I Peter 1:10-12 The Longing of Angels

It is fascinating to me that Peter comments on the longings of angels and that they are intently interested in what is going to happen in the cosmic story of mankind. It is the salvation of man that they are they are watching so that they might understand what the times and circumstances are leading up to. God has made a promise to man in the presence of all his creation, including the angels and now they are intent on finding out how He will bring this promise to fruition. But my heart in comparison yawns again at the gospel, knowing that my salvation is sure and that Christ has saved me. Why, being the one that is actually being saved, am I not intently looking into the ways of Christ each and everyday? My heart is dull towards the gospel and I should take a lesson from the angels.

Peter also says that the prophets were all pointing towards this moment when Christ would provide a way of salvation. They all look forward, seeking out the Messiah, and trying to understand the greater plan of God. Many of them were confused, as was Peter, thinking that the rule of Christ would be a physical Kingship similar to King David. But Christ was save all through the sacrifice of Himself on the Cross, something that no one saw coming, although all the OT imagery pointed to it. We, as modern day Christians, are so hard on Peter and others for not understanding, but we would have made the same mistakes, if not more, if we were in their shoes.

It was not until the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles that they were truly able to understand what happened to Christ and why it had to happen. The power of the Holy Spirit is not primarily healing, tongues, or miracles. The power of the Spirit is knowledge and understanding. Peter was given this knowledge, a simple fisherman, and his first sermon 3,000 were saved. We as Christians should be seeking after knowledge of what Christ has done and live in response to that. Instead we are often seeking after an experience of power from the Spirit that starts with emotions. Peter's main message here is "READ!" The angels longed to see these things, the prophets always were searching after these things, and you have it written down in a beautiful leather bound book. Stop searching for an emotional experience and begin to search Scripture through intense study and the emotions will flow from the promises found within the Scripture.

I Peter 1:1-9 Where's my Inheritance?

The more I read these first few verses of I Peter, the more I am struck by the profound depth of meaning found within them. I think that as a Christian of many years my eyes moved over these first words with little effort, acknowledging my salvation is from the Lord and that we, as Christians are looking forward to heaven. But I did not allow my self to really soak up the message that Peter is conveying in these opening words. I must remember, he is writing these words within the midst of persecution, and he is declaring that we have an inheritance found in heaven that worth more than any treasure found on this earth. My heart is so consistently over whelmed by material wants and needs. I constantly complain about not having enough of this or that and the stuff I have is not good if it is not new.

But yet Peter telling us that what we have here on this earth is nothing compared to that inheritance found in heaven. What is this inheritance? It is the salvation of our soul from the judgment and condemnation we deserve. My heart is no longer excited about this Truth as it once was. It is taken for granted that a way of salvation has been made clear for me through Jesus. And so I make other things more important that God Himself. Peter goes so far as to say that suffering is a part of this world and as Christians we should expect that persecution because it is a testing ground for our faith. So I should look forward to the suffering that will come my way as a Christian.

The Theology of Peter seems to fly in the face of our current theological leaders of today. The mentality in the church today is that we can find our "Best Life Now". But is certainly not what Peter is promising. Our Best Life is yet to Come and during this life the Best might look like a lot of suffering for making the right choices that acknowledge God as Savior.

Matthew 5:17-20

Christ came to fulfill the Law, and with His death He satisfied the wrath of God for all who believe. What a blessing it is to us that He has already paid the penalty for our sins so that we might enjoy a right relationship to the Father. Verse 17 is fairly easy to understand and comprehend but it is followed by some strange thoughts that need further investigation. What does God mean that whoever breaks these commandments will be least in the kingdom of heaven. I did not know there would be hierarchy of perfection in heaven. The outcomes of disobedience for those who believe seems to be an area of Scripture that is not clear.

