The Apostles of Christ ...

One could say the “Apostles of Christ” begin in the aftermath of Jesus Christ.  The writers of the Old Testament all had a direct connection with Jesus Christ through the means of prophecy and vision.  But they all lacked the history of His life.  They knew Him but only through the means that a prophet can know God, through inspiration.  And finding other people/prophets with similar experiences was going to be rare.  The Apostles of Christ had this same means of inspiration, but it was buffeted by the deeds, and witnesses, and stories of Jesus that were common in the first century after the ascension of Jesus Christ.  Imagine being a writer, and on your journey of mission, encountering another person who had a direct exposure to Jesus.  You would not be alone in talking about Him, you would be in a crowd of witnesses.  Everyone from young children who may have sat on His lap, to those whose bodies were fully restored because they did nothing but touch the hem of His garments as He walked by.  The Apostles would apt’ly be called prophets, but they lived in an age, where exposure to Jesus was not just a rare thing, it was a more common thing.

In our first volume of “A Second Look”, we studied the authors who had direct personal experience with Jesus Christ.  Those authors included Jude and James (likely His brothers as well as disciples).  They also included John (the beloved), Peter (the little rock), and Matthew (the former tax collector).  Between these men the story of the gospel was told very well.  However, while the story of our salvation is a great start, the story of our evangelism would seem to follow next.  It is the chronicles of that evangelistic message of the early Christian church, where the letters of the Apostles seem to add great context to our doctrines and understanding of God.  We will begin our study of this next phase of the work, with the author Luke (the physician).  Luke wrote another version of the gospel, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and with ample second-hand testimony by others who witnessed it.  Luke then went on to write the next chapter “The Acts of the Apostles” meant to show how the work would spread across the region.  During his travels with fellow apostle Paul (formerly Saul the Pharisee); it is believed Luke likely wrote the book or letter to the Hebrews. 

Understand that there is absolute unity among the disciples and apostles in pointing the new believer to Jesus Christ.  But beyond that, philosophy, perspective, education, and personal histories are all different.  Different parts of the body of the church, that present different attributes, each important, and each part of the Mosaic that makes up the body of Christ (His church).  There were no entirely separate denominations in these early days.  But there was a rift coming, between what the church would become in Rome, and what the church remained in the rest of the world.  Luke and Paul traveled together through much of these early evangelistic missions.  But that does not make them identical twins in what either wrote.  How could it?  Paul was a former Pharisee.  Luke was a current physician.  Both educated, but Luke was a gentile.  Both were converts, but both came from a completely different upbringing.  Just like all the others.  Jesus did not pick 12 men, then later 70 more disciples, as well as the women He invited to carry the gospel, because they were all cookie cutter images of each other.  He picked them for their diversity.  And He intended for them to cover each other’s weaknesses, and nuture each other’s strengths.  One body made of different parts.

In the end, most all of the passionate followers of Jesus, did not die deaths from old age, in comfort.  They died martyr’s deaths before their time, because of the fury of Satan against Jesus and His church.  Jewish persecution mounted the first attacks.  Which was followed by Roman persecution in the later years.  The early Christian faith was not born in a time with no opposition, but perhaps in a time when opposition was at its greatest.  Yet the ones who seem to have known Him best died these deaths and did not keep silent.  For a knowledge of Jesus does not inspire silence in us, but demonstrations of love in us, even to those who would name themselves our mortal enemies.  If today, we call ourselves Christian, yet pray for the death of our enemies, perhaps it reveals just how little we truly know Jesus Christ.  Perhaps instead we should take a second look at what has been written and see if we can find insight, that Jesus will lead us to find.  For now, let us put away our preconceptions, and read as if it were the first time, what has been preserved through miracle for us to freely read.

 

To Say What Must Be Said ...

Throughout this entire second letter to the church, Peter has attempted to remind his audience; to put the church in remembrance of the transformative power of the gospel message of Jesus Christ.  He has offered the scriptures, his own eye-witness testimony, and the sure word of prophecy as evidence to the Truth of Jesus Christ.  While we do not know Peter as a prophet, in what will be his final written words, he again demonstrates a living prophetic gift powered by the Holy Spirit in what will be revealed.  The goal of these parting words was not to be “prophetic”, but prophecy would be a tool to again remind his readers of the transforming power of Jesus Christ.  Our lives were meant to be better than they are.  Our lives were meant to be fuller.  In the death of self, and absence of self-obsession, we find the perfect freedom to love others that ONLY Jesus Christ can create within us.  We are to be made free from our former addictions, and slavery to loving self.  This was the power of the gospel, Peter was so keen for the early church to never lose sight of.  Already false teachers were spreading the seeds of Satanic influence in Christian thinking.  Already there were those who taught the value of “self” in the process of salvation.  This needed correction.

So Peter begins in chapter three of his second letter, the final chapter, his last written opportunity to reach the early church.  This was it.  Consider what you might write, if you knew with certainty your death was near, if you knew it could not be avoided.  What final thoughts would dominate your own priority.  While Peter no doubt loved his wife, perhaps he was more certain of her spiritual fate, and therefore focused his energy of those who he believed were at higher risk.  He begins in verse 1 saying … “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: [verse 2] That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:”  Note the term “beloved” in his address.  Peter has come to truly love these believers.  They are not just numbers to him, a random counting of those who may have been converted at some point or another and now comprise a church of “x” members.  They are not just folks of like-mind.  They are his beloved, and beloved of Christ.  It is not a sexual term, but it is a highly intimate term.  It carries meaning to him, and it is why he chooses to say what must be said.

