Thursday—Secured

Call to Worship

Hear God call you to worship through his word:

1 Peter 1:3–5

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Confession

Joel 2:12–13 

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,

“return to me with all your heart,

with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;

and rend your hearts and not your garments.”

Return to the LORD your God,

for he is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;

and he relents over disaster.

Respond by confessing your sins to your gracious and merciful Father.

Assurance

Receive these words of comfort from God:

Romans 5:1–2

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Devotion

Daily Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-12

Almost 15 years ago I woke up, went through a normal morning routine of a father with a young family, ate breakfast and eventually kissed my wife goodbye for the day. As I walked out of the house into the driveway, my plan was to get into my car and drive to work. The only problem, on this otherwise ordinary morning, was that my car was not in the driveway. As a matter of fact, the car was nowhere to be found.

Walking back into the house, I asked my wife if we were up to date on the payments for the vehicle. Of course we were, so we knew the car had not been towed for delinquency. A few minutes later, a knock on the door revealed my neighbor standing outside, holding my wallet. He had found it in the bushes along his driveway and had come to inquire how it might have landed there. It suddenly became clear that my car had been stolen.

Through a series of strange events, I had left my keys in the ignition of the car overnight. A thief would only need to open the door to the vehicle and drive away. As fate would have it, that is exactly what happened! When reporting the stolen car to the police, the officer looked at me and said, “Had I known you left your keys in the ignition, I would have stolen your car myself.” Point well taken.

As the day came to a close, and I went through the evening routine of a father with a young family, it was finally time to lay my head down on the pillow. My wife and I began to talk and process the events that had transpired. The conversation was fairly normal at first: “Did you lock the front door?  What about the windows? Does the garage door have a lock on it?  Maybe we should get an alarm system.” Eventually the conversation turned a bit absurd: “What if the thieves are living in the basement?  When was the last time you went to the basement? Why do we even have a basement?” Finally, we concluded it might be best if we moved into some kind of underground bunker.

Having our car stolen created a significant amount of insecurity in us.

Security is incredibly important. When our sense of security is gone, it can produce anxiety, worry, and exhaustion. In the spiritual realm, the same is true. The good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that the work of salvation is entirely of God’s doing. We have been saved by grace and not works. The work of Christ not only saves us, it keeps us. In Jesus we are eternally secure.

The Apostle Peter used his pen to write to a group of believers who were experiencing many insecurities because of their faith in Jesus. It is believed that some Christians had lost their source of income, status in the community, relationships, and more because of their association with Christ. Others had experienced physical suffering. These events undoubtedly led to feelings of insecurity.

Yet Peter wished to secure them up with news of the enteral work of Christ: “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you,  who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5).

The work of Jesus during Holy Week--particularly his work on the cross and through the empty grave--produced a living hope for believers. This is an important promise of security in the midst of life’s uncertainties.

A “living hope” is a hope that is genuine, vital, and eternal in contrast to a hope that is earthly, empty and vain. The focus, of course, is on “hope” itself.  This word hope is speaking of a believer’s eternal future. Those who are suffering persecution and hardship are not dashed to the ground by the troubles of the moment. Rather, they look to the future with confidence that inestimable security awaits them.

According to Peter, the people of God have been born again to an “inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.” The language of inheritance is another way of saying that believers will receive eternal life. The inheritance is eternal. It is also“ undefiled,” which means it will never lose its luster and beauty or become stained or filthy. The hope of inheritance is “unfading,” meaning it will last forever.

The verse concludes with the promise that the inheritance is “kept in heaven for you.” This is where the good news comes to light. The inheritance we are promised is not dependent upon our work. The hope of the heavenly and eternal inheritance is kept by God! The passive word “kept” is what scholars call a divine passive, referring to God as the one who reserves the inheritance for believers. Peter emphasizes, in the strongest possible terms, the beauty and certainty of the security awaiting believers. He assures his readers that they will certainly receive this inheritance, and a future salvation will be theirs all because of God.

Friend, because of Jesus, those of us who are in Christ, are eternally secure. We did not have to earn our salvation and we do not have to work to keep it. Our eternity has been secured for us through the work of Jesus Christ during Holy Week and granted to us by the grace and mercy of God our Father. This is our “living hope.” Our living hope is rooted in the empty grave of Christ. Jesus lived, died, and rose again so that we might experience a living hope and a secured eternity.

Unfortunately, if our eternal security were left in our hands, we would inevitably become insecure. We miss the mark too often, we fail too regularly, we feel a sense of being unworthy stewards of God’s good gifts. What peace comes from knowing our eternity is secured by Christ and His work!

How can the security of heaven through Christ’s work (and not our own) bring peace to anxious thoughts today? Are there any areas of pride in our life that make us think we are earning our keep in heaven? Have you taken time to thank Jesus for his eternal security? What part of heaven are you looking forward to most and why? 

Benediction

Go into the world with this blessing from God:

Romans 15:13

Go into the world with this blessing from God:

May the God of hope

fill you with all joy and peace in believing,

so that you may abound in hope

by the power of the Holy Spirit.