What is clear however, is the command to be righteous and love righteousness. And that seems to be the theme of the whole sermon. It is a connection to the Beattitude, Blessed are those who thirst and hunger for righteousness, for they will be filled. We do not gain access to God through our righteousness because we would not measure up, but our hearts, once we find Christ, should love righteousness. If we do not love righteousness, then we should reflect on what grace and salvation really are, because maybe we do not realize the fullness of our salvation.

Matthew 5:13-16

This passage is common in the pulpit and is typically preached as an exhortation to share the gospel with others. However, I wonder if more is going on than first appears. I have heard the phrase in my seminary class that the imperative is always based on the indicative, meaning that what I do is always based on who I am, or who I have been declared to be. In this passage we could say that we have been made salt, and we have been declared the light. Now since we are these things, what is purpose of being made or declared these things? It is clear that salt and light have a purpose. That purpose should be embraced as a person.

As Christians we are declared righteous for a purpose. We have a distinct calling in life that revolves around proclaiming Christ. The subtle difference is not declaring I am this special light or special salt but that it is not about me whatsoever. God is using me to fulfill His divine plan. I am therefore, called to purposeful life that revolves around following His calling.

Matthew 5:1-12

Once Jesus gained the following of some many people He began to teach them. In Chapter five we see the clear essence of His ministry teaching through the sermon on the mount. The Beattitudes are the focal point of the entire sermon and set the tone and disposition a believer should display. In my studies I have often moved quickly through the first 11 verses to get to the "practical stuff" of Jesus' teaching, but it has become clear to me through this reading that I must slow down and concentrate on the reading of verses 1-11. They form the heart of His message for the church in having a proper self-awareness.

His first statment has been misuderstood and often ignored because of that misunderstanding. Blessed are the poor in spirit means that we have a proper understanding of ourself in relation to the world. It is difficult for a hyper-individualistic society in which the educational system has worked endlessly to build up the self esteem, to understand that a person must be poor in spirit, meaning they have a good understanding of humility.

His second statment is Blessed are those who mourn, meaning that those who are poor in spirit, that have a proper understanding of thier inward disposition of sin, are repentent about it. They have the proper response to the sinfulness they see in their hearts.

His third statment is Blessed are the meek, meaning that those who understand their condition, are repentent of their condition, understand that the remedy for their condition did not come from their abilities, rather it came from the work of Christ. Meekness is the proper attitude of listening to others before you speak into a situation.

These three Beattitudes form the core of what a Christian should look like internally and as I am reflecting on my own life I see a major gap in my disposition from what is mentioned in Scripture. I am typically first to speak, cut other off, declare my point of view, push my agenda, and I think I am a pretty good person. This is not the proper place that my heart should be in relation to God.

All other parts of the Sermon on the Mount must be seen in the proper understanding of the Beattitudes, or else the autonomous self will seek to use the words of Christ to their advantage.

Matthew 4:23-25

I often wonder what it would have been like had Jesus been ministering in our day and age. How would we have responded to a person declaring that they could heal, cast out demons, and teach the truth of Old Testament Scriptures? I think we would have held a large degree of skepticism towards this in our modern worldview of Science and Emperical truth. But not so the 1st Century AD. Jesus was known as the Great Physician and consistently healed people of various diseases. Our response would not have been faith, but these people followed Jesus because of His ability to heal.

Although Jesus did many miracles, this was not the main emphais of His ministry to the people. These might have been the felt needs of the people - immediate concerns that caught their attention- but it allowed Him to gain a following to hear the need of their real needs - meaning the spiritual needs of the unregenate heart.

So often I know that Jesus still works in me the same way, only I take the provision of my needs in a very unflective manner. I am consistently taking credit for the standard of living I enjoy, and I am confident in my abilities to maintain a good job. This is, however, allowed by the grace of God and I should respond as such in my life. I am so very thankful that God has allowed me to have both my felt needs and spiritual needs addressed through Christ.