Peter wishes to stir up remembrance in the church, to cause “pure minds” to consider the value of the gospel message he wants them to remember.  He asks they remember what he has said in times past.  He does not discard scripture, He asks them to build upon it, to be led to its truths.  They are not to become Pharisees obsessed with their own knowledge of the word, but they are not to become heretics that avoid the guidance the word might offer either.  They are to be led because they are willing to be led, to the Truth of Jesus Christ.  They must learn to see all scripture through the lens of Jesus Christ.  He worries they will forget what he and the other apostles have said to them.  This is not an ego trip for Peter.  He is not the sole authority of the gospel, he is merely a voice in it.  He does not discount the words, letters, or teachings of other apostles or leaders in the faith.  He does not defer to them, or assert superiority over them, he UNIFIES with them and acts in concert with them for the betterment of the church.  There is no hierarchy implied here, only a flat-church with Christ as the individual leader of every member.

Peter continues in verse 3 … “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, [verse 4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”  Here begins the revelation of the future from the Holy Spirit, inspiring the prophetic words of Peter.  Peter longed for a return of Jesus Christ in his own day.  But he now knows he will sleep until the return of his Lord.  So the Holy Spirit offers Peter a glimpse into human nature, and the temptations of Satan that will plague the church when he is gone.  The words Peter enumerates above have been spoken not just in our own generation, but in nearly every generation between Peter and us.  It is the rally cry of the Atheists in our day.  And it has only ever been made worse by those who claimed to know the exact hour of His returning. They preach a message of fear that the hour of the Lord was near.  When the day and time passed, scoffers only amplified their cries.

You will also note, those who scoff, have not been made free from the slavery of self.  Instead they “walk after their own lusts”.  This is not just a general statement of despair about those who have not yet found the Lord.  It is a profound examination of those within the membership of the church, who have also never been made free from sin, any sin.  There are those who never allow the scoffing words to pass their lips, yet in their hearts, hold these same ideas to be true.  They believe forgiveness will cover their misdeeds, and that they have time to continue committing these sins while God delays his return.  They do not have the courage to utter words of doubt within the body of Christ, but their lifestyles are evident of the desires of their hearts.  Desires that have never been altered or re-created by Jesus Christ, because they would rather prolong His delay and continue in sin, than surrender and live differently.  These scoffers have embraced the idea of responsibility, and the role of self, within the process of salvation.  As such, they have only known failure, and failure has led them to doubt.

Peter continues in verse 5 … “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: [verse 6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: [verse 7] But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”  There is a key reason why Satan must attack the validity of Creation, and the Flood in the Genesis accounting by Moses.  If Christians accept the literacy of Creation, they can acknowledge that Jesus Christ could create in them new desires in harmony with the law of God.  But if we merely evolved, then perhaps our own evolution will save us as well.  If Christians accept the literacy of the Flood where the entire world was destroyed except for Noah who was willing to be saved by God; then the idea that a final end to sin will one day come upon us as well is equally real.  If the Flood never happened, then God has never really asserted His control, and perhaps He never will.

The doctrines, the truth, of the stories of Creation and the Flood, illustrate the salvation power of Jesus Christ, and the ultimate end of sin.  To discard them in favor of science, is to deny the author of science.  To discard them in favor of modern wisdom, is to trust our own common sense over the word of God, and repeat the errors of Lucifer and Adam.  Our wisdom will never be equal to God, our vision never as long or wide.  There are things we can study.  But when we believe we know “better” than God, we have crossed the same line Lucifer did, and embarked on the same path as well.  Peter here states that the condition of these scoffers, even inside the church, is to be willfully ignorant.  They do not wish to believe.  They do not want to know the truth.  They do not long for an end to evil, but instead a perpetuation of evil.  They want endless time to sin, not an end to sin within them.  This is the nature of scoffers who have never tasted the freedom from sin; the transformation offered by Jesus Christ who alone is able to bring.

Peter continues in verse 8 … “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”  Here again the prophetic influence of the Holy Spirit is displayed.  So many students of scripture have used this text to apply timelines to prophetic interpretations of other parts of scripture.  It helps set historical context, and allows timelines to be precisely formed for the beginning and ending of other prophecies.  And it is wonderful to see how the words of Peter here are used to help enhance prophecy in other places, by other authors.  But this was not the intent of Peter when penning these words.  He is simply continuing his thought about the complaint of scoffers as to the delay in the return of our Lord.  This is as much a figurative analogy as a declarative key to unlock other prophetic timelines.  Time has far less meaning when there are no limits to it.  It is our own mortality that feels the weight of passing minutes, months, and decades.  God has never known those limitations.  We had a Genesis.  God did not.  We were created therefore at some point in the infinite timeline of God we came into existence.  But our lives were never meant to be ended by an embrace of sin.  That choice was ours.  The result of that choice was inevitable.  Sin must end.  But in the light of our redemption, once again time has less meaning.  Knowing we will live forever at His return offers us a freedom from the weight of time.

