Called to be ALIENS
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OPENING ILLUSTRATION
Alien!
OPENING ILLUSTRATION
Have you noticed what you can get for camping these days .. you can buy gizmos for just about everything .. I went with some others guys fishing for a weekend and someone pulls out an instantaneous hot water system .. needs a powered site of course .. no power? No problem .. you can by an inverter that runs off the car .. to convert to 240 volt .. so you can run your appliances .. little fridge .. DVD player .. TV .. charge the mobile phone
Now does that sound a little strange to you .. a bit alien?
I thought camping was about getting away from the phone and TV ... it’s about taking a semi permanent .. temporary .. dwelling called a tent .. camp by a river so you have running water ... and a shovel for daily ablutions ... and then there’s back-packing ..
hiking with only what you can carry ... not buying a bigger trailer for fear of missing out on what you have at home!
Camping is a holiday .. you are getting away from the usual permanent house and it’s kitchen sink .. and putting up the tent and ready to pull it down in a little while
The message of 1 Peter points out something similar
As Christians we are to know that we are pilgrims, strangers to this earth - for this earth is not our home ... WILL NEVER BE HOME .. this is TEMPORARY .. so don’t drive your tent pegs in too deep
Now .. there’s great things in our world we enjoy .. we know as Christians that God created our world .. BUT it’s flawed .. terminally flawed
Our world is opposed to God for the ruler of this age is the evil One himself - the prince of the power of the air () .
" For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."
We realise then that this world is not our home and that we will face hardship persecution and suffering for the cause of Christ yet we are to persevere and BE DISTINCTIVE SO THAT PRAISE AND GLORY GO TO OUR HEAVENLY FATHER
This morning we’re looking at the opening couple of verses and asking 2 questions:
WHO are we? v.1
WHY are we what we are? v.2
WHO are we? v.1
One of pleasures of life is to get mail! ... remember the good old days when people wrote letters .. put it into an envelope and put a stamp on .. and you walked down to the letter box ... analyse the hand writing and look forward to reading the update of news from a dear friend
Well in the first century not too many could read and write ... but letters came to little congregations of Christians all over the place ... what we are reading today is a letter that would be read .. rewritten meticulously .. and then sent on
And just in case you weren’t sure of the handwriting .. Peter introduces himself
Peter is an apostle (apostolos) "messenger" (mitto - Latin : "missionary") that was specially commissioned by Jesus Himself ( cf. )
The supreme importance of the office is marked out by the phrase "of Jesus Christ"
Apostles could speak and write the words of God ; ; ,; ; :-9; , :,15; ,; ; and this of course became NT scripture ; ; cf. ; ;
The word's that Peter writes must be received as God's words
ILLUSTRATION
We live in a world that wants to pigeon hole us .. who are you? Baby Boomer .. Baby Buster .. Gen Y ... employed .. unemployed .. which tax bracket
When I fill in survey’s or forms .. there are boxes to tick .. AGE: 50-65 yr old ... Occupation .. there’s never a category for “minister” .. that’s a weird job
Do you have a Mac or a PC .. Ford or Holden
At School .. are you cool .. nerd .. EMO .. goth
And you get slotted somewhere in the world .. and easily overlooked BUT when it comes to God .. look what He says of us ... the category H e put’s us in
So .. who’s Peter writing to? 1:1 "To God's elect, ... just take that in .. we are the apple of God’s eye .. WE BELONG TO HIM
..strangers in the world, scattered throughout... "...to the chosen sojourners of the dispersion...." Lit. Gk. NIV
The feature that stands out is that these people are strangers in the land `alien', that is .. THEY DON’T BELONG .. refers to temporary residence in a foreign place ( Abraham ) cf.
And notice that they are scattered - part of the dispersion (diaspora) It is a technical term that is used by Greek-speaking Jews to refer to the Jewish people "scattered" throughout the nations which has the imagery of the sower and the seed being scattered ..... Here Peter is using the concept to refer to the christians not just Jewish christians ... It is a way of talking about all christians dispersed throughout the world and living away from their heavenly homeland
These readers are in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia five names that describe four Roman provinces (Pontus & Bithynia = one province) see map
- Asia = province east of the Aegean Sea (Not the continent Asia as we know it today)
- The list of names might be describing the route that the messenger followed
- These places are very Roman ... Rome away from Rome!!
