Exile VI Title:
The Answer
Date: 3.16.14
Text: 1 Peter 1:612 HI: God's answer to why? is Who.
Introduction:
Atheist Susan Jacoby states it this way: "The theodicy problem is the rock upon which all monotheism founders. How can the existence of an omnipotent, loving God be reconciled with the horrors he allows to be inflicted on his creations?"
READ 1 Peter 1:1012
I. Where the prophets saw a silhouette, we see Jesus.
(PUT THESE NEXT TWO ON SAME SLIDE)
Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Deuteronomy 18:15 "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers it is to him you shall listen
Psalm 22:1, 78
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 "He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!"
Isaiah 53:3, 1011
He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not...Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.2
Hebrews 11:1316
These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
1. Theysearched 2. Theysuffered 3. Theypersevered 4. TheytrustedGodassovereign. 5. TheyservedHimfaithfully.
6. Theyservedothersfaithfully. 7. Theypavedthewayforthegospeltoberevealed.
READ 1 Peter 1:67a
II. God doesn't leave us in the fire, he leads us through the fire.
(let's make this on the "sticker" fomat) "Hi, My Trial Is..." Insert Trial Here ______.
Hebrews 12:12
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
"While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world’s sorrows, tasting the coming joy.” Timothy Keller, Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering
"Tested genuineness" = "Genuineness as a result of a test, without alloy" “You don’t really know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”
3
Timothy Keller, Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering READ 1 Peter 1:7b
III. The gospel of Jesus is our guarantee that we won't be left in the fire.
2 Corinthians 4:1618: So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
“Some suffering is given in order to chastise and correct a person for wrongful patterns of life (as in the case of Jonah imperiled by the storm), some suffering is given not to correct past wrongs but to prevent future ones (as in the case of Joseph sold into slavery), and some suffering has no purpose other than to lead a person to love God more ardently for himself alone and so discover the ultimate peace and freedom.” Timothy Keller Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering (47)
Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Edmund Clowney: "When Jesus Christ is revealed, the gold of our faith will shine to his praise. The whole nature of suffering is changed for the Christian when he realizes that his anguish brings honour to Christ."
READ 1 Peter 1:89
IV. Faith in Jesus is the soul's evidence that leads to our joy.
1. They searched 2. They suffered 3. They persevered 4. They trusted God as sovereign. 5. They served Him faithfully.
6. They served others faithfully. 7. They paved the way for the gospel to be revealed.
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