Peter then offers insight into the reason why God would delay His return in verse 9 … “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  This is the fundamental difference in the thinking between God and Satan.  God uses time for the redemption of mankind, working diligently that all men might have time to come to want salvation.  Satan uses time to perpetuate evil and wishes it will never end, so that he can continue to act in evil forever.  Scoffers tend to align with Satan.  Their cries of perpetual delays and challenges to the truth of any end-state of the world, are more meant to validate their own desires to remain in sin.  They do not complain about the plague of sin that endures, they instead relish in it.  While those whose hearts are aligned with God, see each day as yet another opportunity to bring the freedom of Christ to an unreached aching soul; a chance to add one more to the number who will join them in eternity.  This is the consuming passion of the Christian, to love someone enough to find them in the kingdom together.

Peter continues in verse 10 … “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. [verse 11] Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, [verse 12] Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? [verse 13] Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”  Peter echoes the teachings of Christ stating that the day of His return will come as a “thief in the night”.  Or in other words, it comes when few are looking for it.  There are guards or policemen who keep an eye out for thieves at night.  But the mass of citizenry are sound asleep, not on guard, and content in the false knowledge that they are secure.  How many Christians are content and asleep, and not looking to be made free from the sin within them?

But what happens to the wealth of this world, and the combined accomplishments of mankind, when they are dissolved with a fervent heat?  All of the things we spend our time building, for ourselves, for our employers, for our nation, will ALL be melted away.  Our cars gone, our homes, our vacation resorts will be gone in a minute.  If these are things where we have invested so great a part of ourselves, our return on investment is to be disappointing.  Peter points this out, and says that in the light of the meaningless of the wealth of this world, we should invest our time, our conversation, and our actions in the wealth of the next one … namely in loving people to see them there.  Christians are to look past the destruction of this world, not at the wealth of the next one.  Notice he does not call attention to golden streets, but to a place “wherein dwelleth righteousness”.  It is not the structures we should be concerned about, it is the method of HOW we live that matters.  The absence of sin is the ultimate goal, not where we live when that occurs.

Peter summarizes in verse 14 … “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”  This is the message Peter has so needed to say.  This is the goal of reminding the early church.  The transformation Jesus Christ offers allows us to be found amidst the turmoil of the world, yet in peace.  The transformative power of Love Jesus Christ offers allows us to be found without spot, though surrounded by the most vile sins.  The freedom from loving self, to made free to love only others, allows us to be found blameless in world were all the troubles are blamed upon us.  It is not the conditions of our surroundings that dictate who we are.  It is in allowing the transformation process to occur within us that sees us made perfect in a world filled with imperfection and sin.  The problems have never been on the outside, they have always been on the inside.  This is the message that had to be said.  These are the words Peter must say before his time is ended.  We should cling to the gospel of hope.  We should cling to the transformative power of Jesus Christ to redeem us, and do not allow “self” to enter in and corrupt the process.  With the knowledge of his impending death, Peter chooses to write these words to the church.  It had to be said.  It must be said.  Now will we listen …

And Peter had one more epilogue to write …

 

A State of War ...

The War did not begin here.  The War existed before us, but it will end with us.  Victory is assured, but it is not “our” victory, it will only ever be His.  Jesus Christ won this war before it was ever begun, because Love was destined to defeat Evil.  There was only ever one outcome that is possible in this war.  If evil “could” win, there would be no existence at all.  But while evil is defeated, it is not going down without a fight.  When our enemy has realized he will not win, he cannot win, his only recourse is to inflict as much pain, damage, and death as he can before he goes down in flames.  Surrender is not within his ability to choose; for evil enslaves its participants, making Satan as much a slave to himself, as we would be without Christ breaking our chains and freeing us to sin no more.  So while our enemy is desperate for his time grows short, his time is not over yet.  Mercy yet attempts to reclaim every soul that will at last accept the gift of freedom Jesus Christ alone can offer.  While mercy is extended, Satan continues his war of pain, damage, and death against the thing that impacts the heart of God the most … namely you and I.

We live within a state of War.  It is not a national war, but a war that extends beyond all borders, and lives within the hearts of man.  The War has active heroes and villains.  It has soldiers on both sides.  And like all wars, this War causes casualties.  Sadly, death is not the first aim of our enemy.  Pain and damage are.  Satan’s only goal is to cause us to miss out on the freedom from selfishness that Jesus offers.  He wishes us to live lives that are ever degenerating into deeper and deeper realms of selfishness.  When we succumb to the power of pleasing self, we inevitably inflict pain and damage on those we love and those who love us the most.  Because ultimately God loves each of us the most, it is He who suffers in anguish while we choose to yet again forsake His victories, and pursue our degradation to entirely new levels of depravity.  Because the Love of God will inevitably defeat the evil of Satan; Satan uses every tool in his arsenal to inflict pain back on God.  You and I are mere pawns in Satan’s plans, but precious treasure in the plans of the Lord.

Peter knew this.  He saw it in the living love of Jesus Christ and how He treated those He encountered.  Peter also saw how deep evil can go in the lives and actions of the Pharisees who ultimately killed the Author of their religion, in the name of their religion.  The cloak of scriptures, traditions, and religion was not enough to expel evil from the heart.  Men used the very things that should have led them to humility and submission, as tools to grow power and control over others.  Thus evil found a foothold in their hearts until they were willing to kill Love, before embracing Love.  These were the religious leaders who did these crimes, supposedly the best of the Jewish people and faith.  Yet even the best of men are no match for the seduction of self.  Peter had seen the casualties of this War, as its first casualty was Jesus Christ.  The suffering Satan desires to inflict pre-dated our Savior, and would not end, just because He had ascended back to heaven.  Instead Satan would resume his primary targeting against us.

