Participants: Tom Shepherd & Deyvy Rodriguez
Series Code: PBOTB
Program Code: PBOTB00006A
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00:22 Hello, friends, and welcome to "Books of the Book."
00:25 Do you believe that the word of God has power. 00:28 If you are not too sure of that answer 00:30 please join us as we take a look at this very interesting topic 00:33 here in the first book of Peter. 00:36 And joining me is Dr. Shepherd. 00:38 Dr. Shepherd, last time we were talking- 00:40 last program we were talking about the secret to holiness. 00:43 Yes. 00:44 What's this idea of holiness and how do we get it? 00:46 Yes. 00:48 We didn't quite finish here everything up there 00:50 and it actually might be best to show the graphic 00:53 that we have to go along with this. 00:55 It helps us to see this in relationship 00:57 to two different roles that God has in our world. 01:01 So we just put this graphic up. You'll see two truths about God. 01:05 The one on the left mention here is "Impartial Justice" 01:09 and the one on the right is "Unmerited Grace". 01:11 God has both of these characteristics. 01:13 You remember when we met last time 01:15 we talked about God as the judge. 01:18 He impartially judges. 01:19 Well, His unmerited grace speaks to us about His power to act, 01:24 to save us, the saving relationship we have with Him. 01:27 The individual value we have to Him 01:29 and it's a reminder of our connection with Him. 01:33 But when we think of Him as judge, 01:35 there are consequences to our actions. 01:37 And it talks about a broken relationship 01:40 if you get that negative judgment 01:42 and the responsibility that you have towards God 01:45 and what happens if you forget to take 01:48 this relationship with God seriously. 01:51 So the power to holiness really comes from the God. 01:55 What is our part? 01:56 Our part is to be sensitive to respond. 01:58 Remember He says to be completely awake, 02:00 to be willing to and accept the power that He sends our way. 02:06 If we do not, Peter warns us 02:08 that there are consequences to that. 02:10 That's why He, you could say, 02:13 He has the carrot and the stick, you know, 02:15 the stick is regard as the judge but the carrot is that-that 02:18 He has His grace there that gives you the new birth, 02:21 that gives you the power to be obedient to Him. 02:25 But we are not really done with this because 02:27 the following verses all the way- 02:29 or you could really say all the way through 02:31 chapter 2 verse 10 which were eventually going to arrive at, 02:34 but all the way through he sets up 02:37 the series of depictions of Christian life. 02:41 We say metaphors of Christian life. 02:44 And from chapter 1 verse 18 through chapter 2 verse 3, 02:50 He has 3 pairs a fall, 3 pairs of mixed metaphors. 02:57 So that's a total of 6 metaphors. 02:59 3 pairs of metaphors. 03:03 And the pairs don't match, they are mixed metaphors. 03:08 Now we might be kind of a little upset with him and say, 03:11 "Peter wanted to mixture metaphors using keep them, 03:14 you know, going down the same path, you know." 03:16 But he just did okay. 03:18 And we can draw some knowledge of what he is doing. 03:22 So let's read verses 18-21 again that comes 03:26 from the first-the last section but it really fits 03:29 with this section and understand this metaphors. 03:34 "Knowing that you were not redeemed 03:35 with corruptible things, like silver or gold 03:38 from your aimless conduct received by tradition 03:41 from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, 03:45 as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 03:48 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation 03:50 of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. 03:56 Who through Him believe in God who raised him 03:59 from the dead and gave Him glory, 04:02 so that your faith and hope are in God." 04:05 All right. 04:06 So again he is reminding the Christians of the importance 04:09 of obedience, the importance of being serious 04:12 about this relationship with God. 04:14 And he says, "you need to remember, 04:17 you need to know that you are ransomed 04:20 from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, 04:24 not with perishable things like silver or gold." 04:28 So the first metaphors he uses is the metaphor of redemption. 