Built for Hope: Reality Bytes
1 Peter 1:3-2:3
Pastor Richard Dahlstrom, Senior Teaching Pastor
www.youtube.com/c/spiritsoulbodywholeness
We live in a universe where two realities not only exist, but compete for prominence. Seeing both realities, but learning which is the truer and deeper reality and finding a way to live in the right reality, determines everything about our life!
I. The reality of a living hope and incorruptible inheritance (1:3–6a)
II. The reality of trials and suffering (1:6b–12)
III. The reality: One of these will overwhelm the other and become our primary reality
Discussion Questions
Before questions, attempt to give the group a bit of a summary of the main points of the sermon and then choose a few questions that fit your group’s needs and style. We don’t intend for you to use all of these. Three to five questions may be a good number.
Begin by reading 1 Peter 1:3-2:3 aloud, taking turns reading the passages.
Pray over the group before beginning discussion.
1. As Christians we live in two worlds at the same time: earth and heaven. Tell a story about a time–maybe from this week or maybe from your past– where you caught a glimpse of heaven while here on earth. What did it feel like in your body? If there were other people there, what was their reaction like?
2. We are people with living hope and an incorruptible inheritance found in the death and resurrection of Christ–AND ALSO there are places in our lives that aren't going so well (for some, this may be an understatement).
a. If you feel comfortable enough to share, what are some of those places that aren't going well?
b. How are you engaging/balancing the truth of the hope of Christ and the experience of these life challenges?
3. Richard shared both his practice of meditating on the specific generosity of Christ in his life as well as the quote that invites us to look/see the shower of gifts and miracles constantly everywhere. How does this spiritual practice resonate with you? What are some other habits/ways that you've found to sustain and reorient you during seasons of groaning?
I PETER 1:3-2:3
Reality Bytes
Richard Dahlstrom
spiritsoulbody.org
We live in a universe where two realities not only exist, but compete for prominence. Seeing both realities, but learning which is truer and deeper reality, and finding a way to live in the right reality determines everything about our life!
1. The reality of a living hope and incorruptible inheritance (1:3-6a)
"Living hope through the resurrection of Christ”. - The results of this: an imperishable inheritance (which means that there’s an incorruptible reality in the midst of all this corruption)
A. Hints of this are revealed in nature - beauty, interdependency, faithfulness, abundance….
B. Hints of this are revealed in those moments when we “see” — Colossians 3:11 - Christ is ‘all’ and ‘in all’… IOW (In other words): At the least, this is saying that every person is made in God’s image… Every person is therefore connected with every other person… Every moment of beauty (music, art, story), intimacy, good food…
THIS REALITY IS ALWAYS HERE… and it falls to us to see!!
A. See the victory of Christ - When He said “it is finished” on the cross, what did He mean? We’ll see later in this book that it means Christ’s victory defeated sin and death for all time—and what THAT means is that eternity, and healing, and justice, and reconciliation, and intimacy, and light, and beauty–these realities are deeper than what we see in this world.
B. See the new creation we are in Christ - II Corinthians 5:17 = this spiritual essence is our deeper and eternal reality. "In this tent we groan” is what Paul says in II Corinthians 5:4–but all this buying and selling, all this body stuff, it’s all real–but it's real like a tent. In Roman culture (and ours), a tent is temporary–never intended to be the ultimate reality. (Illus (Illustration): Pacific Crest Trail through-hikers this time of year–SOME of them have a glazed look by this time on the hike… They’re checked out—just heading for home. SO IT IS… for many… in their last days on earth, when their dying is slow.
C. See the glory of God and image of God - Romans 11:36, ‘from Him, to Him, through Him, are all things”—THROUGH HIM ARE ALL THINGS… IOW: Colossians 1:17 - in Him all things hold together… IOW: James 1:17 - every good and perfect gift.