So in chapter four of his first letter to the church, Peter begins in verse 12, by stating what he sees as the obvious in any state of War writing … “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:”  Notice first he begins by reminding his readers that “they” are the “be-loved” of Jesus Christ.  We are the most valued commodity in the kingdom of our Lord.  Jesus could care less about how much gold He has, and cares the most about insuring He gets to spend eternity with YOU.  Next, with the realization of how much we mean to Christ, comes the knowledge that it makes us the primary target for the fiery trials Satan will inevitably inflict upon us.  It is not a strange or unusual occurrence, it is a reality of War, and it will happen.  One might take comfort in witnessing it, because should all be going “well” it might lead us to wonder which side of the War we have landed on.

Peter continues in verse 13 … “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”  But here, Peter appears to go completely off the deep end.  Instead of just knowing evil may be coming with trial by fire, Peter actually states we should “rejoice” that this occurs.  No, Peter is not a Sadist, or Masochist.  It is not pain Peter enjoys; no shades of gray here at all.  But Christ suffered because of the love He showed to those in need.  It was for His love that He was constantly punished by the religious leadership.  The knowledge that someone experienced love, perhaps for the first time, is something to rejoice about.  That we should suffer for showing love, indicates our enemy thinks we did a good job at showing it.  It we were clumsy showing love, of selfish showing love, our enemy would encourage us to keep screwing up.  But when we reflect the love of Christ unselfishly to someone in need “THAT” is the event that warrants punishing us to the highest level possible.

Peter continues in verse 14 … “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.”  Peter echoes his earlier sentiment, love that reflects Christ well, comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  As we submit to Christ, as we allow Him to change HOW we love, and WHO we love (others, not ourselves), we allow a greater and greater measure of the Holy Spirit within us.  The actions and words of love we reflect emulate the source of love.  We become a reflection of Jesus.  It is this condition that causes our enemy to freak out, and hurl insult after insult our way.  He MUST malign our motives and actions in order to reduce the impact of the love we show.  Those who embrace evil will never speak well of Love, of Jesus, they will only ever insult and ridicule Him.  They have no choice.  For if they spoke the truth, they would convert themselves to His cause.  While we will receive no “glory” from those who hate the name of Christ, we will receive the only “glory” that counts from God, in that we have the honor to participate in His redemptive work for mankind.

Peter continues in verse 15 … “But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters.”  This passage has two meanings.  First, Peter wants to insure we are not being criticized for evil deeds we do.  It is only justice to suffer for the deeds of evil we may embrace.  If we “have it coming” so to speak, that is not quite the thing to rejoice about suffering for.  But Second, Peter is also calling attention to the condition of sin.  Deeds of murder, or theft, or generic malice, or even getting invested in the lives of others to suit our own motives … are all actions that cause us to “suffer”.  Peter is reminding us, the Christ breaks our chains to selfishness, and gives us the means not to have to suffer in the sins that may have once ruled our lives.  It is interesting to me, that while we consider sin on a sliding scale, Peter begins at our most heinous crime of murder, but continues the thought down to the level of “busybody”.  Sin causes pain and suffering, whether from large heinous crimes like murder, but also from seemingly innocent crimes of evil motive in the matters of other men.  To win this War, we must be saved to the uttermost by our hero, savior, and conqueror, Jesus Christ.

Peter continues in verse 16 … “Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”  Continuing on his prior duality, if we suffer for our acts of love we should not be ashamed of what they call us, or what they do to us, but glorify God instead.  Notice Peter does not advocate we take credit for our reflections of Christ’s love, instead He requests we continue to point the glory back to where it belongs (never with us, always with Him).  Peter also points out once again; retribution, condemnation, and judgment are NOT supposed to be our response to persecution whether deserved or not.  Glory to God is to be our response. 

From a second point of view, should we as Christians “suffer” because we have fallen, lost His victory, and embraced our self-centered evil once again.  We should also forsake our shame, and embrace the glory of His forgiveness.  It is no light thing to need the very blood of Christ to wash our sins away.  But having bathed in that blood, we must accept the forgiveness He offers, and not let guilt destroy us and cause us to embrace evil again and again.  The power of the gospel is to free us from sin, not just give us the means to live in sin, continually asking for forgiveness.  The power of the gospel does not end at forgiveness, it begins there.  It ends when perfection through submission is achieved, and we no longer want to sin, or commit them anymore.  It ends, when victory in us is completed by Him.

Peter continues in verse 17 … “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? [verse 18] And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”  Here Peter points out that this War will not easily be won.  It sounds simple enough to surrender our will to God.  But so few of us are willing to give Him everything to work with.  We hold back our cherished pleasures.  We hold back our loved ones under the presumption we don’t think He would ever ask for those.  But in so doing we forget the example of our first parents.  Eve sinned, perhaps because she was deceived, perhaps because the sensation of vanity was new and little understood, perhaps because she was alone having strayed from Adam’s side.  But Adam knew exactly what had happened and what the cost would be.  Adam “could” have refused to eat the forbidden fruit, and instead “trusted” that God would find a way to save Eve for him.  To do this, he would have had to be willing to lose Eve.  He would have had to be willing to let the thing he loved the most be put into the hands of God.  To trust God with it.  Why do we think our spouse, or our children, or our parents, or our lovers are any different? 