04:34 Now we have made this into-it's okay, 04:37 but we have made this in to a religious word. 04:40 But the word redemption in that time was a slave market word. 04:46 And to be redeemed was to be bought back. 04:50 And there are three ideas that are inherent 04:52 within the concept of slavery, of this idea of redemption. 04:58 There is the state of slavery, 05:02 there is the act of being set free 05:06 and there is the price that was paid. 05:09 Okay. 05:10 So the state of slavery is slavery- 05:13 let's say slavery to sin. 05:15 Peter calls it the futile ways of- 05:20 inherited from your forefathers. 05:23 Okay. 05:24 That was the slavery that held you. 05:27 Now this is again kind of oxymoron for Peter 05:30 to use here because the ways in a traditional culture, 05:34 the ways that you wouldn't heard 05:35 from your forefathers were very positive. 05:38 You-these are the traditions that your forefathers 05:41 have passed on to you and these things 05:44 that you would value highly. 05:46 And he calls them futile. 05:49 So he is teaching them- they have rejected 05:52 the ways of the past, they've rejected the pagan ways. 05:55 This is a big change of life 05:57 that has happened for these people. 05:58 And Peter says, "You will redeem from those. 06:02 You thought it was so good, you thought it was something 06:04 you should value, it was destroying you." 06:07 You see? 06:08 And so that's the first metaphors 06:10 the metaphors of redemption. 06:12 Well, then he mixes it because he goes in to the next verse, 06:17 he talks about the precious blood of Christ in verse 19. 06:21 "Like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." 06:26 Okay? 06:27 So here is a sacrificial metaphor. 06:32 He is talking about Christ as though he was a lamb. 06:36 And again this links us back into the Old Testament concepts. 06:44 The Old Testament sacrificial service, 06:46 where if somebody did something wrong 06:49 they had to bring a lamb or goat or ox or something 06:53 and they would sacrifice it, they would kill it. 06:56 And then the blood of that animal 06:58 would be sprinkled in the sanctuary. 07:00 Of course this was pointing forward 07:02 to the great sacrifice that Christ would give. 07:05 That's what Peter says, "He is like a lamb 07:08 without spot and without blemish." 07:10 He is that perfect lamb that protects you or saved you. 07:13 It's like the Passover, when the Passover lamb 07:16 was offered they would kill the lamb, 07:18 they'd take the blood, 07:20 and they put it on the door posts of the house. 07:23 And when the angel came that night 07:25 to destroy all the first born 07:27 the angel would see the blood on the door 07:30 and would Passover that house and not kill the first born. 07:33 So it was a saving experience but it cost something. 07:39 And so when the cost was the precious blood of Jesus. 07:42 And it's kind of funny, you know, he says, 07:46 "You were ransomed from your futile ways 07:49 not with perishable things such as silver and gold." 07:52 Now of all things you in our world, 07:57 there are two things that are considered imperishable. 08:03 And they are silver and particularly gold 08:06 because gold doesn't lose its luster, you know. 08:10 Some medals, they will give lusty or they will tarnish 08:14 or something, but not gold, it always shines. 08:17 Especially, nowadays that the economy 08:18 isn't so- not doing very good. 08:20 People are going after the imperishable. 08:24 That they say, you know it's something you can hang on to. 08:27 And Peter is kind of like saying, 08:29 "Is that the best you got? That's not gonna save you. 08:33 That doesn't help you." 08:35 You see there is nothing we can do 08:39 to save ourselves from the pit of sin. 08:41 I heard one time about a man, when-it's a poor, sad, 08:47 sad story, but when he died he had them put 08:51 his tithe of receipts in his pocket of his suit. 08:56 And think about that. 08:58 Put your tithe receipts in the pocket of your suit. 09:01 Are you gonna show these to the God? 09:03 You know what, when the time comes 09:05 you're gonna say, "But I gave 40 years of tithe." 09:08 I'm sorry, that cannot save you. Gold, silver it cannot do. 09:13 Only the precious blood of Jesus can do that, you see. 09:16 So that's the first metaphor that he brings to us 09:19 "The precious blood of Christ". 