Born Again Love

Emmanuel Baptist Church of Nipawin Sermons

Passage: 1 Peter 1:22-2:3 | Message By: Chris Hutchison | Series: Thriving in ExileTen weeks into our series in 1 Peter, it’s helpful for us to go back to the beginning and remember that the Apostle Peter wrote this letter to a group of Christians who were in exile. Like we saw a few weeks ago, these people may have been literal exiles in some sense—they may have been kicked out of Rome for their Christian beliefs. But that’s not what really made them strangers and outsiders to the people around them. These Christians were exiles because of their faith in Christ. Even if they were living in the same towns they were born in, their faithfulness to Jesus made them seem to the people around them as if they had been born in a completely different world. And that’s because they actually had been. They had been born again, as Peter reminds them over and over. They had been born the first time into their families and societies, but now they had been given a brand new life through the Father’s mercy. Jesus had bought them from their human heritage and given them a new hope, a new inheritance, a new family, a new story. Like Josh explained for us last week, it’s not so much that Jesus had come into their lives—it’s that they had been brought into Jesus’ life, and found their place in God’s big and ancient plan. And being in Christ made them be on the outside of their old society. Living to please God meant that they often displeased the community around them. Acting like God’s children made them seem like foreigners to the people they grew up with. And so it makes sense that as Peter writes to them, it wants to talk about their relationship with the surrounding world, which he’s done. He’s talked about their various trials, which included persecution. He’s told them not to be pushed back into the mold of their former way of life. He’s reminded them that they’ve been ransomed from the worthless ways in their heritages. It also makes sense that Peter wants to talk to them about their relationship with the triune God. God is their father who has provided them with a hope and inheritance. They love Jesus though they’ve never seen him. They’ve been devoted to God through the Spirit. As they call on God through prayer they are to live before him with holy fear. But there’s a third category of relationship that’s just as important. And it’s their relationships with each other. And it makes sense why Peter would want to talk about thee relationships when we remember that being exiles was a group experience. We often miss this in English, but in the original language every single “you” in these verses is a plural. In other words, “You all.” There’s an inheritance kept in heaven for you all. In this you all rejoice. Though you all have not seen him, you all love him. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you all. As he who called you is holy, you all also be holy in all your conduct. Know that you all were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers. Peter has written all of this not to individual exiles, but to a community of exiles. A community of people who were strangers and foreigners to the people around them. And if Peter’s readers are going to thrive in exile, they’re going to need rich and robust relationships with one another within their community of fellow strangers. And if you have attended any church for longer than one week, you know how challenging that is. Christians shouldn’t have such a hard time getting along. But they do. Peter knows this as much as we do. And so starting here in verse 22, all the way up to verse 10 in chapter 2, Peter instructs his readers on their relationships with one another. If they’re going to thrive in exile, surrounded by a hostile world, they’re going to need each other. And if you’re a disciple of the Lord Jesus, you know that we’re basically the same situation these people were.