So few of us are willing to have our feelings changed for those we love, should we need them to.  How many are in relationships they should not be in; relationships that harm both parties, based on bad initial decisions, reinforced by a series of bad subsequent decisions.  Or how many are in bad relationships that could be healed, but the only way to heal them, is to submit how we think and how we love to Christ.  For perhaps it is not our partner who needs to change, perhaps it is us who needs to look at things differently and see things from a perspective outside of ourselves.  But to rectify any of these conditions we must be willing to put the person we love the most into the care and trust of God.  We must be willing to lose them if that is what is needed, and trust that God can work a miracle.  In short, we must do, what Adam could not bring himself to do.  And like Adam a great deal of suffering might be avoided if we trust God with those we love the most; or a great deal of more suffering might be experienced because we “could not” bring ourselves to trust.

Peter points out these decisions to give it all to Christ, are not so easy, not so simple.  Our hearts may not want the right things.  “Who” we are may still reflect wanting what is not good for us.  Which makes being willing to let it go, something hard to take.  If we who understand the love of God, and have experienced what He frees us to do, have such a hard time making these decisions, can you imagine how hard it must be for someone with no experience or no reason to trust to make them.  This is the reason Peter stresses in this passage that judgment of those who “get it” is hard enough, imagine how few will embrace this path, if even we cannot provide them a living example of why it is the better choice.

Peter concludes his explanation of living in a state of War in verse 19 … “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”  The War may rage on.  We may suffer pain because our enemy inflicts it upon us.  But no matter what we suffer, while we reflect the love of God to others, we must renew our strength in our surrender to Him.  We must continue to commit our souls to Him.  We must continue to allow Him to remake what we “want” into what He wants.  To be in harmony with God will allow us to continue in well-doing. 

It is our Creator, our faithful Creator Peter points our attention to.  The reason he chooses these words is that we NEED a Creator in order to “remake” us into His image.  We will not “evolve” into perfection.  We will be “remade” into perfection.  This is not a biological evolution of getting better over time based on practice, experience, or sheer power of will.  This is a “creative” experience where our Genesis in His kingdom begins with a sudden unexplainable transformation of our hearts from something that loves only self, to something that loves only others.  Only a Creator can do for us, what we need Him to do.  Evolution and modern ideologies, have no solution that works, there is no alternative.  There is only Christ.  There is only one way evil is defeated, it is by unselfish Love, the kind of Love only Christ can create in the human heart.

Peter asks us not to be casualties of War, but to reflect the love of the only One who can and will win it …

 

What Does It Mean To Love? ...

There are those who say “Love is cheap.”  To this I ask, “then how could God be love?”  What love motivated God to do for us on Calvary was anything but cheap.  On the contrary, it was everything He had.  The massive power and ability of God to control everything, escape everything, was held in check through the torture, through the pain, all the way into the grave.  He did nothing to save Himself from our punishment, but instead He bore it so we would never have to.  He endured a separation from His Father, the source of all love, that broke His heart and cost Him His life.  All for you.  Everything He had, He would lay down, only for you.  What does it mean to love?  What does it mean to love like God loves?  When Christ gives His disciples the commandment to love one another, how should we translate that into practical terms?  This direction to us was not about warm fuzzy feelings, or empty words spoken in passing without any thought behind them.  To love each other carries far more meaning than that.

Peter carried a passion in his ministry and counsel to the church of his day.  He knew that above all things, the success of early church would be defined by how it loved.  It is no different today.  The success of the gospel message will be defined by how those who proclaim it - love (not with their words, but with their lives).  In our study of Peter’s first letter to the church, we have reviewed the importance Peter placed on a humble submissive approach to the world around us, no matter how evil it might be.  After offering counsel to men and then women about how to reach the un-reached heart, melting it with humility and love, he now refocuses back to those who claim the name of Christ.  His counsel focuses back on what it means to love.

He begins in chapter 3 in verse 8 saying … “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: [verse 9] Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”  To be of one mind, one must be willing to become part of a collective, part of a family.  We need not lose our identity or sacrifice what makes us unique and adds value to the body of Christ.  But needs be, that we sacrifice the ego that would hold our uniqueness above the value of others.  If we are to be one, we must accept the uniqueness of others as having equal weight with our own contributions.  “Smart” is not the only virtue to value.  “Caring” means more, far more often.  “Approachable” will enable connections where its opposite prevents the sharing of love.  Every attribute, every gift, every unique contribution to the body of Christ carries equal weight, and is equally needed in the cause of Christ.  To be of one mind, we must see that all parts of the body are as critical to the cause of Christ, as is our own particular piece.

In our quest for unity of spirit, of goals to love the unloved, we must not lose sight of the opportunity and blessing of showing Compassion to each other.  To feel deeply for those in pain, to so care about someone else, that what happens to them, happens to you – is to love your neighbor as yourself.  To find pity for your spouse, or children, or parents might be easier, but to find it for your fellow parishioner might be quite a bit harder.  To find pity for an enemy, or for the “man on the street”, to so value his life and experiences that they carry equal weight with your own, is to begin to love like Christ loved.  This kind of love for one another is not natural.  It can only come through submission to Christ that Peter has already given significant attention to. 

Peter then adds the idea of practicing common courtesy to each other.  Imagine how often courtesy, allows the simple basic needs of another to be prioritized ahead of your own.  You are driving down the road, and someone needs to get into your lane – do you let them in front of you to be courteous?  You may find yourself delayed as a result.  If you do it for everyone who has a need it may take you a long time to get anywhere.  Those behind you are sure to be critical.  But those who you permit access ahead of your own need to get somewhere could be grateful.  Courtesy is only a simple practice of putting the needs of someone else ahead of your own.  It is being thoughtful.  A parent takes a small child out to eat at a crowded restaurant.  The child becomes agitated and disruptive, does the parent allow the child to run amok?  Or are they proactively addressing the needs of the child, while minimizing the disruption of the dining experience of others who have paid to eat out as well?  Courtesy, would see the parent take proactive and preventative action, even if it means their own food grows cold.  The experience of others outweighs their own.  That is courtesy seldom seen in the world today.