09:21 And in verse 20 he says, "He was foreknown before 09:23 the foundation of the world, but was made manifest 09:26 in the last times for the sake of you." 09:28 Notice it's very cosmic, it goes all the way back 09:31 to the beginning, before the beginning in other word 09:34 and it goes down to the last times. 09:36 So it's this cosmic great controversy picture. 09:39 All of time is encompassed by the sacrifice of Christ. 09:43 "And he is foreknown before them, 09:46 but manifested now who through Him 09:49 you are believers in God, who raised him from the dead." 09:52 Notice there the emphasis again on the resurrection, 09:56 the importance of the resurrection. 09:57 It's an interesting study to go through 09:59 and trying to see, you know, 10:02 where the New Testament talks about the resurrection. 10:05 You will find it in places you wouldn't expect sometimes. 10:09 And here again the resurrection of Jesus 10:13 is the affirmation of our belief in him. 10:16 God raised him from the dead and gave him glory. 10:19 Set your faith and hope in God. 10:22 So that's the first set of metaphors 10:25 The redemption metaphor combined 10:27 with the sacrificial metaphor of Jesus as the lamb. 10:32 Well, Dr. Shepherd, should we continue on the next verse? 10:35 Yeah. Why don't we read verses 23-25. 10:39 I think we skipped 22, didn't we? 10:41 22, I'm sorry. You are exactly right. 10:43 "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth 10:46 through the spirit in sincere love of the brethren, 10:49 love one another fervently with a pure heart. 10:52 Having been born again, not of corruptible seed, 10:55 but of incorruptible, through the word of God, 10:57 which lives and abides forever." 10:59 Now here it says, since you have purified your souls, 11:05 what is this mean, purified your souls? 11:09 Well, we can refer back to verse 2 11:12 that we read earlier, chapter 1:2. 11:15 That says, "According to the foreknowledge 11:17 of God the father in the sanctification 11:19 of the spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ 11:22 and for the sprinkling with His blood." 11:24 So obedience and sprinkling, put together, okay? 11:27 So you purified your souls by your obedience to the truth. 11:31 There is this truth about salvation that comes in Christ. 11:35 And so there is a really cool word for this. 11:40 When you have two terms that refer 11:42 to the same thing is called hendiadys. 11:45 You like that word? Is that a Greek word? 11:47 Yeah. Okay. 11:49 Hendiadys. Hendiadys. 11:50 It actually means hen, is the word one, 11:53 dia is the word through and dy is the word two. 11:58 Dys is two. One through two? 12:00 I'm trying to make sense of it. 12:01 One through two, you're saying one thing using two terms. 12:03 Oh, okay. Okay. 12:05 So when you have this idea of obedience and sprinkling 12:11 that's a hendiadys to refer to making a covenant 12:13 with God, that you have become His children 12:16 through making this covenant, that He has becomes your father, 12:19 you becomes His child. Okay. 12:21 So you know sometime you can say we were just discussing 12:24 the hendiadys of covenant with God, you know. 12:28 Sounds pretty cool you know. 12:29 But you can go look it up in the dictionary. 12:32 It begins with hen like the word hen like the one 12:34 that went around on that on the farm yard, hendiadys. 12:38 Okay. So that is the idea of this purification 12:43 of your souls through your obedience, 12:45 to the truth you are making this covenant with God, 12:49 and he says that it produces a sincere brotherly love. 12:53 You have to love one another earnestly from a pure heart. 12:58 This is about the practical relationship 13:02 or the practical ideas that come out 13:07 of a saving relationship with God. 13:11 Some people think that- I don't know, 13:14 they get the idea that is saving relationship 13:17 doesn't have to have any practical implications. 13:21 That they can be saved by grace and be mean to their brother. 13:29 Peter says, "No, you can't do that." 13:32 If you are mean to people, 13:35 you are not in the right saving relationship with Jesus. 13:38 You are not following what he has taught you to do. 13:41 You are not living out what He has given you. 13:44 You see, by grace- He has given you that grace 13:46 so now, you must treat other people differently. 13:50 Grace is a new set of glasses 13:53 that we cannot look at in a different way. 13:56 We'll have to come back to this after a short break. |
Revised 2014-12-17