1 Peter 4:12-19
My life, for the most part, has been lived in an around the
local church, and I’ve heard more sermons on how to be saved from the wrath of
God, especially as a small child and through my teen years, in small Baptist
churches. For many those messages
took, but for me it was not the wrath of God message, but the observation of
three men who were living out the Christian life in the workplace. These men, plus a pastor and a refinery
worker showed me a truth, that truth was just unbelievable; that God loves me.
In my 42 years of being freed from God’s wrath, it is
shameful how little I understand about living out the Christ life. A life that totally changed my eternal destiny, and that life
should have some affect on someone, anyone, could it be that I’ve not let the
Helper, (Holy Spirit) help me to live our Christ’s life? Today, as I reflected on 1 Peter
4:12-19, it amazed me that the Christian life is full of what Peter refers to
as fiery trials. These trials are
not so God will see how you will react, no, God has full understanding of your
life, these trails come so that you can see if you are living by faith, or
walking in the flesh. Peter calls
them a test, and it has been my observation that it is covering last year’s
material, and if I handle that material as I did algebra, then the conclusion
is failure, because I never saw application for algebra in my daily life. That’s also true for so many of us who
make everyday decisions without asking the Helper for help.
As I pondered over these verses, it became clear that I do
not like tests, and tests that I have not prepared for, often bring fear and
the feeling of inadequacy. But
those are not the responses that God looks for, look at verses 13-16, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings,
that you may also rejoice and be glad
when his glory is revealed. If you
are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of
glory and of God rests upon you.
But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as
a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers
as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that
name.” Some of us were
going real good till the Holy Spirit added meddler, and most of us have no understanding
of God’s view of evildoers. But
from the Scriptures we understand that to love things (stuff), or people (your
children), more than God, that puts our names on the evildoers list, and from God’s
view, it makes us an idol worshiper.
I wonder if more sermons were preached on verse 17, would
you and I set our minds on being doers of the word and not just hearers? “For it
is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins at the
household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those
who do not obey the gospel of God?” I have no understanding, and it is beyond my reasoning
ability to grasp that it was God’s will for His only Son to die for people like
me, but that does not change the truth, it was, and it is clear in verse 19
that many of us who are in Christ will also suffer according to God’s will.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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