Now .. we have to see the contrast .. the two ideas that are put together .. strangers in this world .. rejected .. BUT they are "elect" or "chosen" by God
And this idea pops up a lot .. the people of God are referred to in the OT .. Jacob is chosen .. Esau rejected ... Israel the "chosen nation" , ,, ; , , , ,, .. unfortunately many Jews have this air of arrogance because of this understanding .. or misunderstanding .. it is not that the nation was any better than any other ... in fact they get a reputation for being a “stiff necked and rebellious” people who God is constantly warning and punishing but graciously showing mercy to
Y’see it’s GOD who takes the initiative .. He who comes to us ... is a great explanation ... while we were dead in our sins i.e. not able to come to God .. He comes to us .. vv.3-9 ...we were by nature objects of wrath. ... And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast.
That’s WHO we are .. ELECT .. CHOSEN = made alive in Christ .. raised up in Him and seated in the heavenly realms .. saved by GRACE ... through FAITH .. which God gives as His gift .. He’s taken the initiative because we were dead.
So this explains why we are STRANGERS .. ALIENS .. we just don’t fit in .. this world isn’t home .. it NEVER can be ... and we must see that clearly because we, like these readers of Peter’s letter, .. are citizens of HEAVEN .. we stand out as different .. what drives us are KINGDOM values .. our life on this earth is to working through our
TRANSFORMATION and to seek to help others see the truth as to who Jesus is .. and what we are to be to be really HUMAN ... to have our focus , our ALLEGIANCE to God first and foremost
APPLICATION
If we let that sink in it’s just magnificent .. awesome .. and very humbling .. In Jesus Christ we are God’s CHOSEN PEOPLE ... we are called His children .. we have the privilege of calling Him FATHER
And so we do feel that dislocation ... we too realise that we are strangers here on earth
This world is not our home -26 .. in Paul is hard pressed - best thing is to be with Christ
That’s why Jesus’ teaching grates on our human ears .. the BEATITUDES are a nonsense to the world ... love your enemies ... lust = adultery .. anger = murder??
And that’s what we need to be paying attention to ... this is so SUBTLE .. I mean how do we know where our hearts really lie? What is it when accused of WORLDLINESS that shows you to be found guilty?
Our thoughts can go to material things ... houses, boats, cars, good job, being
`recognised' in this world, position of authority, your intelligence, good health and
physical ability (on the increase in our day and age wanting to live longer and enjoy, = not let go of, this present world .. we want our children in well paid jobs not on the mission field) ...
.. it’s not the “things” it’s the LOVE of these things .. Paul says it’s not money BUT the LOVE of money that’s the root of all evil
How loosely do we hang onto things .. when we “have to have” .. can’t bear it if the car get’s scratched .. certainly couldn’t lend it to someone .. when the house is not impressive enough and we have to buy another one or can’t invite people over
Worldliness is about the attitude .. the propaganda around today is saying that you are the most important person in the world - ethos of the day is that you make sure you look
after no.1... you deserve this and that
We are called to not love the world but to LOVE God .. Jesus defines that for us .. if you love me you’ll keep my word ..
When you get down to v.2 .. we are who we are and are marked out by “obedience to Jesus Christ”
We’ll OBEY Christ .. and what is it that God says to us
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world — the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does — comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
... we offer our bodies as “living Sacrifices” OR to put it another way .. Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
You can’t say you love God but then say .. I’m not going to do what He says
Friends .. how are we going to make sure we are not on that slippery slope .. this is so so subtle .. how can we make sure we are not becoming addicted to the world? It’s not an overnight thing .. it’s a slow gradual slide .. small steps to destruction
We can’t even see it necessarily!
