So far in this letter, Peter has given us a beautiful definition of our new identity as followers of Jesus. Elect exiles, beloved sojourners, a chosen race, a royal priesthood, people with a heavenly inheritance and a bulletproof living hope. That is who you are, Christian. Now Peter shifts to how this new identity should be lived out in different areas of our lives. This week, he drills down into how we should respond to earthly governments. If there’s anything our independent, American spirit hates most, it’s probably submission in any form. And yet, Peter teaches that submission is actually connected to Christian freedom. Although there may come a time and place for civil disobedience when man’s law conflicts with God’s law, our baseline attitude and response to our governing authorities should be one of honor and submission. We do this for two key reasons: to please our heavenly king, and to proclaim Him to the people of this world.

We finished up last week by looking at our new identity in Christ in 2:9-10. (Go back and read that before moving on.) Once Peter establishes our new identity in Jesus, he spends the rest of chapter 2 and much of chapter 3 challenging us to live out our new identity in several key areas of our lives. He starts by addressing our personal lives and how we are to engage the sin we each deal with on a daily basis. Peter is reminding us that our new identity as Jesus followers isn’t a passive identity, it’s an active one. It’s transformative. The gospel really does change us and it gives us the ability to say no to sin. Sin doesn’t control us anymore, it doesn’t dominate or enslave us like it once did. As we learn to wage war against our sin-nature and live according to our new identity, the world around us will glorify our Father in Heaven when they see our good deeds birthed from our transformed hearts.

This week we dive into chapter 2 of Peter’s letter to a group of suffering churches. In light of their living hope and coming inheritance through Jesus, Peter challenges them in two key areas: putting away sin and growing in Christ through His Word. He then pivots and reminds them once again of their new identity in Jesus: living stones being built into a spiritual house with Jesus as the cornerstone. He then closes this section of his letter with a reminder of what they are to be doing while living this exiled life full of trials and pain: proclaiming the excellencies of Jesus to the world around them. If believers around the world would take and apply the rich truths in this one small section of Peter’s letter, our neighborhoods, cities and the nations would be transformed forever!

We’ve seen God do some really amazing things during this global pandemic! Perhaps more people than ever before have been reached with the gospel via so many live-streaming services across the globe. The stories of life change, baptisms, and the global church meeting needs in crisis have been incredible. And yet, there seems to be a dangerous disease quietly lurking in the dark recesses of the body of Christ. You see, love for one another and unity in the family of Jesus, is of the highest priority in God’s Kingdom. As we see fracture lines in our society forming over when and how to reopen, wearing masks vs. not wearing masks, weighing physical health vs. economic health, and a host of other issues that are quickly becoming toxic...a watching world desperately needs to see what unity in diversity looks like. For Jesus and the early disciples like Peter, unshakable unity among believers wasn’t optional for the follower of Jesus, it was a defining mark of those who actually knew and loved Him. Our unity, according to Jesus, is actually the one way the world around us will know that God sent Jesus to rescue them because He loves them. In light of that, is there really anything more important than our unity around the gospel above all else?

Stirred, Not Shaken - Rich Miller, New Life Elder - 05.17.20 by New Life of Asheville

Last week, we watched as Peter unfolded a picture for his audience of their amazing inheritance in Jesus. He calls it a living hope. A type of hope anchored in the past, secured in the future and experienced in the present. This week, Peter will challenge these suffering believers to respond to this type of hope in bold ways. He’s going to challenge these believers to not only believe the right stuff about God, but to actually live it out in the furnace of suffering. Peter lays out 5 responses to living hope. Practical and yet difficult to live out truths like; getting your mind right, hope fully, chase holiness, fear rightly and love fiercely. As we learn to live out these astonishing truths, we begin to overcome trials and suffering by keeping our eyes on the source of all hope--Jesus Christ.

Last week we were launched into this incredible little letter by the apostle Peter. He reminded us of our true identity on this earth as followers of Jesus: elect exiles. Chosen and loved, and yet strangers in a foreign land who will suffer on our way home. This week, Peter tells these suffering Christians that they have a living hope. That because of the resurrection of Jesus, they have an eternal inheritance. This living hope in Jesus, is so powerful according to Peter, that it actually allows believers to experience joy even in the midst of deep grief. This mystery of the gospel, our salvation and hope in pain is so glorious that the prophets of old spent countless years marveling at it, and even angels long to look into it. We are people of the new covenant, and as new covenant Christians we don’t have a dead hope, a compromised hope or a half-way hope but a LIVING hope because of Jesus!

This week we begin a brand new series called Hope In Exile through the first letter of Peter. Peter most likely wrote this letter right around 64 AD when a psychopath named Nero ruled the vast Roman Empire. Nero set off a fierce period of persecution against the 1st century church, which meant that new Christians had to try to figure out how to follow Jesus when their world seemed to be spinning out of control. He writes to these suffering churches for one primary reason: to give them hope in exile. Right out of the gate, Peter reminds them of their identity. Elect exiles. Chosen, known, loved, blood-bought, God’s prized possession. He reminds them of who they are, and of the activity of the Father, Son and Spirit in their lives. See, we have to know who we are before we know what to do. For the follower of Jesus, there is great hope even in exile. Especially in exile!

This week we wrap up our Transformed series where we’ve been discovering what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Matthew 4:19 teaches us that being a disciple has 3 primary components: follow, change, on mission. Two weeks ago we taught on part one of living on mission with Jesus, and looked at how to share the best story ever told. This week we’ll be looking at how as saved people we aren’t just saved from something, but we’re also saved to something. In short, saved people serve people. We first and foremost serve God and in response to His greatness and grace we use what we’ve been given to serve those around us. We pray God will continue to transform us all as we live on mission with Him!

Easter is a day that has been celebrated by hundreds of millions of people around the globe each year for nearly 2,000 years. As followers of Jesus, there really isn’t a more important day in the history of the universe. The amazing thing about the resurrection of Jesus is that we have incredibly solid reasons to believe that this is a historical event, rather than some feel good story or fable like the easter bunny or the tooth fairy. The fact that Jesus really did walk out of that tomb outside of Jerusalem 3 days after being brutally executed by the Roman government, means that real hope exists for every last one of us! The resurrection means that your past doesn’t have the final word. It means that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that’s available to everyone who places their faith in Jesus. The resurrection is a game-changer and the best news this world has ever experienced!