Grace Baptist Santa Clarita: Service Podcast

In chapter four of the book of Ephesians, Paul exhorts the church to walk in a manner worthy of their calling.

Have you ever asked God, “Why are you putting me in such a horrible situation?” Certainly Abraham may have asked this when God told him to sacrifice the very son through which the promise of God was to become a reality. What was God doing? Does God really test His people? If so, why? But there are even bigger questions when we consider the place this story holds in the flow of Genesis. The original readers – Israel – were wandering through the wilderness, alone and vulnerable. Where is our God? Has He forgotten us? Can we still trust Him? Will He keep the promises He has made to us? As we will see, this story is foundational in understanding that God is always 100% trustworthy, even in the dark. Even when we can’t see the light, our safest course is to find rest in His sovereign, providential care.

As we have quickly moved through the book of Genesis, we have seen the magnificent display of God’s power through creation, its pinnacle being humanity. We know that people were made to enjoy God and reflect His image in all we do, yet we consistently and tragically rebel against our Creator. Man, infected by the utter sinfulness of sin, has proven himself guilty before God and deserving of His righteous judgment. Yet, with an eternal plan to display His glory in unimaginable ways, God has committed Himself to restore people to their proper place with Him. This eternal plan to bring redemption to a broken and fallen world can be traced throughout the entire Bible but finds its beginning in the Garden. It gets further developed as God enters into a covenant with Abraham. As we examine this historic covenant, we will see God’s unflinching commitment to bless man and display His own glory. If we desire to receive the blessings of God’s redemptive plan, we too enter into a covenant relationship with God which

It’s easy to imagine the universe holding its breath to see how the Creator would respond to the rebellion of His creatures in the garden. But at first, His response seemed muted. He patiently waited for centuries as sin took the human race further and further from Him. At the right moment, He said, “Enough!” But in His righteous judgment, He found room to express His grace and faithfulness. That is the God we worship today!

In six days God created everything necessary for mankind’s wellbeing, allowing Adam and Eve to live in personal fellowship with Him. As His image bearers, Adam and Eve were privileged to demonstrate God’s reign in their lives through worshipful obedience, model that reign through their care for creation, and partner with God in multiplying the number of those who joyfully submitted to the sovereign power of God. Yet despite all that God had provided, Adam and Eve rebelled against God, bringing myriad devastating consequences upon themselves, all mankind, and all creation. But even in the midst of the tragedy of rebellion, God determined that sin would not win. In the midst of judgment, He also points to the new Adam – Jesus Christ – through whom the reign of God will be eternally re-established, sin will be banished, and sinners redeemed, forgiven, and reformed.

With the writing of Genesis the story of God’s work in human history begins. In fact, that is what Genesis means … beginning. In our summer series this year we will look at the significant “firsts” through which we will see the heart and purposes of God brilliantly displayed. The first time God does something is meant to demonstrate His standard, His heart. This sets the course for how we are to understand Him, and live before Him. We begin this weekend, at the very beginning, and look at God and Creation.

As we come to the end of our study through 1 Peter we hear the beloved Apostle’s final words. He combines a strong admonition to courageous living with a tender call to mutual love. Both are essential if the church is to thrive. Neither “truth” nor “love” is enough all by itself. Jesus came “full of grace and truth” and so also must His church be.

Throughout the book of 1 Peter we have been learning what it means to suffer righteously as Christ-followers. In 4:12, Peter wrote, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” And now, as he is wrapping up this letter, he pastorally warns his recipients of a specific cause of such trial, the devil. Peter exhorts his readers to not be numb to the reality that Christ-followers have a real adversary who seeks to destroy all that God desires. Through Peter’s encouragement, hopefully we can be more prepared as a church to withstand the attacks of our enemy and continue to live uncommon lives for the glory of God.

In vs. 5 Peter ended his instructions to the Elders with a stern but freeing declaration that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” The two verses that follow lie at the heart of Peter’s letter. As Christ-followers called to proclaim the excellencies of our God, our way of life must attract people to His message. Humility lies at the core of what it means to understand the redemptive grace of God that has been extended to us freely in Christ.

Leadership is a common theme today in all sorts of circles, though what is meant by “leadership” seems to be largely a matter of who you ask. But the Bible does not leave us to guess, and as Peter begins to bring his letter to a close, he turns to this important concept. Peter has already told his readers that they must live uncommon lives even as they suffer for their faith. Now he describes for them, and for us now, what it means to be an uncommon leader – one who reflects the grace and humility of our Lord.

Peter recognized that tough times were ahead for his readers. But rather than these trials being a sign that God had forsaken them, he admonishes them to consider them to be God’s refining fire, able to purify them and make them even more fit to demonstrate the glory of their Savior. And in the midst of the storm, Peter reminds them to run to Christ, rather than away. As in the story of Ruth, the safest place to be when the storm clouds roll in is under the wings of the Almighty, who always welcomes His children into the safety of His love.

