September 18, 2022 Preaching | Ptr. Jay Jackson
As we begin a new series on the 1st letter of Peter entitled
Holiness and Hope in a Hostile World, it is best to get to
know the writer himself in order to better understand his
letter to us.
We first meet Peter as Simon, the brother of Andrew.
Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist who declared
Jesus as the Lamb of God, after which Andrew started
following Jesus and told his brother Simon that they have
found the Messiah. Andrew then brought Simon to Jesus,
who gave Simon a new name “Peter” which means rock.
After this encounter with Jesus, Simon Peter did not
immediately follow Jesus and did not use his new name. In
fact he went about his usual activities and went back to
fishing in the Sea of Galilee the next day. But we know that
God has other plans for Simon Peter. On the same day that
Simon Peter was fishing with his friends, Jesus decided to
go to Galilee. As Jesus was preaching, he got into the boat
of Simon that was parked along the shore. After His
preaching, Jesus told Simon to put out into deep water and
let the nets down. Despite his doubts of not being able to
catch any fish, Simon did as Jesus told him. Simon and the
other would-be disciples miraculously caught 2 boatloads of
fish. After witnessing this miracle, Simon Peter then fell to
Jesus’ feet and begged Him to go away as he found himself
unworthy of Jesus’ presence, being a sinful man himself.
But Jesus told Simon Peter not to fear because from
thereon, he would be fishing for people. So Simon, together
with his partners, James and John left everything and
followed Jesus.
Has it ever occurred to you that nothing has ever occurred
to God? The truth is He knows everything even before it
happens. Nothing takes God by surprise. His knowledge of
all things is perfect and complete. Because God’s
knowledge is complete, He never reacts or responds to
something we do. Instead, He gives us the opportunity to
respond to Him, to His choices, to His decisions. We live in
a God-centric universe and not a man-centric one. So when
Simon Peter did not choose to follow Jesus the first time he
met Him, he was given another opportunity to respond to His calling. Simon did not immediately use the name that Jesus gave him, but in the first letter he wrote, he introduced himself as Peter.
Peter addressed his first letter to the “elect”, God’s chosen ones. We must understand that God always knew that there will be persecution in the early church, causing Jesus’ followers to be exiled, to be scattered abroad and to settle in unfamiliar places. Hence, Peter wrote to them, to Jesus’ followers who were driven out of Jerusalem. And he began his letter encouraging them by reminding them that everything is happening according to God’s carefully orchestrated plan. As followers of Jesus today, we too are God’s chosen people and we too are recipients of the message of this letter of Peter.
Peter was not the only early church writer who said that God chose us to be holy and blameless in His sight and predestined for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ. In fact, Paul wrote exactly this in his letter to the Ephesians. Not only that, but according to what Peter wrote in verse 2, all three persons of the Trinity not only agreed with the Father’s choice and His right to choose, they also all worked together to make the Father’s choice a reality in the world in which we live. That is why Peter was so confident in saying that God knows and has chosen you to be right where you are, amidst the trials, for His glory and purpose. Yes, God choosing someone implies that He did not choose somebody else and that this is not fair nor just. But God’s justice and fairness is different from how we
define it. Instead of applying our own definition to God, we should apply God’s definition of justice and fairness to ourselves, according to His perfect character. How then should we respond to the idea that God chose us? This should prompt us to praise God for His grace and not question or argue with other believers.
Going back to Peter’s story – we know that Peter failed Jesus several times. At the beginning, Peter questioned and doubted Jesus’ decision to ask him to follow Him. Towards the end of Jesus’ ministry, after He was arrested, Peter denied Jesus three times right after he professed he will not leave Jesus’ side. When Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples and to Peter. In one of those walks they had together, just before Jesus went up to heaven, Jesus asked Peter three times whether he loved Him to which Peter responded yes every single time, alluding to Peter’s denial of Jesus three times. His final words to Peter: Follow me. And Peter devoted the rest of his life faithfully following Jesus, encouraging others to also do the same. At the end of his life, when Peter was about to be executed, he refused to be crucified the same way as his Lord and Savior and begged the executioners to crucify him upside down. That was Peter then and now. And his blessing of grace and peace to be ours in abundance not
only speaks to the early church exiles, but to any of us who may be going through trials or persecution for our faith. We can rest in God’s foreknowledge and infinite wisdom.