APP (Application): See!! - What was Jesus' main indictment when He walked here - Jeremiah 5:21 (they have eyes but don’t see) - Matthew 13:14,15: So they show that what Isaiah said about them is true: ‘You people will listen and listen, but you will not understand. You will look and look, but you will not really see. Yes, the minds of these people are now closed. They have ears, but they don’t listen. They have eyes, but they refuse to see. If their minds were not closed, they might see with their eyes; they might hear with their ears; they might understand with their minds. Then they might turn back to me and be healed. (ERV)
2. The reality of trials and suffering 1:6b-12
OBS (Observation): You’d think that a life of uninterrupted bliss would provide the clearest pathway for seeing–because it would provide an awareness of God’s goodness all the time—instead, the reality is that blessings become an addiction and led to a fixation on gifts rather than the giver of gifts. This is the story of Israel in Ezekiel 16—I gave you gifts, but the gifts became ends in themselves
In a fallen world… there WILL BE SUFFERING -
APP: Be free from the lie that immunity from suffering is available in exchange for obedience or belief
A. The legalistic version - John 9:1
a. RELIGIOUS VERSION…
b. Secular version…
B. The gnostic version - (the material world isn’t real) - ILLUS (Illustration): Friend who grew up in Christian Science, which declares that all suffering is a fabrication of the mind… AND that if we can just see the spiritual realities as the only realities, we’ll be freed from all physical suffering. — AND THEN at 12-years-old, her healthy neighbor got kidney disease and died very suddenly.
APP: We’re not granted immunity… but we are granted two things:
A. PRESENCE: When you walk through the fire, I will be with you - the Christian Scientist woman was wrestling with the reality of her young and healthy friend dying of kidney disease… and then one night went outside and looked at the starts… and she says she heard a voice: Yes he will die… Yes I am with him… Yes I am with you and will be with you… and all will be well.
B. TRANSFORMATION… obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls -
OUR SOULS are where we stash our life story… every wound, abuse, betrayal, rejection, and lie that shames us and creates defense responses and self-medication responses - it’s all there in our soul. Every success, and conquest, and gift of praise resides there too, and these things can create an addiction for power, or praise, or popularity, or pleasure. SO THOUGH WE’RE A NEW CREATION IN CHRIST IN OUR SPIRIT… our soul is in need of transformation.
WITHOUT THAT WORK… our soul runs the show… and when that happens our fragile egos create drama and our personalities vacillate between shame and pride, and our motives for doing what we do become twisted, and our wellbeing rises and falls on the circumstances of our lives.
The salvation of our soul addresses our soul's broken places—so that rather than the soul running our lives with its self created drama… we become people who “walk in the spirit” as it says in Galations 5.
So how can we respond to trials in such a way that the trials refine our soul?
THAT’S THE NEXT SECTION…
3. The reality: One of these will overwhelm the other and become our primary reality.
Read 1:13-15 — there’s a positive and negative in here:
Fix your hope completely on the grace that comes with the revelation of Christ… YOUR HOPE ≠ circumstances, health, success, wealth, influence etc… IF YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM THE BIBLE.. and human history… you learn that all these are fleeting at best. You die… and when you’re gone, you’re not remembered for long by many people, and you go to the grave with nothing… so your $$ net worth at the end of your life is zero… for you and me, and Bezos, and Gates.
So it makes sense… to begin dwelling in the realm of Christ’s unshakeable and eternal kingdom now
And then… the complementary action to this: Don’t be conformed to the lusts of this world
ILL:
Look at the prayer from Ravensbruck death camp, found on the body of a dead child when the camp was liberated)
O Lord
Remember not only the men and women
Of Good will, but also those of ill will
But do not remember all the suffering they inflicted on us;
Remember the fruits we have bought, thanks this suffering - comradeship
Our loyalty, our humility, our courage,
Our generosity, the greatness of heart
Which has grown out of all this, and when
They come to judgment, let all the fruits
Which we have borne be their forgiveness