Caleb Walker

Resources: Pre-taught lesson on YouTube, Manuscript, PowerPoint free download, & devotional

PowerPoint Link: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/pevl7qxrcoxyueeztwjt4/I-Peter-PPNT-Lifeway-Session-1.pptx?rlkey=zdkpnwcq2dub9h18cogfxma96&st=hxk5ru7x&dl=0

Review: Last week we looked at how God’s Word impacts our lives so much so that it changes the way we live, so that we worship God continually.

Title: Our Inheritance

Text: I Peter 1:3-12

Memory Verse: I Peter 1:5

Theme: believers have a living hope that strengthens our faith and brings glory to Christ.

Introduction: In this week’s lesson we see that as the early Christians walked through an increasingly hostile culture filled with a range of ostracism and rising persecution they could know that suffering is normal-it’s to be expected-and we’re living for our ultimate home in Heaven.

Opening Discussion Question (s): There are many things we hope for, a loved one’s victory over substance abuse, an expectation we hope for, all kinds. What are some of the biggest detractors to hope in your life? How does it affect you when you lose hope?

Context: Most likely Peter wrote this bookright before his death during Nero’s persecutions of believers around AD 64.Peter’s audience are the church plants in Asia Minor.Discrimination, mistreatment, attacks were on the rise. Peter wanted them to remain steadfast in their faith, to not succumb to the culture, the persecution.Peter points them to their living hope in Jesus Christ, to grow through the challenges they faced, to glorify God, to be reminded that they were a part of God’s grand plan He had been working long beforehand, reminded them that their gospel was rooted in God’s character and amazed even angels, reminded them that sufferings were temporary and Heaven was their home, reminded them of the importance of perseverance in their holiness, and ultimately in the suffering people will see Jesus in our responses.

Main Points:

1. Joyous Praise (I Peter 1:3-5)

“³ 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, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

• Peter opens the letter with this key word, “Blessed” denoting his perspective of praise in God, ultimately in Jesus’ finished work of suffering in our place for sin on the cross.
• Key Doctrine: Salvation

“Glorification is the culmination of salvation and is the final blessed and abiding state of the redeemed.”

John 14:1-3, ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

              I John 3:2, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet   appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

• Gospel: The new birth (anagennēsas) is a term unique to Peter in describing regeneration. Our past sin created brokenness in our lives, and we try to manage the brokenness on our own, leading to more brokenness, loneliness, emptiness, shame, and regrets. But if we repent and believe in Jesus, we can have this new birth—be born again—to a living, vibrant, active, sure hope as we recover and pursue God’s design for our lives!
• God gives us a living hope, meaning it’s continually being actively given to us.
• What we have is permanent and preserved compared to this passing world.
• In “the last time” refers to the day of God’s wrath that believers will escape.

Discussion: “How can our hope in Christ produce praise even when we are going through trials?”

II. Strong Faith (I Peter 1:6-9)

“⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, ⁹ obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

• The lesson’s key Truth is Persecution, Lifeway says, “The greater context of persecution and suffering for one’s faith speaks volumes about what ultimately drives us to worship God. It is not our circumstances or our emotions, though those things certainly play a part. Ultimately, who God is and what He has done through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus leads us to praise Him” (p. 20, Leader Guide).
• When he tells them to rejoice in suffering, he isn’t saying to be fake-happy in suffering, but to have a joy in the midst of it because it’s temporary, our home is heaven where there will be no more suffering, and the suffering validates our faith.
• The various trials are different sorts of trials.
• Faith is valued greater than gold.
• What defines believers is the reciprocal love between them and Jesus. This love is tied to faith in the midst of suffering.

Discussion: How does our faith grow stronger through the trials we experience?

III. Promised One (I Peter 1:10-12)

“¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, ¹¹ inquiring what person or time^[a] the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.”

• The prophets preached to their times and foretold the fulfillment of Gods Messianic plan.
• The Old Testament prophets were inspired by the Spirit of Christ. Revelation-God’s Word, written and fulfilled—not speculation is the rock solid foundation of our faith.
• Rather than conquering King—as the Jews expected—Jesus came as the suffering Messiah. He suffered for our sins and then was exalted by the Father.
• The benefits we reap from these fulfilled prophecies, angels long to look into. How awesome is God’s grace!

Discussion (s): “How is our knowledge of Jesus different from the prophets and angels? Why is that important to us?” (p. 23). “What trials and suffering do we face today because of our relationship with God?” (p. 24).

Devotional: “Suffering and I Peter 1” Link:

     Peter writes to these churches in Asia Minor to comfort and encourage them in their persecutions. On some level, because you follow Jesus as Savior and lord you will experience opposition that range from ostracism to full out persecution. It will happen. How do we get through sufferings of these kinds in the path of obedience?

     Hope in Jesus; He’s worthy. He suffered on the cross for our sins that we might be redeemed, reconciled, regenerated, and restored to Him. Jesus has gone before us, and there will be suffering incurred by us if we faithfully follow Him. God will transform us more-and-more into Christlikeness in the midst of suffering.

     Hope in Heaven; suffering is temporary. This hope is ours of an eternal, permanent home in Heaven where there will be no more suffering. The suffering experienced now is painful and hurts in all kinds of ways. Jesus empathizes with us in our pain. But one assurance that gives us hope in the midst of our pain is that there’s a limit to it. Heaven is eternal. The sufferings of this life are passing and temporary. 

     Hope in Scripture; it’s trustworthy.  God used the prophets to preach to their time and prophecy through the Spirit of Christ of the time to come. Jesus has fulfilled all those Messianic prophecies. We can trust the Word of God which will comfort, strengthen, and embolden us in the midst of suffering.

     Hope in the fact that it is normal; it’s customary. We should not be surprised by suffering in the path of obedience. The world hated Jesus; therefore, the world will hate us.

     Suffering for Jesus and glorifying God is a witness of His reality to this world. Suffering presses our hope away from this life and on toward Heaven. Suffering crushes us closer to the all-satisfying Scriptures. Suffering reminds us of this broken world, and it’s need for the gospel and that this is to be expected for genuine followers of Jesus.

How to Pray:

• Thank You for saving me.
• Help me to glorify and rejoice in You in the midst of suffering.
• Thank you suffering is temporary and Heaven is eternal.
• Help me rely on Your Word.