Then Peter gets back to his theme of what it means to love.  When evil is shown to you, when someone rails against your (whether deserved or not), your response is the choice you are faced with.  You cannot prevent someone else from taking evil against you.  You cannot prevent the hurtful words another may speak about you.  But your response defines your love – even for those who prefer to remain your enemy.  The blessing the Christian inherits in returning love for evil is no small thing.  It is the basis of conversion.  It is the reason to ask “why”?  Think about how your respond to Christ.  You spit in His face, and yet He loves you.  You hurt Him with what you do, yet He forgives you, and holds no memory of your slights.  You begin to wonder, “why” would God love you so much?  What is it about you that is “worth” loving?  You can’t see it.  But somehow He does.  And love begins the work of transformation within you away from the evil you once embraced, and into the unfailing love you have been shown.

Imagine for a minute though, what would have happened if when you spit at God, He happened to spit back.  That would have only been justice.  You throw rocks at Him, so He throws rocks at you.  After all you threw first.  He does not have to use His powers, He could exactly return to you what you have done to Him.  But He does not.  If He did, you would not see love, you would see justice.  People turn from the justice they are due.  No one likes to admit what their actions have earned them.  No one likes to suffer the consequences of the evil seeds they have planted.  Instead, they want to do evil, and see none in return.  Justice does nothing to inspire loyalty, it is only a factual response.  Love however is a mystery.  Why someone would return love for your evil, begins to gnaw at your mind.  It is aggravating not to be able to understand why someone responds to your evil, with good.  That response warrants investigation.  That response must be understood, and so the path of love begins.  The blessing we inherit, may be a small role in the redemption of another soul.  For us to even begin to point an erring soul back to the source of all love, is not inconsequential.  It is us, allowing God, to use us, for the benefit of mankind.

Peter continues in verse 10 … “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: [verse 11] Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.”  Peter wants those who read his words to have a life worth living, a good life.  He is not just deferring a good life until we meet in heaven.  He is establishing how to have one here on earth despite being under unjust rule, and perhaps even the control of slavery and oppression.  To be happy and love life, keep your tongue in check.  Speak no mischief of others, speak no lies, speak no malice.  Instead of seeking evil, seek to escape evil and find something good to say or do instead.  Instead of allowing ego to foster conflict, seek peace.  Be humble enough to embrace peace no matter if you are “right” or not.  Seek peace and unity, speaking truth without malice, or harming others.  Mind how your words are heard, how they might be interpreted, take care so that love is ALWAYS heard in what you speak.  This is the recipe for a happy life in the here and now.  Evil seeds yield only an evil harvest.

Peter continues in verse 12 … “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.  [verse 13] And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?”  First, it is important to understand that the problems in our prayer-life are not because is listening or ignoring us.  It is instead what we ask for.  Too often we ask for what “we” need, or what “we” want, and what we want is intended solely for our benefit.  The righteous asks for others, the righteous are like Christ seeking how to make the lives of others better in the world.  Those prayers are heard, as it gives God permission to intercede in the life of someone who might not have chosen it, in order that He answer our prayers on their behalf.  Those are the prayers God longs to hear, and answer.  The gimme, gimme, gimme, prayers are all too common, and have only one target to benefit – namely me.  God knows the needs of His people, and loves them.  He spoils His children in showering them what they truly need, even if sometimes it is hard to see that is what is occurring.

The things intended for our harm, will be turned into something that is for our good – because of the love of God for each of us.  It is OK to express our needs to God in our prayers, but remembering He already knows them, He is deeply concerned about them, and He has already made provision for addressing them.  Given that, do you really need to keep kicking the dead horse?  If instead, we focused the energy of our prayers on the deep needs of others, we might find a more productive use of prayer.  It may be that the one in need refuses to bow before our God, and his only hope is that you will do it on his behalf.  It may be that the one trapped in a sin you know they commit, has no desire to be made free from that sin.  Should you silently pray to God for that person, you might find it is both theirs and your own heart melted by love.  The prayers of the righteous carry a faith that already knows their own needs have been addressed before they begin.  They are free to pray for others, and take care to notice what God might wish to do for others, through them.

What does it mean to love?  For Peter, it means you put the eternal life of another so ahead of your own temporary needs and desires, that you become an instrument for their salvation.  It is not about finding warm fuzzy feelings and “chemistry” that would draw you to the homeless and those who reek from life in the gutter.  It is about seeing that mentally challenged chemically imbalanced soul, and seeing the face of God, and the love of God trying so hard to break through and reach that soul.  You may be His only instrument.  You may be His last tool, His last opportunity.  What a tragedy to waste that opportunity because we are so “busy”.  What a tragedy to deny love because those mentally imbalanced homeless souls are “incapable” of understanding what we might have offered.  They may have their problems.  But the love of Christ reaches deep, and heals a multitude of illness.  To pray for that person, to take action to show love to that person, may result in the miracle of healing that might have otherwise never been seen.  For all eternity, what gratitude might you be showing to those who helped bring you to the love of Christ?

