Freedom and Promise
Pastor Jim spoke on the end of Chapter 3 of Galatians recently. His first point in his sermon was that we can trust the promises of God (Gal 3:15-18). The inheritance God will give to us comes by and from the promise of God, not through the law. In our 1 Peter class (shameless plug here – classroom 2 during second service), we recently discussed the verses below.
1 Peter 1:18-21
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Peter describes almost the same thing here that the futile ways would not produce an inheritance. The ways of the Jewish forefathers were attached to traditional Judaism (Old Covenant) – all about rituals, sacrifices or offerings and the oral tradition, which could not take away their sin. God promised a Messiah, yet the Jews were told to live under the Law. This Old Covenant law merely covered their sins (Hebrews 10). The priests of the Old Covenant offered sacrifices day after day, these sacrifices could not take away their sins. Inheritance is found only in Christ, and it can be only given by Him.
Under the New Covenant priesthood of Christ, He offered His own body once and for all, for all mankind. Hebrews 10:14 says that “for by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” This tells us that His sacrifice was not to only make a way for us to reach heaven, but the primary purpose is to make those of us who were once enemies of God a way for us to become priests, offer ourselves as a living sacrifice as led and empowered by Him, in order that we become more like Him, that we may become one with Him.
This is why Peter is so adamant to the exiled Jews: you need to know the intimate details of how they were ransomed and freed from the Mosaic Law (as we are ransomed and freed from the dominion of our old nature). This knowledge is as described by the Greek word eido, which literally means to see or to know. Other synonyms include the following: knowledge grounded on personal experience, to see with the mind’s eye, a knowledge obtained by a proximity to the thing known, also connected to implication of a native insight (connected to the 5 senses).
We can learn that our redemption is also rooted in the same ideas:
1) Seeing Christ – reading the word to specifically encounter Christ to know the power of what the word became flesh means for each one of us.
2) Knowing eternal life is knowing Christ and the Father (John 17:3) – this word here is related to how a husband and wife know each other, deeply, intimately.
-This knowledge also comes with knowing the master’s business and doing the master’s business because as servants He calls us friends (John 15:14-15).
3) To know in the mind – what it means to let this mind (of Christ) be in us and to let that have direction over me instead of my mind (Philippians 2:5-11)
4) Proximity to Christ – understanding and experiencing the Father, Son, disciple relationship (John 15), the specific roles and purpose (vinedresser, vine, branches).
-The resulting glory that the Father experiences (John 15:8), is us remaining in the vine and yearning to be pruned, bearing fruit (John 15:16).
5) As real as the way we experience our 5 senses is how Christ desires us to experience and know Him
– This also indicates that in spite of what those 5 senses tell us-if something in our flesh seems to feel good, look good, sound good, smell good, or taste good, it probably is not the case under the leadership of Christ. He might even be asking us as believer-priests to specifically sacrifice those things as led and empowered by Him in order we become more like Him.
There is power in walking in the Spirit (Rom 8:11). The Spirit of Holiness is in us because of His resurrection. Therefore our walk of holiness now is connected to death as well. Our old nature needs to die so that Christ lives through you and me.
The Father gave the Son glory. We have this same promise through faith and hope in God. If we suffer with Him, we will inherit with Him (Rom 8:17). Christ’s glory comes with a new body (John 20:19-23). As the promise given to Abraham by God that the world will be blessed through his offspring, so it is that the promise in Jesus is given by those that believe. We believe in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ and in so belonging to Christ we also are heirs according to the promise. What will He give us? A body like His (Philippians 3:20-21). What does this look like? Being like Him (1 John 3:2) and knowing like Him (1 Corinthians 13:12).
Peter is clear here: the knowledge of Christ, the depths to which He and the Father went to ransom the world is indication for us, what does a great love response toward Him look like? We are to give Him the reward of His suffering: a submitted Church being made ready to become His bride. If a priest is ignoring the leadership of the High Priest, and the priest is not offering a living sacrifice, what does that say?
Back to faith and hope in God. The faith-walk today is purposed. The flesh is supposed to war against the Spirit. This is set up, so we do the things we don’t want to do (give in to the old nature). We can begin to understand and experience just a sliver of oneness with Christ now to prepare us for true oneness in the age to come. Our old nature does not want to be conformed to Him, but it still wants to know like He does. This is incompatible within the design of oneness with God. We cannot abide in our old nature and in the nature of Christ at the same time.
Hope comes from Him in that He will put to death our old nature for good at some point in the age to come, what happens to that death when we are not practicing it now? Hope also is tied to inheriting with Him, being like Him, and knowing like Him. What does this say about us now when we don’t desire to be like Him in this evil present age (process of sanctification) and to perceive (know) His will and do it (Rom 12:1-2)? What will we inherit?