the one used in this verse. It goes MUCH deeper.
• It denotes a sympathy that manifests itself in actions rather than words.
• So God’s MERCY causes Him to get involved in the lives of those who have given their lives to Him.
• He acts in harmony with His compassion and sympathy for our struggles.
• When you have a relationship with Jesus, He WILL be an active part of your life.
• Way too many Christians are not experiencing this joy. WE let the noise of life block out this joy.
• So one of the ways we see God’s love played out is in the fact that God, because of His GREAT MERCY, has GIVEN us a NEW BIRTH INTO A LIVING HOPE!
• Everyone has the opportunity for this new birth.
• This new birth is into a LIVING HOPE because this hope is built upon and is grounded in the promises of God, therefore the hope is not empty or without a foundation.
• It is living because it is guaranteed by the living Jesus!
• How many people are living lives without hope? Have you lived without hope? It is an empty feeling.
• How many people are living based on false hope? They have no credible evidence that their hope will ever happen.
• One of the many things we have on which we can base our hope is the empty tomb. The new birth is made possible because of the resurrection!
• Without the resurrection, none of us would be raised!
• SLIDE #4
• Ephesians 1:19–21 (HCSB) and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength. He demonstrated this power in the Messiah by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavens far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
• WE HAVE BEEN BORN AGAIN TO A LIVING HOPE THROUGH THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS!
• LET’S look at verse 4.
• SLIDE #5
• 1 Peter 1:4 (HCSB) and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
• SLIDE #6
According to His great mercy we receive…
II. A perfect inheritance
• Let me tell you about our God, our God is an AWESOME GOD.
• Our God loves you so much that He sent His son to die for your sins!
• Not only is our God an AWESOME God, He has given those who are His, a PERFECT inheritance!
• God not only caused us to be born again into a living hope, but He also, by His mercy, brought you into a inheritance when you are His!
• We understand what an inheritance is.
• For Peter’s readers, especially the Jewish ones, this word had special significance.
• The same word used in the Greek in this verse is the same word used on the LXX (the Greek Translation of the Old Testament) for the inheritance the people were going to receive in Canaan, the Promised Land! Deuteronomy 15:4 and 19:20.
• To the Jew, this was a great inheritance, it was a land where they could settle and no longer be aliens and strangers in a foreign land; they were going to have a home!
• Now, for the Christian, the inheritance is even greater, here are a few reasons why!
• Our inheritance is imperishable!
• This is the first of three ways our inheritance is greater than that of the Promised Land received by the Jews.
• Our inheritance is not subject to rust, decay or corrosion! Invading armies will not ravage our inheritance, nor will we have to fight for it, God has secured it!
• SLIDE #7
• Matthew 6:19–20 (HCSB) “Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.
• What would possess a person to invest their lives in something that is not going to last?
• Our inheritance is uncorrupted!
• There is not a spot or wrinkle, it is not polluted.
• What would happen to a $1500 suit if you tore it or burned a large hole in it? The suit would lose significant value. Have you seen an item in a store that was for sale for $100, and then it is marked down to $50 because it has a blemish?
• The Promised Land was corrupted by idolatry.
• SLIDE #8
• Jeremiah 2:7 (HCSB) I brought you to a fertile land to eat its fruit and bounty, but after you entered, you defiled My land; you made My inheritance detestable.
• Not so with heaven, it is uncorrupted and it will stay that way!
• Our inheritance is also unfading!
• The things of earth are temporary; however, our inheritance is eternal!
• The inheritance never decay, never loses value, it will not lose its beauty to age!
• We are told this amazing inheritance is KEPT in heaven for those who belong to the Lord!
• The word KEPT is in the perfect tense, which indicates the inheritance has been and is now in place. It implies that God is watching over and guarding it until we get there!
• SLIDE #9
• John 14:2 (HCSB) In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you.
• Let us look at a third blessing we can receive from God!
• SLIDE #10
• 1 Peter 1:5 (HCSB) You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
• SLIDE #11
According to His great mercy we receive…
III. Protection from God until the end.
• God is guarding Heaven, as God guards Christians.
• This does not mean will not suffer at times; it denotes that God will guard our souls so that we will be able to enter into the inheritance.
• The word PROTECT is a military term which means to protect from an enemy. This implies there is an enemy from which we need protection.
• The word is present tense indicating is continually protecting the Christian!
• SLIDE #12
• James 4:7 (HCSB) Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.
• We are protected by God’s power! SATAN CANNOT OVERCOME THIS POWER, DO NOT EVER FORGET THAT!
• SLIDE #13
• 1 Corinthians 10:13 (HCSB) No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.
• We are being protected by God’s power through faith!
• God’s promises are conditional, so is this one, the condition is faithfulness.
• This is the condition on which being protected by God’s power flows.
• SLIDE #14
• Hebrews 3:12 (HCSB) Watch out, brothers, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that departs from the living God.
• God is protecting us for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
• Salvation is ours NOW by promise, it will become a reality when we see the Lord after a lifetime of faithfulness.
• The word revealed implies a previous existence of which will be uncovered. That will happen when the Lord returns! WHAT A GREAT DAY FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST!
CONCLUSION
• GOD HAS SOMETHING GREAT AWAITING YOU! The question is do you want it?
• Life can be such a joy when you know whom you serve, when you know where you are going and when you know what is awaiting you!
