International/Uniform
Sunday School Lesson for May 5, 2013
Scripture
Text: I Peter 1:3-12
Purpose:
To lay hold of a holy life through the hope that is in us
1
Peter 1:3-12 (CEB)
3
May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! On
account of his vast mercy, he has given us new birth. You have been
born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. 4 You have a pure and enduring inheritance that
cannot perish—an inheritance that is presently kept safe in heaven
for you. 5 Through his faithfulness, you are guarded by God’s
power so that you can receive the salvation he is ready to reveal in
the last time.
6
You now rejoice in this hope, even if it’s necessary for you to be
distressed for a short time by various trials. 7 This is
necessary so that your faith may be found genuine. (Your faith is
more valuable than gold, which will be destroyed even though it is
itself tested by fire.) Your genuine faith will result in praise,
glory, and honor for you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8
Although you’ve never seen him, you love him. Even though you don’t
see him now, you trust him and so rejoice with a glorious joy that is
too much for words. 9 You are receiving the goal of your faith:
your salvation.
10
The prophets, who long ago foretold the grace that you’ve received,
searched and explored, inquiring carefully about this salvation.11
They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was saying when
he bore witness beforehand about the suffering that would happen to
Christ and the glory that would follow. They wondered what sort of
person or what sort of time they were speaking about. 12 It was
revealed to them that in their search they were not serving
themselves but you. These things, which even angels long to examine,
have now been proclaimed to you by those who brought you the good
news. They did this in the power of the Holy Spirit, who was sent
from heaven.
My
Thoughts by Burgess Walter
Have
you ever wondered what the difference was between “hope” and
“wishes”? There is a tendency to think of “wishes” as
something that might or might not happen short term. “Hope” is
more long term, and in the life of a Christian is a certainty.
Peter's letter to those early Christians in northern Asia Minor,
(present day Turkey) was a message reminding them that “hope” in
Christ is an assurance they can count on. Just as “hope” is not
“wishes” so to “mercy” is not “pity.”
Because
of God's mercy, Christians everywhere have been given an opportunity
of a “mulligan” (to put it in golfing terms), we all get a “do
over.” God lets us all start anew, or we are given a “new birth”
or “born again.” Unfortunately we don't get that “do over”
unless we are willing to put our faith and trust in God's promise of
a new life, byway of the resurrection of His Son Jesus the Christ.
Just as Christ obtained new life through the resurrection, we who
believe, are also given new life, not only from death, but a chance
to live a resurrected life. A life dedicated to teaching and
following the example given to us by Christ.
The
life we now live as Christians is a life filled with hope. Just like
someone who has been named a beneficiary of a will, or a trust fund,
we have an assurance, or insurance, that all that we hope to receive,
will be given us a the proper time. God's promise is better than
Prudential, Met Life, or Northwestern. This inheritance has been
placed in heaven, and is under the stewardship of God, by His power.
Short
term trials and troubles should not discourage us, or dampen our
hope. Remember everything in this life is “short term.” I like to
think of the words to Amazing Grace, the great
hymn of the church. “When we have been there ten-thousand
years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing Gods
praise, than when we first begun.”
You think you are having a bad day, or week or year, or
even a lifetime, it is still not equal to a nanosecond in heaven.
Like gold that has been refined by fire, or any drug
that has gone through thorough testing, our faith needs to withstand
the heat, test, and trials that are sent our way. “Genuine
faith results in praise, glory and honor..... when Christ is
revealed.” (v7)
While Peter was an eye witness to Christ life, as well
as his death, resurrection, and Ascension, he encourages us, who have
not been witnesses, to trust his testimony as well as the testimony
of all the prophets of old. The glory that awaits us is so amazing
even the boisterous Peter is at a loss for words. Your
inquisitiveness is not alone, Peter says, even the angels long to
know the mind of God and his timetable.
Some things in life do not require “faith” such as
death and taxes, but eternal life, our hope, requires us to have a
genuine faith. We have many resources on which we can draw, to help
us is in our faith. We have the promises of the Old Testament, the
Psalms and the prophets. We have the testimony of Peter, James, John,
and Paul, all eyewitnesses, and most importantly, we have the the
Holy Spirit.
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