Matthew 4:12-22

Once Jesus was baptized He began His earthly ministry to people. He preached the same message as John the Baptist which was, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." We see this message throughout the New Testament ministry of Jesus and it is key for our understanding of Salvation. His message is simple yet profound in the thought that the Kingdom of Heaven is near, which begs the question, was it far off before? Who or what is he referring to this passage is the Kingdom of Heaven. It would seem from this study that this is one of the main questions we want to answer.

Also in this section we see the chosing of the 12 disciples. It has always amazed me that these men just left their nets on the beach to follow Jesus. Was this a literal leaving of the craft of fishing or was it simply a response to someone saying, "Hey, come over here for a minute." It would seem that these men responded to a greater calling without hesitation to become a part of the ministry of Christ to the people.

Matthew 4:1-11

The tempting of Jesus is in the 4th chapter of Matthew contains consistent parallels to the temptation of Eve in Genesis. It seems that Satan is always trying to get us to prove something. Each temptation that he throws out to Jesus starts with "If you are the Son of God". Did Satan not know this? Was he trying to get Jesus to prove something, and if so, who was he trying to prove it to? In the Garden of Eden Satan tempts Eve by asking the question, "Did God really say?" In essence, Satan simply calls into question the Truth of reality.

The great difference in these two passages is that Adam was not able to combat the temptation of Satan, whereas Jesus was able to overcome the temptation of Satan. This passage of Scripture shows clearly that Jesus was able to do something that our first Father was not able to do. Jesus has been tempted in every way but was blameless and sinless. And now, when I confess faith in Christ, I am relying on His perfection displayed in the life He lived. He was without sin, but He took on my sins, and paid the for the punishment I deserved. What a wonderful blessing.

Matthew 3:13-17

We do not often see this in Scripture but the Baptism of Jesus is one time that we experience all three persons of the Trinity together. We have Jesus beign baptized, the Holy Spirit descends on Him in the form of a dove, and we hear the voice of God the Father. It is amazing to see this picture and I am sure that John was afraid for His life to be performing this baptism as a feeble man. He knew who this baptism was for, but he did not know what it would represent.

The baptism of Jesus was to fulfill all righteousness, meaning that Jesus was doing this as an example to his people for the sake of obedience. We also should follow that process of obedience and fulfill all righteousness in the eyes of God.

Matthew 3:1-12

In Scripture we see this process of preparation for the coming of Christ. It can be argued that God had been sending a type of Christ to the people that foreshadowed the actual Messiah through Judges, Kings, and Leaders. But here we see a picture of the one that cleared the way for earthly ministry for Jesus. John the Baptist had a particular job of preparing the people to see clearly the Messiah.

His message was simple and should be admonished by us as believers today. Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is near. What exactly does this phrase mean and why is it important for us to show that proper response of repentance? I have three thoughts in reponse to the message of John the Baptist.

First, there was a proper fear associated with the message of John. In today's world it is out of fashion to preach from a "doom and gloom" perspective as people today want to be inspired, uplifted, and fulfilled. To them God is that all powerful geni that will make all our dreams come true. John did not see God that way. He understood Him to be all powerful, holy, and worthy of our worship. We should worship Him rather than the other way around.

Second, John preached repentance, which implies that this holy God is filled with mercy. The prayer of repentance in the context of appropriate fear is what we call humility. The message of John is simple in that it declares we are to humble ourselves before the Lord. We see this clearly as he says Himself that someone is coming that he is unable to carry His shoes because the Lord is holy. Our repentance should have that heart of humilty.

Third, John preached that judgment was coming. He says the ax is already at the root of the tree. What a great picture to illustrate the judgment of God! It is clear that the coming judgment is just about to be executed and what even John does not understand is that Christ is going to take that judgment upon Himself. The ax he portrays is the judgment that we as sinners deserve, but we know that Christ took those death blows that we deserved.

The promise and hope by which we live is that this judgment of death did not hold Christ. He rose again from the dead and He is alive. Because of that I follow the preaching of John - Repent! for the Kingdom of God is Near and is He closer to us than we realize.