What does it mean to love?  For Peter it means that we value unity in the church above the needs of our ego.  It means we value the life of an enemy so highly that we would seek their happiness despite how they treat us before, during, and after what we do for them.  It means we treat our enemies like our God treated us when we were His enemy.  It means we treat our spouse like the infinite unique treasure they have always been.  It means we treat those in authority over us, with respect, kindness, humility and love, even when how they treat us is nothing short of oppression.  It means winning the end game.  Sin will only be defeated when mankind chooses to seek freedom from it through the power of Christ.  Love draws mankind to that point.  Criticism drives man away from it.

Have you been so drawn by the love of Christ, to the point where you are willing to reflect it to others?  Have you asked yourself … what does it mean to love?

 

Beauty of Obedience - Communion (part five) ...

What do you do when you love?  What actions follow the feeling, the commitment, the decision?  When actions follow motivation, the motivation is revealed.  Christ loved his disciples and us.  His actions were a revelation of that love.  What He did for them and for us was telling of how He felt about us, how He valued us, how He was willing to make any personal sacrifice for our well-being, in order to benefit us.  The only thing Christ had to gain from what He did, was us.  We would be His reward.  He would risk all, give all, and do all, in order to redeem back to Himself the creation who had broken trust with Him, turned away from Him, and embraced a path of pain and death from which there would be no other hope found.  Here in the quiet of communion, with his faithful few followers, in the last few hours He would have with them.  Christ discusses the universal truth of how actions follow motive.  His own actions would reveal His love for us.  He now prompted His disciples to examine what it is they do, and why.

Picking up in chapter 14, verse 15 of John’s gospel account, Jesus tells them … “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”  What you do reveals how you feel, what you want, and how you think.  Only moments before Christ had issues to his disciples a “new” commandment, that they love each other as He loved them.  In effect Christ was saying to His followers, that to love Him, is to love each other.  To love others was the life example of Christ, and what He wished His followers to emulate and become.  Again, Christ stood to gain nothing for Himself in what He did, but we stood to gain everything.  He would pay any price to free us from the slavery we had chosen, not even His own life was as important to Him as was our well-being and redemption from the slavery of self.  Doctrine would not equal love.  Doctrine without love could not equal truth.  The Pharisees had the scriptures, they had spent years in study and debate over their meaning.  They had carefully crafted doctrines based on a wealth of accumulated knowledge, but they did not see love when it was staring them in the face.  Truth without love, could not be truth at all.  Truth could only be found in Christ, and Christ was love itself.  Therefore Jesus reminds His followers, that when they love others, they love Christ.

Jesus continues in verse 16 … “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;”.  Christ came in the flesh.  But God is not bound by the limitations of the flesh.  The Holy Spirit would be sent to be with the disciples, and with each of us.  The Holy Spirit would not be bound by the limitations of our human containers, and would be the part of the God-Head that can be in all places at one time.  This would continue our personal relationship building with God on a one-to-one basis.  Jesus continues in verse 17 … “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.  [verse 18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”  As Christ is “the truth”, so the Spirit of God is also the Spirit of Truth.  The world does not discern it, because the world does not accept the divinity of Christ, or the truth of Christ.  But the Spirit would dwell with us, and within us.  He would bring us our comfort when Christ could no longer be physically present with us.  The Spirit would bridge the gap between the time of His ascension, and the time of His returning.

Jesus continued in verse 19 … “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.”  Soon the world would think that Christ had died.  But His followers would see Him again before His triumphant return.  And in addition because Christ was alive after death, His followers would receive the Holy Spirit and the self-less miracle working power of Christ would bring them to life as well.  This would be the definitive truth of Jesus Christ, for the disciples were merely men, flawed, human, and not extraordinary.  But through the transforming power of the love of Christ, and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, real change, and real miracles would occur.  Jesus continues in verse 20 … “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”  The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives would be yet another proof, a certainty, a knowledge that Jesus was alive, and united with the Father, and united through His Spirit with us.  This linkage would help give the disciples the certainty that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.  The same evidence would be true for us as well.

Jesus further states in verse 21 … “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”.  The Ten Commandments, and the recent summary of them in the “new” commandment, were ALL commandments of Christ.  They were designed to show us, the basics of what it means to love each other.  When we love, we do not steal from those we love.  When we love, we do not think to lie to those we love.  When we love, it never even crosses our minds to kill the things we love, rather to watch over them, and bring happiness to their lives.  When we love, we prioritize, we put the objects of our love ahead of ourselves.  This was the example Christ was setting with them in those very hours.  He was about to be tortured and killed, yet still He is offering words of comfort to US.  Even with everything He is about to face, His thoughts and words are directed to bring us comfort, bring us hope, bring us relief.  That is the power of love to forget self, and focus on the object of love.  It did not matter to Christ that His followers were still imperfect.  It did not diminish the love of Christ for those men, even though they still did not fully understand the true mission of the Messiah, and therefore were missing the entire point of the Jewish faith.  He loved them despite their imperfections, and their willful ignorance.  He sought to bring perfection to them, not require it of them.

