As Peter nears the end of his letter to these suffering believers, he pivots his attention to the leaders in the church. In times of suffering, good leadership is crucial for the wellbeing of any community, and the church is no different. We know from the collective New Testament writings that elders are primarily called to lead, feed and protect the flock as shepherds. Peter is going to charge these elders leading in hard circumstances to lead in 3 specific ways that should inform the life of every Christian. Peter tells them to be willing servants, to lead with right motives and to live as examples worth imitating. The reward from Jesus in the age to come will be unimaginable! Finally, he encourages young believers to follow their church leaders as they follow Jesus--and all of this should be clothed in humility as we await the return of our Chief Shepherd, Jesus Christ!

Hope In Exile - Rest in Troubling Times - Joe Dillon, Guest Pastor 08 16 20 by New Life of Asheville

What if you knew the world would end in precisely 24 hours? How would you live your last day on earth knowing the end is near? In this passage, Peter encourages believers to live in light of the end. Jesus has promised to return, and we are closer now than we’ve ever been. Because we eagerly await the imminent return of our Savior, Peter lays out 4 specific ways followers of Jesus should live their lives with this in mind. Our lives should be marked by passionate prayer, fierce love for one another, eager hospitality and serving one another with our spiritual gifts within the body of Christ. Living this type of life is both beautiful to an ever-watching world and it brings glory to our Heavenly Father.

As Peter begins to shift toward the finish line of his letter to these exiled Christians, he reminds them of several key truths. In this life of brokenness and pain, we look to Jesus who also suffered. He is our motivation. He is our model to imitate. We must begin to develop a warrior mindset in preparation for the battle that awaits as followers of the King who also suffered in this world. We do this because we've been given a new identity--we are no longer people who live for this world, but people who live for the will of God and His Kingdom. And so we put away our former life, and pursue something far bigger than ourselves. Why? Because in the end, there are only two pathways into eternity. One that leads to judgment, and one that leads to life. As people on the path of life, our lives should point to the Savior who redeemed us and placed on His path!

This week’s passage is one of the most mysterious and difficult texts in the entire bible, and yet one of the most encouraging scriptures you’ll ever come across. In writing to these suffering Christians in Asia Minor, Peter encourages them in their season of pain and exile by painting three pictures of hope for them. First, he points them to Jesus, the suffering king who walks with His people in their suffering. Peter then points them to Noah, who suffered persecution and rejection before being delivered in a triumphant way. Finally, he points them to the picture of baptism to remind them that Christ is the ark that shelters them from the stormy waters of God’s coming judgment. The primary message of encouragement to the Christian is this: the king who conquered suffering will bring you safely into His Kingdom! Your temporary suffering in this life will be swallowed up in the glory of His presence. You are safe in Him. Take courage in the Suffering King.

Last week we learned that Christ followers are called to love one another deeply within the church family as well as bless those who persecute us outside the family of faith. This week Peter will lay out how followers of Jesus can live a hopeful life in a world that is oftentimes hostile towards Jesus and His people. This hopeful life looks like doing good in practical ways, finding blessing by suffering well for Christ, fearing no one in this world and preparing to give a reason for our hopeful lives. By living this way in a hostile world, people will see Jesus through us in a compelling way.

The last few weeks Peter has shown us how followers of Jesus are to interact in different arenas of life even in the midst of suffering. We’ve looked at how Christians are to view and interact with the government, the work place and within marriage. Today, Peter closes out this section of his letter with instructions on how we are to interact with one another in the body of Christ. He gives us 5 characteristics that should mark our lives within the body of Christ as we live and “do life” with one another. As we seek to live this way within the church, we’ll be shaped and enabled to live that way outside of the church with those who don’t believe and even mistreat us. By living as people of blessing, we become agents of blessing as we point people to the hope we’ve found in Jesus.

As Peter moves through this section of his letter on submission, he gives special attention to the relationship of marriage. Last week, we talked about what godly submission for wives is not and what it actually is. This week, we’ll learn that husbands are also to submit to the Lord Jesus in how they view, treat and interact with their wives. In fact, husbands are commanded to love their wives just as Jesus loves His Bride--the church. Men are to care for, honor, love and serve their wives in such a way that the world would take notice of this unusual type of self-sacrificial love. It is as only as a husband loves his wife like Jesus, and as a wife submits to that loving leadership just as the church submits to Jesus, that marriage begins to paint a beautiful picture of the gospel to the world around us!

In this section of Peter’s letter to suffering Christians in exile, he’s been explaining that God-honoring submission is a key tool in kingdom expansion. The last two weeks, he’s talked about how Christ-followers are to relate to government and to their employers, and now he shifts into the dynamics of a Christian marriage. Peter first pleads with wives to be subject to their husbands, just as the church submits to Jesus. He encourages these godly women to focus on their inner soul beauty more than their external dress or jewelry. He points them to Sarah in the Old Testament as an example to pursue as he points out that the strength of submission is a mark of the daughters of the kingdom who fear nothing in this world. This may be one of the most unpopular texts in the whole bible because it flies right in the face of our modern sensibilities. And yet, it’s only as we structure our marriages as a picture of the gospel that we begin to flourish as husbands and wives. It’s only as we begin to live in God’s design for marriage that we show the world a glimpse of the beauty of Jesus who willingly submitted Himself to redeem us all.

Peter continues with another specific example of how followers of Jesus are to live from our new identity as elect exiles, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a people for God’s own position. Our job description is to proclaim His excellencies, as He has brought us from darkness and into His marvelous light. The first example (last week) was how a Christian responds to government. Now it gets down to more personal and day to day relationships as he addresses servants in households, who would have had a wide variety of jobs but would have been under the authority of a master who may treat them unjustly. This gets really practical for us as well, thinking about our jobs, our bosses, and the other people in authority over us, and how we are to respond to them.