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Introduction:
Have you ever blessed God? In II
Corinthians 1:3; Ephesians 1:3
and I Peter 1:3, we are told that God is blessed. The point of these
passages is not that God holds a state of blessedness. Rather, the
point is that God is worthy of blessing. He is worthy to be
blessed by us. But what does that mean? The term translated
“blessed” in these passages is a compound word that literally
means to speak good things. In other words, it refers to praising
God or honoring God. Our God deserves to be spoken of in terms of
honor and reverence. He deserves nothing less. But does our God
only deserve to be honored in word? Our God deserves much more
than just words of praise. Examine I Peter 1:3-5 and learn how truly worthy our God is to be blessed
and how that should impact not only our words but our life. Discussion: I.
Because God has begotten us to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus (I
Peter 1:3). A.
God has “begotten us again.” This refers to our
rebirth. As Jesus taught in John
3:3, 5, we must be born again. God accomplishes that when we
are baptized into Christ. He works in our baptism (Colossians
2:12) to make us new creatures, alive from the dead (Ephesians
2:1, 10). This highlights not just our rebirth, but also the
fact that we have become God’s children. As Paul said in Ephesians 1:5, those in Christ are adopted as sons. Paul also taught
in Romans 8:16-17 that
if we are sons, we are heirs with Christ. Of course, this leads us
to Peter’s next statement. We must hold off on that for a
moment. B.
Now that we are children of God we have a living hope. How
amazing this blessing from God is. We, who once were without hope
(Ephesians 2:11-13), have now been drawn near by the blood of Christ
and have a living hope. Our hope is described in Romans 8:23-25. We are awaiting the finalization of our adoption
that will occur when this body is redeemed. We do not see it yet,
but we have the earnest expectation and confidence that God will
redeem these wretched bodies and resurrect them as glorious
incorruptible bodies (I
Corinthians 15:42-44). C.
God has granted us this hope through Jesus’ resurrection.
This corresponds with Paul’s teaching in I
Corinthians 15:12-27. Paul argued that we can be assured of
our resurrection because Jesus was resurrected. Our resurrection
will occur at His coming. We have a hope in our resurrection,
because we see logically that there would be no point in the
death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ if our destiny were
simply to die and simply be dead. II.
Because God has begotten us to a heavenly inheritance (I Peter 1:4). A.
God has granted us an inheritance. As we learned from Romans 8:16-17, since we have been begotten to this living hope, we
are heirs with Christ. B.
Our inheritance is in heaven. The inheritance is not
something in this life. While there are numerous blessings in this
life that come from being a child of God, the real blessing for
which we are striving is eternal life in heaven (cf.
Matthew 19:29). Since the inheritance is in heaven and not
here, we must not be deterred from it because of what happens
here. In fact, a great deal of Peter’s letter is about that very
point. Persecutions, oppressions and troubles happen to
Christians. But we did not become Christians to receive an easy
life. We became Christians to receive eternal life. Do not take
your eyes off of that (Philippians 3:13-14; Colossians 3:1-2). C.
Because our inheritance is in heaven, it is incorruptible,
undefiled and will not fade away. How many people would become
Christians if they were promised a million dollars? But how good a
reward is that? It can be lost and stolen. It can only purchase
things that break down. It perishes with the using. And it loses
its value when we die. As Jesus taught in Matthew
6:19-20, it is not a good reward at all. That is why the
reward God offers is so great. Our inheritance cannot be lost or
stolen, it is reserved. It does not break down, it is
incorruptible and undefiled. It does not perish with the using, it
never fades away. When we die, our reward does not lose its value.
Rather, it is at death that we fully realize the value of our
inheritance. III.
Because God is guarding us by His power through faith (I Peter 1:5). A.
These blessings are reserved in heaven for a particular
group of people—those who are kept by the power of God through
faith. B.
We are kept by the power of God. That is, God is our guard.
He has not left us alone to face the hardships of life. He is
keeping us so that what happens to us will not separate us from
Him. God is more powerful than anything that happens to us here.
This corresponds with Paul’s more detailed explanation in Romans
8:31-39. Nothing can separate us from God. We must not be
distracted from the goal by hardships. Too often we allow
hardships to turn us from God, believing He has abandoned us or is
punishing us. Rather, our hardships should increase our faith in
God, recognizing that He can deliver us. I think of Daniel’s
three friends, Hananiah, Meshael and Azariah, who knew in the face
of seemingly certain death that their God was keeping them and had
an inheritance reserved for them and God would deliver them from
Nebuchadnezzar, even if He did not deliver them from the fiery
furnace (Daniel 3:16-18). C.
God’s power works in conjunction with our faith. Nowhere
does God promise to maintain the reservation for those who abandon
their faith in Him. In fact, this statement is actually the
thematic and central point of this passage we are studying.
Peter’s whole point in the book is to focus Christians on the
reward God has promised, His faithfulness to grant the reward and
to, therefore, provoke Christians to maintain faithfulness even in
the face of hardship and persecution. Everything we have studied
in this passage was meant to lead to this point—these blessings
are only given to those who maintain their faith. Paul reiterated
this concept in Colossians
1:21-23. God has reconciled us to Him so we can be presented
as righteous, blameless and above reproach. Through this we gain
the resurrection of life and the reserved inheritance. But this
only happens “if indeed you
continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved
away from the hope of the gospel…” IV.
Because He has done all this through His abundant mercy (I Peter 1:3). A.
We have discussed some really great things that God has
done for us. But still we have not really seen why He deserves to
be blessed by us. God deserves to be blessed because He did all
this by His abundant mercy. He did not do it because He owed us.
If so, then He would not deserve blessing. He would not even
really deserve gratitude (Romans
4:4). B.
When we were born again, confessing our faith in Christ,
repenting of our sins and entering Christ in water baptism, we did
not earn these blessings. When we continued on, steadfast in the
faith and not moved away from hope, we did not become worthy of
the blessings God has given. Rather, we were simply trying to do
what we should have been doing all along anyway. At that point, we
are still no more than unworthy slaves (Luke
17:10). C.
Our God deserves to be blessed, because He has been
merciful to us. When you consider the great mercy He has offered
through His Son, we learn that He does not deserve to be blessed
on Sunday—but every day. He does not deserve to be blessed in
congregational worship—but in constant, continued devotion and
personal worship. He does not deserve to be blessed in this
building—but in our homes, our workplaces, our schools and in
every place. He does not deserve to be blessed in word or in
tongue—but in deed and in truth. D.
God deserves whole-hearted devotion, not just good words
about Him. We must not be as those about whom Isaiah prophesied,
drawing near with our mouths but holding our hearts away from Him,
following after manmade ideas (Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:7-9). Every choice we make should be made
with the desire to please our God, honoring Him and His will above
all other choices. This is the blessing God deserves. Conclusion: Our God has given us blessings we do not deserve. How much more must we grant Him the blessings He does deserve? Do your words bless God? Do your actions bless God? Do your decisions bless God? Our God deserves to be blessed.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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