We need to allow a close Christian friend to ask the hard questions don’t we? Not in a judgmental way .. but because we love God we invite someone to ask us how we are going .. someone we feel we can share with .. how’s the reading of the Bible going .. struggling to pray ... noticed you’ve missed church a bit, ... dropped out of Growth Group is everything OK
A good friend cares. They notice if you are drifting .. and they’ll be beside you. The
reality of a CHRIST-LESS ETERNITY should stay with us all. Our hearts desire is to remain CHIRST CENTRED and to see others growing
We are the people of God not perfect but forgiven ... with the graces and the privilege is the responsibility to act as the ELECT people of God .. we feel the pull of the world BUT we have to accept that we are ALIENS and not be ashamed of the gospel
WHY are we what we are? v.2
Good question ... why are you a Christian? v.2 answers that for us Notice that the verse here incorporates all the members of the trinity
- according to the foreknowledge of the Father
- by the sanctifying work of the Spirit
- sprinkling by His (Jesus Christ) blood
according to the foreknowledge of the Father
This refers to the whole situation expressed in the first verse "Foreknowledge" in the bible is never the idea of knowing a fact in the future - crystal ball type idea
Yes we can say that God knows all things however foreknowledge is more than that God is working to fulfil His will cf.
"..we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will."
This foreknowledge is not cold but that God knows in a fatherly, personal loving way - Romans :29 11:2 cf.
The situation of these believers was foreknown before the foundation of the world and they are the object of this fatherly care
APPLICATION
The same is evident for us as well ... Each situation we are involved in the Lord knows it full well, because He in His infinite wisdom knows that that is the best thing for you
I know that some of you face the possibility of treatment and surgery - is that an
unknown to God??
We may lose jobs, or perhaps we have lost jobs, we face the unknown in a variety of ways - in a fallen world we know that tragedy is everywhere
As we said before each life situation is a training ground for our spirituality , mould our character and heighten our awareness that this world is not home
Every trial and discipline is from God - ... Are you aware of this today??
We are HIS ... we BELONG to him and this brings GREAT CONFIDENCE as we’ll see next week
by the sanctifying work of the Spirit
Well every christian who is a stranger on this earth has an awareness of being so because of the "sanctifying work of the Spirit"
To be a christian means that you have the Spirit of God eg,
Sanctify = set apart = more Christ like (holiness) ..Entirely logical
We are different, we are to be distinctive, because we have been called out of darkness and into light
We have kingdom principles God is King Jesus is Lord .. Yet we are not left to our own devices we are given the Spirit that He might help us to battle sin and grow more aware as to who we are
Becoming more Christ like is the Goal -
APPLICATION
Are you growing in the things of God ? Can you legitimately say Yes I love God more, I know Him better than
before?
Yes we will all grapple with sin but we must seek the strength of the Spirit of God to be what you are .. a HOLY PEOPLE ... there’s a lot of emphasis on this as we go through 1 Peter
sprinkling by His (Jesus Christ) blood
There are OT overtones here by the use of the word "sprinkle" cleansing through sprinkling () sacrifices sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice - purify
The only grounds for us being able to called the people of God - His elect is on the basis of all that the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us
God did not see anything of merit in us - while we were yet sinners Christ died for us
You see we will never be completely obedient to the Lord despite the presence of the Spirit
As christians we still sin, not that we are proud of it, we lament all the more knowing what it cost our Lord that we might have eternal life
Not that we become blase .. it doesn't matter if we sin AND Nor a defeatist attitude - Oh well I'm not perfect why try
But this is where the assurance lies - Jesus has done it
Our faith and trust is in what He has done - the very thing we could not do ourselves
So we see this sprinkling as a once and for all thing
CONCLUSION
We must take stock of who we are
We are pilgrims in this world - for to those of us that love the Lord we know our home is in heaven
The assurance of that is that we know whom we have believed and that His blood was sprinkled on us
Cleansing us from every blemish and making us right with GodWhile we wait to go to our home we realise that God has given us His Spirit to assist in resisting sin and strengthening us to be obedient to the Lord and to be more conformed to His image