Jeff Englund

June 12, 2020June 12, 2020

1 Peter 1:4(b)-5 — Funeral Time

A wood bench sits empty against a stone brick wall.

This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Jason sat on the bench next to the brick wall. He looked dejected. His shoulders slumped over resting on elbows supported by knees. His hands dangled.

Arthur Throckmorton III stood for a moment looking at the young man. He was only twenty years old but today he looked all of thirty. His grandfather had died two weeks ago and had been all the family Jason had known. Arthur had helped Jason with the funeral arrangements. Arthur was more than Jason’s attorney. He was also his friend. He had known Jason’s grandfather for more than fifty years and had known Jason all his life. He sat down next to Jason on the bench.

June 11, 2020June 12, 2020

1 Peter 1: 3-4 (a) — Born Again

A newborn's feet stick out of a warm blanket.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.

It was night. We presume it was dark. The year was somewhere around 33 or 34 AD. What passed for streetlights were torches or fire-pots, and now and then stray lamp light escaping from a window.

A man of advancing age wearing the robes of a professional educator makes his way down one alley after another. Finally, he reaches his goal, a door of rough wood in a seedy part of town. He knocks and after it opens exchanges a few words. He enters. His name is Nicodemus. The person he has come to see is a man named Jesus.

June 10, 2020June 10, 2020

1 Peter 1:2 (e) — Grace and Peace

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

In our meditation on James 4: 6 (a) we examined the concept of Grace. I wrote:

“Grace is one of the simplest concepts in the Bible, and yet for some reason, it is difficult to understand. Grace is commonly understood to mean a manner of acting. For example, a ballerina dances with grace. Grace can also mean a gift or favor. In this case, I think it might mean both.

“God loves us even though we are unlovable. When a perfect being shows kindness and affection to his enemy (James 4: 4) it is an act of grace. When our God takes the extra step of giving us the means to be redeemed from Satan’s power, he does us a favor. What he gives us is the gift of Himself. We call this gift the Holy Spirit.

June 9, 2020June 10, 2020

1 Peter 1:2 (d) — Sprinkled

Red paint splattered on a white background

… and sprinkled with his blood…

Let’s continue with our deep dive into Peter’s opening words. We’ve talked about who and what Peter is and then moved into his description of the people he is writing to. Looking at the key concepts he has included it reads almost like a creed. We who believe are chosen by God, exiled from the world, known intimately by our Father, sanctified and continuing in sanctification to be obedient to Jesus Christ. And then we come to being sprinkled with his blood.

The thought of writing about this is daunting for me. I don’t even like the sight of blood. Yet being “sprinkled in blood” is an important part of Jewish history. It is one of the key prophetic pointers in the Old Testament that foretell the work of the Messiah.

June 8, 2020June 9, 2020

1 Peter 1:2 (c) — Pirate Talk

A pirate ship sails a stormy sea against a yellow sky.

… to be obedient to Jesus Christ …

Just for the record, I don’t claim to know how all this works. Also for the record, I am suspicious of anyone who does claim to know how this works. Jude 1: 8-9 reads:

“In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’“

Just as Jude defers to God’s judgment in disputes with the devil, I’m prone to defer to God’s judgment if there is any mystery about something in the Scriptures. What is very clear is Peter’s understanding of why we are chosen.

June 7, 2020June 8, 2020

1 Peter 1: 2 (b) — Changed

The words "Look out for each other" on a chalk board.

…through the sanctifying work of the Spirit…

In his introduction to his letter, Peter identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. He identifies his audience as a group of Christians who have gone into exile 20 to 30 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. He identifies the people he is writing to as “God’s elect” and then tells us the geographical region they live in. He explains that being “chosen” is because God already knows how things will play out.

There is a lot of information here, but Peter is not done. He still hasn’t finished his first sentence yet! Somehow the process of being chosen has something to do with the sanctifying work of the Spirit.

How?

June 6, 2020June 6, 2020

1 Peter 1: 2 (a) — An Absence of Uncertainty

… who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…

In our post titled, “God’s Eye” we discussed how God’s view of time is different than our own. In today’s passage, Peter affirms the idea that God knows the future. He uses the word, “foreknowledge” to describe how God chooses us.

Perhaps you have had a sense of “deja vu” now and then? It is the feeling that you have already been someplace or done something before you have actually experienced it. To be clear, that is not anything like foreknowledge.

June 5, 2020June 5, 2020

1 Peter 1:1 (d) — Exiled

The ancient world was not that big. Finding a corner to ”get away from it all” was harder than you might think.

…exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia…

Where to begin?

Peter is writing to exiles. Exiles are people who have been forced to leave their homes. Actually, that is a bit misleading. It is not like they were exiled to the next town or city. They were forced from their own country.

Why were they forced out?

Because they believed in Jesus.

June 4, 2020July 9, 2020

1 Peter 1: 1 (c) — God’s Eye

A green heart shaped stone represents the heart of man without God.

To God’s elect…

If you live in a place where there are elections, you might think that being one of God’s “elect” has something to do with being chosen. Looked at in a certain light, you would not be far off. Some people like to make a fuss over the idea that some are chosen and others are not, but it is not that simple. We all come into this world the same way by birth. We all leave through the same door; death. The problem with being human is that we cannot “see” things the same way that God sees them.

June 3, 2020June 3, 2020

1 Peter 1:1 (b) — Ambassadors from God

A collage of clocks all set to different times.

…an apostle of Jesus Christ…

Language is essential to civilization. It is how we share ideas. Without language so many things we take for granted would disappear. For example, look at the concept of time. For time to have any value, all of us have to agree on what time it is. Imagine a world where nobody could agree on what time it is. We all set our watches and clocks to whatever time we felt was right. We could all agree to “meet at 6 PM” but no two people would show up at the same time.

By the same token, if we cannot agree on the meaning of words, then we are at a loss to communicate. If we have a different understanding of a word’s meanings, then we might assume we have communicated when, in fact, we have not. The more technical the topic, the more critical a correct understanding of words becomes. Engineers have extremely detailed understandings for specific words. Without them, we couldn’t build bridges or send rockets into space.