Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (4) to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that dies not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, (5) who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation in the last time.  (6) In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, (7) that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, (8) whom having not seen you love.  Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, (9) receiving the end of your faith – the salvation of your soul.   

The Apostle Peter wrote this letter near the end of his life and probably from a Roman prison. The arc of his life on earth was stunning – from a fisherman in Galillee to the chosen companion of Jesus – from an uneventful life as a Jewish working man to a witness of the most astounding event in human history.  Peter’s life was not just turned inside out, he was, at the end of his life for the Christ, head of the universal Christian church and an instrument for God’s plan for redemption.

Persecution of Christians was in full swing in Rome and escalating throughout the rest of the ancient world and Peter is writing to suffering Christians.  He is overcome by the enormity of the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and writes his word of encouragementment through this lens.  Everything – all suffering – pales in comparison.  Salvation of the faithful is sure and is of the Lord.

We need our eternal perspective and not to dwell on immediate trials. Salvation can never be earned by man – it comes in spite of man. Mercy and grace are the undeserved gifts from God. If salvation depends on our “goodness” then it isn’t sure.  Our salvation comes from the resurrection of Christ Jesus and Peter was a witness to the risen Christ. Peter urged his readers to put their faith in the right place – in Jesus and what He did for us on the cross – not in ourselves or others which would be faulty and inadequate. God gives the faithful saving faith.

We can expect tribulations in this world – the purpose of trials is to refine our faith  which is not perishable.  Trials are temporary, necessary and under God’s control and for a little while compared with eternity.  Grief and pain are real and the biblical way is not to deny this but we are to retain genuine joy in eternal hope.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting, at the right hand of God.  (2) Set your mind on things above, not on things in the earth.  (3) For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  (4) When Christ who is our life appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory. 

The letter to the Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul. The church there was NOT founded by Paul but Paul had close ties to  the church and its members.

This letter was written by Paul while a prisoner in Rome for the gospel. The church in Colosse was threatened by the Jewish legalizers who preached that faith in Jesus was necessary BUT also necessary was observerance of the Mosaic Law – ceremonial rituals of the Jews, dietary laws, the necessity for circumcision etc.  The particular heresy in Colosse also questioned the divine nature of Christ Jesus, (questioning reconciliation with God and redemption by Christ) and there was also the belief that matter was evil.

Paul addresses these theological questions in this letter but our verses today concern the new status of the faithful as raised with Christ – their spiritual lives are now hidden in Christ.  Paul fights the legalizers as what they would have men do is the invention of man, not God.  The faithful are to seek things that are above; we are strangers in this world  and our treasure is in heaven – and someday we will be made manifest in Christ.  Our spiritual home is in heaven while at present our bodies live in this world.  The moment we are saved we enter, through Christ, into God’s presence.  Christ is all in all and we are complete in Him – we have a new focus, a new reality

My favorite, c.s.Lewis, writes in The Weight of Glory, that “At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door.  We discern the freshness and purity of the morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure.  We cannot mingle with the splendors we see.  But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so.  Some day, God willing, we shall get in.”

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, (6) who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, (7) but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  (9) Therefore God has also highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, (10) that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, (11) and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The letter to the Christians in Philippi was written by the Apostle Paul to encourage them to remain steadfast in the face of persecution for their faith in Christ Jesus. Paul writes this letter from prison, likely in Rome, and is suffering for his faith too.

The message in Scripture is clear that while it may look like evil is overcoming in this world, the opposite outcome is sure and God IS sovereign. Christ through his death and resurrection has triumphed over death. We have the witness of the prophets of the Old Testament – all of which points to the promised Messiah of Genesis – and  the direct witness of the apostles who saw Jesus after the resurrection – and who, to a man, suffered all for Jesus. Indeed, the explosion of the church of Christ in those ancient times can only be explained by divine intervention.  God has a plan and we are part of it

The gospel is THE good news – we have been redeemed by Christ and “it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes”.  The message is Christ as true God took on the nature of true man and became sin to be sacrificed to make man right with God. That is why He suffered so in the garden of Gethsemane – not because of the physical torture He knew was ahead but because He would become sin and so would be separated from the Father.  He came to save man in obedience to the Father.  The intended goal in our verses today was not the salvation of man (though that was true) but the glory of God the Father.   Jesus did come as a servant – not of man – but of His Father.  Thus the verses 9 to 11:  “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  Amen.

So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  (9) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.  (10) And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  (11) But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to yoir mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Christians in Rome.  Chapter 7 of Romans closes describing the struggle within the believers human sinful nature and our desire to please God.  But chapter 7 ends with great thanksgiving that God is sovereign  and in His mercy has given faithful man the gift of righteousness through our Lord Christ Jesus.  Then chapter 8 begins with the assurance that there is no condemnation for the faithful Christian.  Imagine.

We cannot be saved unless God saves us.  There is nothing – no works – that can earn us heaven and the Holy Spirit is the seal and agent of our sanctification.  God never intended us to live our faith by our own efforts and our liberator is the Indwelling Spirit.  ALL the faithful are covered by the perfect sacrifice of Christ Jesus.  We are delivered from the penalty of sin.   In the Spirit we belong to Christ.  The Spirit is life-giving and has power over death – the Spirit was the instrument by which Christ was raised from the dead and through the Spirit life will be given to our mortal bodies.

The Spirit provides us a no condemnenation status which was paid for by Christ’s death  The faithful have life in the Spirit and are enabled to fulfill the regeneration of belief.  In the indwelling Spirit we have gone from death to life; from dark to the light.  Because the Spirit is now in us our nature has been changed and our relationship with God is settled