Church Sermon - April 7, 2002

BLESSINGS GIVEN
THROUGH THE RESURRECTION

Rev. Bernt P. Tweit

Old Testament Lesson; Acts 2:14, 22-32
Gospel Lesson; John 20:19-31
Sermon Text; I Peter 1:3-9

The whole book of I Peter was written primarily to bring a message of encouragement to those under persecution. The audience, to which Peter wrote, was being abused by overbearing bosses, threatened by unbelieving spouses, and ridiculed by skeptical neighbors. Peter reminds us of a great reality. He reminds us of the blessings given to us, through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The resurrection will help us to overcome troubles we are having in this life. As Peter looked at these blessings, he breaks forth in immediate praise.

"Praise

be to the

God and Father

of our

Lord Jesus Christ."

As we look at our text today, you might want to have a pen or pencil handy, and keep the text from the bulletin before you, circling the blessings that are given to us through the resurrection. There are seven blessings listed.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. I Peter 1:3-9

The first blessing given through the resurrection is a new birth.

If someone asked you the question, "How do you know that you were born?" How might you answer? Would you produce a birth certificate defining the time and day? Or, would you pull out some old pictures of your mother when she was pregnant, dated right before your birth? Or maybe you would call on a few witnesses who were present that day, who could testify to the event. No, I think the only proper response to the question,

"How do you know that you were born?"

is…

"Because I am standing here before you today, I am alive!"

Peter says the same thing. We are alive in Christ! Jesus has brought us out of sin and death into a second birth, a spiritual birth, rescuing us from wrath and punishment.

Jesus once said, "Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘you must be born again.’" John 3:6

In our first birth we inherited sin. Born into sin, we stood in the path of the righteous wrath of God. But in our second birth we inherited salvation! We are born into the Spirit and now stand in the righteousness of Jesus. Our new birth leads to…

Living Hope is the second blessing given through the resurrection. It is a living hope.

The way we define hope today, is different from hope as it is talked about in the Bible. For Brewers fans, you put your hope in the arm of Gleadon Rusch, Ben Sheets and Nick Neugebauer, and the bat of Richie Sexson and Geoff Jenkins. These players offer the hope of victory.

Or maybe your hope rests in finding a new job or better wages. If you can just make more money, life would be simpler.

Or maybe you are single and are hoping for the right person to come along to spend the rest of your life with.

All of these are valid hopes. The Brewers winning the World Series, having a better job, or having a soul mate are examples of things we may hope for. But all of our hopes in this world are uncertain.

Biblical hope is certain. The Bible says,

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and

certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

The Bible’s hope rests not in uncertainties, but in fact and promise. The fact that Jesus has risen from the dead and the promise that those who believe in Him will also experience the resurrection and receive eternal life in Heaven is our living hope. Our living hope leads to…

The third blessing given through the resurrection is an inheritance. On the last day, believers will receive the inheritance kept in Heaven for us.

In the Old Testament the Children of Israel had an inheritance. It was the land of Canaan, The Promised Land. They lost that inheritance because of their idolatry. They lost that inheritance, because they didn’t listen to the commands God had given to them about taking the land. And so, little by little, their inheritance was taken away by the surrounding nations, until their inheritance was lost.

Our Heavenly Inheritance can never perish, spoil or fade. How did we receive this Inheritance that can’t perish, spoil, or fade? Some people think that they can buy their Inheritance with good works or with money. But all such efforts are in vain. Peter says,

"For you know that it was

not with perishable things such as silver or gold

that you were redeemed…"

I Peter 1:18

There is no way we can be accepted by God unless we keep The Law perfectly. Since we are sinners, we could not keep The Law therefore it was necessary for Jesus to keep The Law for us. This He did, during the time He lived on earth. He was perfectly obedient to God, and God regarded Jesus’ obedience, as though we had done it.

Much more also had to be done. The great debt of sin had to be paid. How was the debt paid?

Luther said, "Not with gold or silver." We can buy almost anything with money, but we cannot buy our Inheritance. If all the wealth of the universe were put alongside the price required to redeem a single soul from sin and damnation, it would still be far too little.

In order to remove our sins, Jesus had to take all sins upon Himself. He assumed responsibility for our sins, and the account was charged to Him. Jesus fully paid the enormous debt with His precious blood. Only the blood of a Savior could remove the stains of sin. Jesus suffered the punishment that was required of all sinners. He had to shed His blood on the cross and give up His life as a sacrifice for our sins.

Our inheritance is shielded by…

The fourth blessing given through the resurrection is God’s Power. We are shielded by God’s power.

The Greek word for shielded is ‘phroreo’.

Now that we have come to faith, we put the Old Adam in the back seat. The Old Adam in the back seat keeps trying to grab the wheel, but our faith is the metal, mesh screen between the front and back seats, as in police cars, preventing the Old Adam from taking control. And it is the power of God, made ours through Word and Sacrament, which make the screen strong enough to resist even the most savage attacks of the Old Adam. Oh, he may distract us with all his screaming and hollering and thus cause us to swerve occasionally, but he cannot take control unless we ourselves let our guard down. This leads us to…

The fifth blessing given through the resurrection is that we can rejoice in sufferings! The previous blessings lead to rejoicing in suffering. One blessing leads to another. The Bible says,

"Blessed

is the man who

perseveres under trial,

because when he has stood the test,

he will receive

the crown of life that

God

has promised to

those who love him."

James 1:12

God also promises, "…in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28.

Two weeks ago Missionary Pieter Ried, our guest preacher, spoke of the shelter the believers were worshipping in, in Indonesia. Men came with sledgehammers and broke down the structure. But it didn’t deter them. It only strengthened them in their faith!

This leads us to…

The sixth blessing given through the resurrection is a Genuine Faith. The sufferings that we endure are for a reason. Just as gold is put in a fire to prove if it is genuine or not, so also our faith is put to the test, to see if it is genuine. It is also important to note that God promises that no testing will be more than we are able to bear. Which finally leads us to…

The seventh blessing given through the resurrection is Jesus Christ being revealed. This blessing will ring out most loudly when

Because of our new birth we have a living hope of our inheritance, which is protected by God’s power that we may rejoice in our sufferings, which strengthens us in our faith. All of these blessings are ours, as we wait for that great blessing to come, the Day when Jesus is revealed to bring us home to Heaven!

Amen.

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