1 Peter "The Word of The Lord Endures Forever"
Each book in the Bible gently guides God's people into a more intimate relationship with their Creator, as He knows must occur, for His people to receive Him in the depth of the relationship that He purchased for them. Each day we are covering, in sequential order, one of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament and explaining how each of them is revealing God in a more intimate way than has been given to this point in the scriptures.
Today is the twenty-first day of the series, “The Progressive Revelation of Jesus Christ” and the book is, 1 Peter, the twenty-first book in the New Testament as it appears in our Bible. 1 Peter is a letter written to a group of people in a certain geographic area who were, “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ:”, and the focus of the letter is to bring the people into a focus outside of their cultural possibilities and expand their ability to receive the true depth of revelation that God has to give to all of His people as they realize they have received, “An inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,”
Peter tells God’s people, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;” Peter recognizes the fact that the mind is a powerful creative tool that God has given to people, and it has to be “girded up” or constrained into a place of its proper dwelling and be focused in the right direction; and, he specified what the focus should be, “ to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” This blog series is intended to bring to light for God’s people; “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” and the relation that it establishes. This culmination of the “Revelation” is covered in the last book of the Bible and that is where this blog series is headed.
Next, Peter makes this statement, “the word of the Lord endureth for ever” There are only two lives that people can live. They either stand with the world and its mindset and against the word of the Lord; or, they stand with the Lord and against the world’s mindset; there is no middle ground to occupy; and, the amazing truth is, everyone who stands with the Word of the Lord stands with the One who stands forever.
Peter continues with, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” Peter is creating a separation for God’s people from the world so they can understand who they are in a deeper way than had been told before. The Book of Hebrews states how God’s people are the Tabernacle of God, and Peter is describing how God’s people through Jesus Christ have been recreated to be the ones who have the right and the ability to enter that Tabernacle; which is, the depths of themselves. This ability to enter the depths of one’s self to understand who they are and to commune with God who dwells there is a new revelation given to God’s people on their journeys at this point in the scriptures.
Peter continues with, “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;” The reality of being able to cease from sin by being armed like Christ with, “the same mind” is God revealing the unlimited possibility that His people have through Him. Jesus commanded people to, “Go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you,” and Peter is informing God’s people how it is possible to go and sin no more.
“Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,” is how Peter continues his letter, and the reason he gives is, “when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” Here again, the Scriptures are foretelling what happens upon Jesus’ glory being revealed. This revelation is not necessarily the time when He comes back to the Earth physically in His own body, and everyone sees Him with their natural eyes; it can be an individual’s life and the revealing of Him to that person in the depth that He has purchased for him.
This suffering through the “fiery trial” might seem extremely burdensome, but God gives His people instructions on how to receive comfort in this situation as well by telling them, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” God does not expect His people to carry the burden of the world by themselves; He carries their cares for them. This is another step in the relationship that can be experienced in its fullness while still on the Earth.
The examples in this blog are only a limited sample of the deepening relational revelation described through the letter titled “1 Peter.”
The intent of the blog is to demonstrate the difference in the revelation that God gives to His people as they intently follow Him and focus on what He has told them through their individual lives, and the revelation they’ve received through the Holy Spirit and His Holy Bible.