Matthew 2:13-23

Not only was Christ worshipped as a child but he was also hunted. I have often wondered why Christ had to be born in such a humble and reliant way. On several occasions early in his life his parents moved in order to protect him. Obviously, God the Father had planned out the ultimate protection by providing Joseph with warnings through his dreams, but why did God not allow Jesus to come to earth fully grown, able to protect himself, and wisdom to make good choices? Christ, as a child, was completely reliant on two fallen parents, who were trying to protect thier son from the evil King Herod.

It would seem that God wanted to sympathize with his people in every way, understanding the full meaning of reliance, respect, honor, and obedience. Hebrews 4:15 states that "we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may recieve mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Christ walked through his life just as we have done except he did so without sin. I would have hated to be Jesus' younger brother. I am sure Joseph and Mary said on several occasions, why can't you be more like Jesus. But it seems clear from this passage that we are now able to rely on the finished obedience of Christ as our representative of righteousness before the Lord. We can not be any closer to God than we are right now because of his work. Now our consistent response is obedience in all areas of life.

Matthew 2:1-12

What is the purpose in Scripture of the Wise Men from the East? It seems like a bizarre story found on Christmas Cards and displayed in ornaments, but what a random way acknowledge that Christ had been born. These men came from the East and no where does it mention that there are three of them, but it seems they come out of nowhere. But they are seeking Christ. They are following the signs of their time and for some reason they are overwhlemed by a desire to worship Him as King. They brought Him gifts and they bowed down.

What drove these men to pursue such and extrodinary trip? It was the star and that star represents the way in which our sovereign Lord moved in their hearts to take action in worshipping Christ. The inward testimony of the Spirit enabled them to take this trip and to be remembered as an example of our experience of the Christian life. We too are following a star, but we know the Savior we follow and we know His revealed words to us found in Scripture. What an incredible blessing and are we not without excuse to seek after our Lord?

Matthew 1:18-25

In this section of Scripture the angel of the Lord refered to Jesus as Immanuel, meaning God with us. Out of all the religions in the world we rarley see an almighty God humbling Himself to become part of his people in order to save them. These should be shocking words to us and should stir in us several questions. However, in our popular culture today these thoughts are given very little attention and accepted because we do not fully comprehend the holiness of God.

Our Sovereign Lord displays all attributes of holiness for us his people who are far from holy. We are not able to participate in a right relationship with God because our fallen nature prevents us from entering into His presence. We can not save ourselves and therefore we needed a mediator to stand between our fallen nature and the holy wrath of God. Therefore, God sent Christ.

But the question that should stir our inward being is how can God be human yet not sinful. Is not human nature equated with sinfulness and selfishness? How can Jesus keep the law, yet be a man? He is able to do something that our first father could not: obey. Our obedience has been secured for us through Christ. Only the God/Man could fulfill such a perfection. So the question is not whether Jesus was God or Man, or some mixture, but to identify Him as something altogether different: he was fully God and fully Man. This is why in Romans God can call Himself Just (Holy) and the Justifier (Our Savior).

It is so encourages me that we have a faith that God has done the work of Salvation. When I realize this fully my obedience flows with gratitude towards my Savior.

Matthew 1:1-17

It is always amazing to me to trace the lineage of Jesus through the line of David and all the way back to the Patriarch Abraham. There is a distinct plan that has unfold especially when Matthew reiterates in verse 17 that there were fourteen generations from Abraham to David, from David to the Exile, and from the exile to Christ. Christ was the completion of a promise given some 42 generations previous when God told Abraham that he would be the Father of many nations. The cross reference to the passage is Genesis 22:18 in which God says to Abraham during his testing "and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Abraham really did not understand the fullness of this statement and we live in a great time of life in which we can look back easily through God's Word to see the fruition of prophetic sayings. Most people skip over geneologies but I find that the record stated in the first chapter of Matthew points to the sovereign power and plan of God. He brought His promises to completion through line of Abraham and David. What a blessing that is to us as believers.