Day 4 – 1 Peter 3:1-9

Peter tells us his purpose for righting in the third chapter of this letter. It is to “stimulate you to wholesome thinking” (v. 1). Peter wants his readers to understand what is good, and wholesome, and of the Lord. He leans heavily on the Scriptures given to us by the prophets. It’s important for us to remember that for the first-century church the scriptures were what we refer to as the Old Testament. Peter, the Apostles, and other witnesses were all writing around the same time, but these writing hadn’t yet been brought together. What was present was the books of Scripture given to the people of God?

Peter places the Old Testament prophets and the message of Christ on an equal plane. Both are God’s messengers (v.2). Both are to be listened to. Peter, as one of the Apostles, is one of the authoritative voices.

There are other voices though (v.3). Peter calls them scoffers. A scoffer is a person who speaks in a degrading way, mocking and jeering. These scoffers obviously treat God’s Word in this way.  Sometimes it comes across as joking like, “Hell is going to be one big party. After all, my friends are going to be there.” Or, “God sure does seem to be taking his time. Maybe he forgot about us.”

Peter reminds his readers that God’s patience is not to be mistaken for his lack of presence. God is taking his time, which is a good thing because more people can turn to Christ in the intervening time. God will not wait forever though. There is a day when he will draw things to a close. One might ask, “When is good time to turn to God?” The answer is yesterday. If you haven’t yet turned to Him though, repentance is something you can do now!

Even Jesus warned people to be ready. Jesus’s parable of the 10 virgins is an example (Matthew 25:13). Peter tells us that even though the Lord has been patient, that when the day comes it will be a surprise (1 Peter 3:10). God patience should not cause us to be indifferent. Rather it should motivate us to both live for the Lord and tell others about his grace through Jesus Christ.

God’s greatest desire is for people to come to repentance. God wants to bestow grace, mercy, and forgiveness. God loves to give these to us. He is so passionate about repentance, that he took the punishment for sin upon himself. God provided the solution to our greatest need. The solution is Jesus. Repentance is our heartfelt yes to Jesus. It is our way of accepting God’s gift of love.

One of the first sermons Peter every preached following the resurrection of Jesus and the infilling of the Holy Spirit was, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…” (Acts 3:19). Peter goes on to say just a few sentences later that heaven has Jesus until God restores everything.

What a beautiful picture? Jesus is in heaven waiting for the day when God will make all things wrong, right. There will be a day when God makes everything beautiful. There will be a day when sin is wiped away.

Application:

The movie “I Can Only Imagine” recently appeared in movie Theatres. The story behind the story gives the words of the song even more power. If you haven’t seen it, I can highly recommend it.

Bart Millard of Mercy Me writes,

I can only imagine when that day comes
When I find myself standing in the Son
I can only imagine when all I would do is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

Surrounded by Your glory
What will my heart feel
Will I dance for You, Jesus
Or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence
Or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah
Will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine
I can only imagine

Millard imagines a day when we will stand before Lord. It is beyond comprehension, but one what we do know is that it will be beautiful.

We should want everyone to experience such beauty. We are actually caught in the tension of wanting Jesus to come now and wanting him to delay. We want him to come now because we are ready to be done with the fight against sin. We want him to delay so that our loved ones have the opportunity to know Jesus. We should want both!

1. What can you do to share the good news about Jesus with your family and friends?
2. How can we have a healthy view of God’s judgment and his radical forgiveness?

What would you say to God based on your reading today? Take some time to talk to God in prayer.

Consider writing down a key verse or verses from today on an index card or small piece of paper and carry it with you today. Look at it as often as you can as a reminder of what we learned today.

Possible Verses: 2 Peter 3:8-9; 2 Peter 3:10