The coming of Messiah – Jesus Christ – signaled the beginning of what the prophets had foreseen as the “last days.” From the Old Testament perspective, things like judgment of sin, the coming of Messiah, and resurrection were all future expectations. But with the coming of Jesus Christ, His condemnation of sin on the cross, and His glorious resurrection, the future had seemingly invaded the present. It is from this perspective that Peter now speaks carefully and simply to his beloved readers. If Christ could return in a moment, how should we be living? Where should we put our energies in terms of our relationships with fellow Christ-followers? Peter answers these questions directly and strategically.

In the preceding paragraph, Peter has argued that the triumph of Christ – over death and Satan – is the ultimate grounds of “the hope that is in us” (3:15). This triumph has been pressed into the life of the church through the practice of baptism, by which individuals “act out” the fact that they too deserved judgment but have been rescued from judgment in Christ, and raised to walk in a new way of life! This new way of life begins with a new way of thinking that sees suffering for doing good not as evidence that God has abandoned us, but as proof that we are no longer dominated by sin and selfishness. Rather, we have thrown off our “used to be” and found great purpose, satisfaction and joy in living out God’s will in a broken world. All of this flows from the treasure that is the Gospel … that message from God that one day He will bring justice and settle all the accounts, vindicating His Name and granting the eternal reward of life to all who have committed their lives and destiny into His hands.

This text ranks as one of the most difficult to understand and explain in all of the New Testament. Yet overall the point is clear: those who suffer for righteousness, like Noah, must recognize that God has not forsaken them, but will both save them from the judgment they deserve and from the enemies that surround them. For Noah, the means of rescue were the Ark and the water. For Christ-followers today the means of rescue is Christ, through His death and resurrection that is radically symbolized and impressed upon our hearts through the act of baptism. Peter reminds his readers that even as Noah was brought to safety through water, so also do the waters of baptism symbolize our salvation through Jesus Christ, who now is at God’s right hand, with all power and authority subject to Him.

Peter continues to call his readers – and us! – to a radical understanding of just what it means to “proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.” He never suggests that we will escape the suffering that seems to be part of our broken world. What he does declare is that it is precisely during these times of suffering for righteousness that Christ-followers have the best opportunity to both defend and commend our choice to follow Christ. Defending the faith has often conjured up thoughts of biblical arguments, proofs, and answers to tough questions. And certainly this is on point. Yet in our post-modern world the very concept of truth is up for grabs. What is needed is for us to return to a “pre-modern” mindset – a biblical mindset – that is committed both to defending our worldview with the truth, and commending that view with our love.

Peter takes some time to summarize the attitudes and actions that must characterize those who have been born again into the family of God. What he stresses are actions and reactions that are uncommon and will, thus, identify the children of God in a world that is broken. This text calls us all to an uncommon way of living and reminds us that it is this transformed, uncommon way of living that identifies us as being in the family of God. Though he would never have characterized it this way, Peter is calling us to make sure that we have the DNA of God’s family and that it is recognizable in the way we live.

In writing to those whose dedication to Christ means being out of sync with their culture, Peter directs his readers to see as their great purpose in life “to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called them out of darkness and into light” (2:9). He declares that we can do this through our purity (2:11,12), and our submission to God-given authority (2:13-3:7). In this last section Peter speaks to God’s ordering of the marriage relationship. It may be startling to realize that our marriages are meant by God to “proclaim” His excellencies. Our relationship as husband and wife may just be the loudest “witness” we have to the fact that God knows what is best for us and is in charge of the way we live and love. In our marriages, we can truly display that we are “uncommon.” While the biblical roles assigned to husbands and wives may seem counter-culture, they remain the best directions for marriage simply because they come from the inventor of marriage … God himself.

In our third and final “Big Question,” we will look at the issue of God’s sovereign control of His universe and our freedom as individuals to make real choices. Can we really be free? Does God dictate our every move? Would we be better off that way? What responsibilities come with freedom? As we study this question together, let us keep our focus on Christ and allow His Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts and then to live through us in a way that reflects His truth.

We all know that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” But does that means that God loves everyone in the world the same? We know that God loves His Son the most. This world and all of history are designed to give honor to Jesus, and there is no one greater in the Father’s eyes than He. Yet the question remains for us: after Jesus, does God love those who reject Him as much or in the same way as He loves those who by faith are Christ-followers? That is the Big Question we will tackle today.

Perhaps the most often asked question concerning the existence of the God of the Bible is this: If God is good, then how can He allow evil to exist? Perhaps the question could be simplified to: Why does God allow bad things to happen? For centuries those who deny God’s existence or refuse to see Him as the one to whom they’re accountable have used the existence of evil in our world as their primary reason for rejecting belief in God. But the question is not so easily answered as our critics may think!