Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20110529.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Peter: Effective Christian Living In A Spiritually Hostile World
Part IV: Living Reverentially Before Almighty God
(1 Peter 1:17-21)
  1. Introduction
    1. The world in which the Christian lives noticeably lacks a reverential fear of Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, for it holds to origins by evolutionary processes, and defines morals and ethics by way of constantly shifting sands of public opinion or "political correctness."
    2. Such should not be the case for the believer: he must give an account to God before Whom he is totally vulnerable, a truth revealed in 1 Peter 1:17-21 that then directs us to live in reverence of Almighty God:
  2. Living Reverentially Before Almighty God, 1 Peter 1:17-21.
    1. Peter taught in 1 Peter 1:17 KJV that the believer is utterly dependent on and vulnerable to Almighty God:
      1. The verb rendered "call" is epikaleisthe, the middle voice form of the root verb, epikaleo, a verb that in that voice means to "call upon someone for aid," which, in 1 Peter 1:17a means to call on God for aid, Arndt & Gingrich, A Greek-English Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 293-294. Thus, the believer in Christ is presented by Peter in 1 Peter 1:17a as calling up God the Father for help in times of distress or need.
      2. However, God the Father in His role as our heavenly Father, is not only our Protector and Provider, He is also our Judge to Whom we answer as His subjects, 1 Peter 1:17c.
      3. Besides being our Sovereign Judge, God judges us without favoritism in purely just judgment, 1:17b.
      4. On top of all of this, God as Sovereign Judge Who judges us without favoritism, judges us according to our actual personal works in life as believers, a judgment that is inescapable and against which we have no defense as our own works are undeniable, and reveal our hearts! (1 Peter 1:17c; cf. 1 Cor. 3:13-15)
    2. Due to our utter dependency upon and complete vulnerability to Almighty God our Father, we believers in Christ need to live our lives as "aliens" (paroikias, Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 634) to this world around us that lacks true reverence for God, 1 Peter 1:17d. This implies we should be separate from the world in thinking, to live with deep reverence for the Lord versus the world's bent of lacking such reverence!
    3. In addition, consideration of the great work of God's Son, Jesus Christ, in behalf of us for our salvation should motivate us even more to live in great reverence for God the Father, 1 Peter 1:18-21:
      1. We believers in Christ know that were not redeemed with perishable things such as silver and gold from the empty way of life handed down to us from our human forefathers, 1 Peter 1:18. This statement has great meaning for Peter's Hebrew readers who had come from Judaism that was versed deeply in the Old Testament, but which had become bogged down in dead legalism, cf. Galatians.
      2. No, we believers know we were bought by the precious blood of Christ, the Father's Lamb sacrificed for us without sinful blemish or defect, 1 Peter 1:19. Indeed, Christ was chosen before the creation of the world by the Father and was revealed in the last times for our sake, 1 Peter 1:20. Through Him we know we believed in God the Father Who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him with the result that our faith and our hope of eternal life are firmly rooted in God Himself, 1 Peter 1:21!
      3. The point is inescapably overpowering: the huge price paid by the Son of Almighty God Himself, the God before Whom we believers stand completely vulnerable as our Sole Source of life, salvation and hope, the God before Whom we are completely vulnerable by way of His judgment of the very works of our lives, moves us to live our Christian lives in deep reverence for God the Father!
Lesson: We believers need to live in deep reverence for Almighty God the Father in vast contrast to the world's view, for everything about our present and future existence and welfare is tied up in Him: (1) we call on God our Father for aid, showing our great NEED for Him; (2) He is our Judge (3) Who evaluates us without favoritism (4) according to our own actual, undeniable deeds, and (5) He sent His Son to satiate His wrath against our sin on the cross by way of His Son's priceless shed blood, and He proved the effectiveness of His Son's atonement by raising and glorifying Him as planned before all creation so that our hope of eternal life is entirely and eternally tied up in Almighty God Himself!

Application: May we then live in deep reverence for God versus the world's lack of reverence for Him!