1 Peter: Is All of This Worth It?预览

To a primarily Gentile audience, Peter is calling for a deep reverence and respect, a proper fear of God the Father, the just Judge. For the Jews, the words of Deuteronomy 6 were perhaps the most essential declaration of their faith in the Sovereign Lord God and their commitment to worship Him alone. 

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

Faith in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and Savior of the world leads to deep devotion not only to Jesus but also to His Father. And not only that, but because of Jesus they are now “in.” These Gentiles who were once enemies of God are now part of the family of God. And being part of the family of God means they will be strangers in the world. They have traded the temporary for the eternal, the pagan for the holy, the broken for the whole. 

ASK:

-In what practical ways might these Gentiles have had to learn “to live as strangers here in reverent fear"?

-In what ways are you living as a stranger to the world? 

TAKE A NEXT STEP:

Choose a favorite worship song, preferably one that is vertical- directly singing praise to God for who He is and what He has done. As you listen, take on a posture of reverence and fear before a holy God- bow your head, get on your knees, or raise your hands.