Sermon for Easter 2, April 16, 2023
1 Peter 1:3-9 3Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living
hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4into
an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5Through faith you are being
protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the
end of time. 6Because of this
you rejoice very much, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you
have been grieved by various kinds of trials 7so that the proven
character of your faith—which is more valuable
than gold, which passes away even though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor when
Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Though
you have not seen him, you love him.
Though you do not see him now, yet by believing in him, you are filled
with a joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9because you
are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (EHV)
In
faith, God gives you a rich, unending inheritance.
Dear fellow inheritors,
It’s been
a week since we celebrated Easter; is your joy at Christ’s resurrection still
daily at the forefront of your thoughts?
Chances are good that for much of the world, Easter was forgotten by
last Sunday evening. By Monday morning,
the stores had everything related to the Easter celebration transferred to the
clearance aisle. But, do you suppose the
original Christians felt the same way?
In our Gospel lesson, we saw that wasn’t the
case. That first night, even after
learning that Jesus had risen from the dead, the disciples remained hiding in
fear. Poor Thomas refused to believe
Jesus was alive until he could touch the scars in Jesus’ hands and side. However, eight days later, Jesus’ resurrection
remained firmly in their most pressing thoughts. Still, the disciples really didn’t get
excited about the resurrection until Pentecost when the Holy Spirit finally
opened their eyes to the reality of their salvation. Today, I pray that you remember what the Holy
Spirit has given you by bringing you to faith in Jesus, because In faith,
God gives you a rich, unending inheritance.
Our writer this morning is Peter, remember him,
that bold, impulsive man, who on the Friday Jesus was arrested had his impetuous
heart turned into quivering jelly by his fear that he too would be arrested and
killed. That same Peter now speaks boldly
to us by the encouragement and inspiration of the Spirit. Fear has totally left him. He has seen the power of what the Gospel can
do. He understands, finally, what Jesus
came to do and has accomplished both for Peter and for all who believe. Thus, he writes, “Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!”
Praise God! Give thanks to God! Give glory and honor to the One who rescued
us from darkness, sin, death, and the devil.
Why?
Because, “By his great mercy he gave us a
new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
dead, into an inheritance that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in
heaven for you.” The world has
always approached the idea of God with great fear. Since Adam and Eve fell into sin, all people
have lived with terror of the God who can judge them. It isn’t that God hasn’t been good to people,
even to those who don’t know Him. It’s
just that being enemies of our Creator, and by nature not knowing God or His
mercy, people often wrongly conclude that everything bad caused by the curse of
sin and the devil’s deceptive ways is caused by God.
By nature, mankind sees the heavenly powers as
something not to be trusted. In the
ancients, that is displayed in the many idols they worshipped in the false hope
that help would be forthcoming to deal with the tragedies of life and the
traumas of the world we live in.
In our days, it really isn’t any different,
except that instead of graven images of wood, silver, gold, or precious stones,
people tend to make gods of themselves, or government, celebrities, the
scientific method, or the illusion of popular opinion. None of those things give hope, nor can they
take away fear. Our Lord Jesus, however,
has accomplished everything necessary for us to enjoy life, both here and in
eternity.
The true God who created the world and
everything in it, who people naturally fear, doesn’t want us to be terrified
forever. In fact, though God is a just
and righteous God who had to punish sin, He also loved us with an everlasting
love that wants all people to be saved from the wretched condition the devil
brought upon this world. Thus, Peter
writes, “By his great mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance
that is undying, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” It is through faith in Jesus, worked in us by
the Holy Spirit through Baptism and the Gospel, that we have the new birth from
above that Jesus told Nicodemus about. (John 3:3-6)
That just and terrifying God poured out all His
righteous indignation for our sins on His Son, Jesus. Without that sacrificial substitution, we all
would face eternity without hope. However,
to the Galatian congregation Paul wrote, “Christ redeemed us from the curse
of the law by becoming a curse for us.
As it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing of
Abraham would come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we would
receive the promised Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:13-14) This is God’s great mercy, that He counted
our shame against His Son so that through faith, He would count those who
believe as righteous.
With Christ’s perfect righteousness now
credited to us, we have no need to fear God for we are reconciled with
Him. When Jesus rose from the grave,
that heavenly transaction was certified complete forever. The purchase price for you and me was paid in
full, and our home in heaven likewise deeded to us. It comes to us as a gift because of Jesus’
death for us which is why the Spirit calls it our inheritance, and because it
is in heaven where there is no sin, decay, or death, it is ours forever in
unending glory.
Again, inspired by the Spirit, Peter assures
us, “Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation
that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.” Forgiveness, salvation, and a home in the
glory of heaven is already ours, signed, sealed, and credited to our accounts
by Jesus’ death and resurrection. We
experience this great inheritance partially for now. Its primary benefit for us is eternal. In heaven, everything is glorious and
good. Meanwhile, our faith benefits us
here because as long as we remain in this world, we have the comfort of knowing
that no matter what this broken world throws against us, we have a Champion in
our corner who has not only opened the gates of heaven for us, but He is
working all things so that we get there.
Now, I asked if you were still focused on the
joy of Easter. Christians celebrate
Easter every Sunday of the year. With
our weekly worship services, God serves us again and again with the Good News
that Jesus lived, died, and rose from the grave so that we may enjoy
everlasting peace and joy with Him.
Peter wrote, “Because of this you rejoice very much, even though now
for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various kinds of
trials so that the proven character of your faith—which is more valuable than gold, which passes away even
though it is tested by fire—may be found to result
in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
Without a doubt, Christian believers suffer the
same cruel pains and hardships that afflict all people. In addition, we may be called upon to suffer
for our faith in Jesus. Jesus exclaimed
on His way to the cross, “If they do these things to the green wood, what
will happen to the dry?” (Luke 23:31)
Peter remembered Jesus’ warning, “If the world hates you, you know
that it hated me first. … Remember the saying I told you: ‘A servant is not
greater than his master.’ If they
persecuted me, they will persecute you too.” (John 15:18-20)
Peter knew the testing this world throws
against those who love Jesus. He along
with the other apostles experienced great hardship as they proclaimed what Jesus
has done for everyone. Peter knew how
horribly he would die for preaching Jesus and Him crucified. Jesus had told him how his life would
end. However, where once, Peter and his
fellow apostles had been timid and scared of dying for Jesus, after the Holy
Spirit filled their hearts, they could think of nothing more rewarding than
proclaiming the Good News to the world.
Then, even after they were put on trial, falsely accused, slandered, and
beaten for proclaiming Jesus, Peter and his fellow apostles went back to work, “rejoicing
that they were considered worthy to suffer shame for the Name.” (Acts 5:41)
There is much that remains a mystery about our
futures. We don’t know exactly what
heaven will look like. We don’t know
exactly how it will be when we live there forever. The Bible gives us glimpses of the glory and
majesty, but our feeble experiences cannot fathom the fullness. Still, with the Spirit working in us through
Word and Sacrament, we have sure and certain confidence in every promise the
Lord makes to us in His Word. Therefore,
Peter writes, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not see him now, yet by
believing in him, you are filled with a joy that is inexpressible and filled
with glory, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of
your souls.”
This is the joy that carries us through every
trial and challenge this world has to offer.
In faith, God gives you a rich, unending inheritance. By the faith He works in our hearts, we are
granted forgiveness and salvation full and free. We are granted freedom from the devil’s
control and freedom from the punishment we deserved for our sins. We are also relieved of the fears that our
natural souls harbored before coming to faith.
We no longer have to be afraid to meet God face to face, because He has
reconciled us with Him and through Jesus has prepared a glorious reunion for us
all in heaven.
Dear friends, the Lord alone did everything
needed to count us worthy to be in His presence. The Lord also worked the faith in us that
brings us these marvelous, unchanging, undying benefits. Because of Jesus’ resurrection, we don’t even
have a reason to be afraid of death, because we have God’s promise that “Because
I live, you also will live.” (John 14:19)
“For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we
will certainly also be united with him in the likeness of his resurrection.” (Romans
6:5) Rejoice and be exceedingly glad! In faith, God gives you a rich, unending
inheritance. Amen.
The Lord of peace
himself give you peace at all times and in every
way. The Lord be with you all. Amen.
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