When we love others we reveal the love of Christ within us.  When we love others, we find ourselves in harmony with Christ and His Father.  When we love others, we become living examples and beacons to point to our Lord who is the author of all love.  Christ is “manifested” in us, when we love others.  Not just those who already claim to love us, but like our Lord, we are to love those who are bent on our destruction.  We are to love those who would do us real harm.  For love is the only way to reach those with hearts of stone, the only power that can turn them from stone to flesh again.  Love is the only motive and reason to want to be something else, and something better.  It was love that redeemed us, from the slavery of serving only ourselves at the expense of others.  It will be love that will see an end to evil throughout the universe.  It is as we allow the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that our human limitations, our human frailty is obliterated, and instead of us, the strength and depth of the love of God is manifested through us.  We are not the source of the love of God, we are vessels through which it is dimly reflected.  But His light burns brightly.  It can overcome our tired frailty.  It can overcome our decisions of apathy, our indifference, and our reluctance.  It can create in us a burning fire to see love manifested in the world around us.  We cannot change the world, but we can love it through the power of the Holy Spirit and in so doing point it to Christ, who can change anything.

Judas (not the betrayer but a different disciple, likely his brother Jude) ponders this idea of Christ manifesting Himself to them, but not to the world.  He likely ponders if Christ would be invisible to everyone else, or just how that would happen, so he asks Christ about it in verse 22 … “Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?”  Jude is still thinking literally and has not understood the concepts of reflecting Christ through the manifestation of love to others.  But Jesus stays on topic and repeats again to Jude his answer in verse 23 … “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. [verse 24] He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.”  Loving others remains the hallmark of being a follower of Christ, and of His Father, and a testament that the Holy Spirit is abiding in us.  By contrast, when we do not choose to love, or choose to accept the Holy Spirit’s influence over us, we are not just rejecting Christ, but rejecting God entirely.  For the words Christ was speaking were still not His own, but the will of His Father in heaven. 

This is where so many Christian faiths have gone sideways on the topic of obedience.  True obedience cannot be achieved in human effort or strength.  It can only come AFTER the Holy Spirit is allowed control over our lives by our decision to submit the whole of who we are to Christ.  Only then, can the errors we embrace, the selfishness we are slave to, be corrected within us.  Creating lists of rules, or tenets of doctrine we must profess, does nothing to capture what it means to love others.  Love is a living thing, it cannot possible be contained in a piece of paper.  There are no laws of God that limit how much we can love another.  There are only laws that restrict us from hurting another, thus revealing our lack of love in the actions we would desire to take.  The beauty of obedience is revealed in the freedom from our slavery to self that it brings.  Obedience too, is another gift of Christ to us.  It is the end-result of the transformation His Holy Spirit works within us to bring us in harmony with The Father.  The “laws” of God become a part of who we are.  They define us, but then become so small, so quickly, when it comes to the measure of how much we can love another.  Christ kept His own laws while living life on planet earth; but He did SO MUCH more than just keeping those tenets.  His life showed us a love that is way larger than what we do not do to hurt people; His love was defined by how much He did to help people and lift them up.  He held nothing back when it came to how much He would give for another; even His own life was not as precious to Him as we are.  There is no commandment that could define the depths of His love.  But when we are brought in harmony with Him, our obedience becomes natural, not an effort. 

Our actions follow our motives.  So to love would be revealed in what we do.  Then came one of the most powerful promises Christ ever made to His followers, both the disciples in that room, and to us down through the ages.  He states in verse 25 … “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. [verse 26] But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”  Wow!!  He will teach you “all things”.  Understand the sequence of events here.  The Holy Spirit must come to you FIRST … before your understanding of scripture and doctrine can even be called complete.  To bring “all things” to our remembrance is NOT something we achieve by the power of our failing memories and human skills.  It is another gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  We remember the scriptures, and understand the love revealed in them, only AFTER the Holy Spirit is given control.  What is more, the Holy Spirit is sent, not as a general rule, but in the Name of Christ.  When the supernatural is manifested in our world, we can challenge its source in the name of Christ, and it must reveal itself in truth.  Satan is not allowed to lie about who he is, if he is challenged in the name of Christ.  And the Spirit of God is not offended to answer a similar challenge in that precious name.

It is important to God the Father, that we understand our salvation was enabled alone through the actions of His son.  We do not randomly find God, or randomly find perfection.  We find it ONLY through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and our willingness to submit to this truth.  Being a “good person” is not the goal of our God.  “Good”, simply is not good enough.  Our God wants more for us.  He wants us to live in perfect freedom, where “great” would hardly be adequate to describe it.  There are those other religions and ideologies that teach self-abasement and doing for others as a way to achieve inner peace.  It is true that in doing for others we begin to share in the contentment that God offers.  But doing for others does not change “who” we are, absent our submission to Christ.  We may have the willpower to resist doing actions that would harm ourselves or others.  Perhaps because we fear the consequences of our actions, or the discovery of our evil intent, but the struggle against these inherent desires is the very thing that Christ longs to free us from.  It is not the actions alone He wishes to alter in us, but the motives and desires behind them.  Religions powered by self, are doomed to miss this mark entirely.  History demonstrates this.  But our God, Jesus Christ, offers to perform the work of transformation to perfection within us by His power, not our own.  He changes us from inside out, and in this is the true power of the gospel.  It is why the Holy Spirit is only associated with the name of Jesus Christ, and not with any other random ideas of deity.

We do not choose to love others, in order to secure the love of Christ.  Rather, it is because of the love of Christ reflected through us, that we are able to truly love others.  The beauty of obedience when it is natural, shows a manifestation of Christ alive in our lives, and in the lives of those we can affect with our love in action for them.  Our circumstance become irrelevant when we love like Christ loved.  He was facing torture and death, and yet spending his final hours caring for us, giving us hope, and offering us something more.

And communion was not over yet …