We jumped into 1 Peter this week, and it is packed full of good stuff. 1 Peter was written by Peter to the exiles of the dispersion, to encourage them during a time of suffering. Peter is telling them to rejoice in their suffering. I know this seems like a strange thing to be telling them. Image Peter walking into a room full of suffering people, people that have had to flee their homes, leave family behind, people that have watched relatives die, and say "Rejoice for God is blessing you; come on guys be happy." If you where there you would probably think this Peter is crazy, and not listen to him. It is a good thing Peter did not do this or we probably would not have the book of 1 Peter.
Here are some of the things I think Peter was telling us through his letter. Throughout the letter, Peter reminds us of who Jesus is. Jesus is our salvation; he came to us and lived among us, he taught us and showed us who God is. But we rejected him because we where looking for something else. We were expecting a great and mighty warrior to come and lead us in battle and destroy those that where persecuting us. But God knew better, He knew that we did not need a mighty warrior but a teacher, someone who would lovingly lead us. So He gave us Jesus. We did not want Jesus because he was not our mighty warrior, so we beat him and hung him on a cross. Jesus suffered, he willingly chose to suffer for us. Because Jesus submitted himself to the authority and will of his father.
When Peter was telling the people to rejoice in their suffering, he was not saying okay guys lets have a party, because our suffering doesn't matter. He was telling us to turn towards Jesus; do not run from him, because Jesus knows what it feels like to suffer. He suffered for us and he defeated it. Jesus knows what we are feeling. He knows what we are walking through, because he is right there walking through it with us. And when we turn towards Jesus we see things differently, we feel God's love for us, and he gives us all we need to conquer our suffering. When we suffer we have an opportunity to experience God in a new way, a deeper way. We experience a part of God we would never be able to experience in any other way. This is what Peter was telling us when he said suffering is a blessing, rejoice in it.
As you can tell from these pictures we had a lot of fun studying 1 Peter this week.
Here are some of the things I think Peter was telling us through his letter. Throughout the letter, Peter reminds us of who Jesus is. Jesus is our salvation; he came to us and lived among us, he taught us and showed us who God is. But we rejected him because we where looking for something else. We were expecting a great and mighty warrior to come and lead us in battle and destroy those that where persecuting us. But God knew better, He knew that we did not need a mighty warrior but a teacher, someone who would lovingly lead us. So He gave us Jesus. We did not want Jesus because he was not our mighty warrior, so we beat him and hung him on a cross. Jesus suffered, he willingly chose to suffer for us. Because Jesus submitted himself to the authority and will of his father.
When Peter was telling the people to rejoice in their suffering, he was not saying okay guys lets have a party, because our suffering doesn't matter. He was telling us to turn towards Jesus; do not run from him, because Jesus knows what it feels like to suffer. He suffered for us and he defeated it. Jesus knows what we are feeling. He knows what we are walking through, because he is right there walking through it with us. And when we turn towards Jesus we see things differently, we feel God's love for us, and he gives us all we need to conquer our suffering. When we suffer we have an opportunity to experience God in a new way, a deeper way. We experience a part of God we would never be able to experience in any other way. This is what Peter was telling us when he said suffering is a blessing, rejoice in it.
As you can tell from these pictures we had a lot of fun studying 1 Peter this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment