Continuing Pastor Kyle’s
message of grace and peace, he states that what he is trying to do is teach us
how to take control back of what is multiplied in our minds. It’s not rocket
science; it’s simple. The Apostle Peter wants us to know that the purpose of
this letter is to see grace and peace multiplied in Believer’s lives. Because
of what God has done, I get to decide
what gets multiplied inside of me and you get to decide what gets multiplied
inside of you.
1 Peter 1:3-5 “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, to an inheritance incorruptible and
undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for
you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to
be revealed in the last time.”
The next affirmation is that
God is our guard and whatever gets through His gate of protection has His
“go-ahead” and will turn out for our good. Believers are clearly guarded
because of their faith. Let me explain this a little. Salvation is the great
hope of the Christian life, Amen. We are all going to see that salvation
physically when we pass from earth’s shores to eternity or when the Lord
returns for those who are alive to see that day. This is a great reality that
we celebrate and look forward to. But, what the Apostle Peter is saying here is
that God is actively protecting us because of our faith until that day. In
other words, Believers are guarded and protected by God right here and right
now! That brings us so much comfort to know.
What does that mean
precisely? It doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen to people who love God,
because we live in a fallen world and there are consequences because of that.
And yet, we know that God is actively protecting Christians is ways that we
don’t even know about. The fact is, it is in the Holy Scriptures of the Word of
God and we can take that to the bank. God is both the guard and the boss of
your life, and God decides what comes in and takes away things that He knows
are not going to be good for you in the long term. But, if God Let’s something
tough inside the gates of your life, He did not let you down; He gave it the
“Go-ahead”.
In the book of Job, we read
that God, in this one unique instance, actually allowed Satan to get pass the
gate of Job’s life to reek havoc for a season. It is not a normal practice of
the Lord to let Satan pass the gate though. In most cases, it is really our own
sin and the affects of a fallen world that cause us to go down the wrong path.
But, we see that there is a precedence for God to lower the guard and allow
hardship into Believer’s lives for His own purposes. So, what are those
purposes? Sometimes, we get a glimpse of them on this side of heaven and
sometimes we don’t.
In Matthew 4:1-11, the Holy
Spirit clearly lead the Lord into the wilderness to by tempted by Satan with
the “Go-ahead from the Father. Jesus never gave into the temptations and
triumphs over the enemy. Here is the point of these two Bible illustrations.
More often than not, God blocks bad things that we never ever know about, He’s
looking after us. But, I would argue that in these instances (like the pandemic
that we are all facing right now), where God’s let’s the hardship happen, God
is still our guard and we have to trust that whatever gets through His gates
has His “Go-ahead” and will ultimately turn out for our Good.
Let’s finish Pastor Kyle’s
message on grace and peace multiplied in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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