Pondering First Peter (1)

 

 

I’ve come to First Peter in my morning readings. I think First Peter Chapter One, along with Psalm 101, was the first passage of Scripture I ever wrote about; this would have been in the early 1970s. The patterns I saw in First Peter back then, have expanded and danced in my heart, mind, and soul – and taken me from the present into eternity past and eternity future, indeed, they have nurtured the wonder of living in Christ in the eternals so that present, future, and past are melded into our Lord Jesus Christ, into the glorious and holy Trinity.

 

When “in” First Peter Chapter One, I often see the vistas and hear the music of Ephesians Chapter One. It is as if two choirs from two different churches are in the same venue singing antiphonally – they complement each other, speaking to one another, and the whole is greater than the two parts. Much the same occurs when I move into 1 Peter 2:1 – 10, for here Ephesians 2:11 – 4:16 comes into play.

 

As I ponder 1 Peter Chapter One alongside Ephesians Chapter One, the similarities seem more than the stars of the heavens, with their dance and arrangements changing heavenly patterns in such ways as to manifest the light of Jesus Christ in myriad facets. The fulness of these Himalayas can never be captured, but in Christ (who is the Fulness), it can be glimpsed and experienced.

 

Two thoughts before I close, one from Ephesians and one from Peter.

 

In Ephesians 1:10 Paul writes of the “summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth, in Him.” The Gospel is about Jesus Christ. Life, my life and your life, is to be about Jesus Christ. The lives of our families and congregations are to be about Jesus Christ. Are we substituting other teachings and agendas and “things” for Jesus Christ? What are they? What is capturing our hearts other than Jesus Christ? What goals do we have other than Jesus Christ? What are we known for, other than Jesus Christ? What are we teaching our people to love and live for…that is not Jesus Christ? Are we living…heart, soul, mind, strength and bank account…for Jesus Christ?

 

Peter writes concerning the recipients of his letter, “…and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory…” (1 Peter 1:8).

 

Does this describe us? Does it describe our families and congregations? Is this what we are known for in our communities? Are we overflowing with joy for Jesus?

 

I am not talking about our music, I am not talking about upbeat church services – whether “contemporary” or “traditional” (whatever those words mean…which isn’t much) – I am talking about our hearts, our souls, our innermost beings – are we filled with joy and rejoicing in Jesus Christ? Is He our All in all? Is He our joy? Our source of life? Our love of loves?

 

Are we experiencing and expressing joy unspeakable and full of glory? Are we loving and rejoicing in Jesus Christ with all that we have and all that we are?

 

O my dear friends, the message of Ephesians and 1 Peter is the Message of eternal glory and joy in Jesus Christ, it is a joy and glory that cannot be contained. Have we left our first love (Rev. 2:4)? Have we ever known Jesus as our first love? Whatever the case may be, whether we are the son who is far away or the one who is near, our Father and Lord Jesus wait for us to share the fattened calf with them – to feast with them in this life and in that which is to come, with joy inexpressible and full of glory.

 

(And if you are a pastor or ministry servant – leader, may I gently ask, “Do the people you serve, and the people you live amongst, know and see that you love Jesus Christ? Do they see, in some measure, the joy and glory that you daily have in Him?)

 

Might not this be a good time to tell Jesus how much we love Him? Might this not be a good day to speak with others of our love for Jesus?

There are times when I want to dance down the street rejoicing in Jesus, telling others of His glorious love for them. Loving Jesus is truly joy unspeakable and full of glory.