5/5/2014 1 Peter 1:3-4, NIV "Praise be to God and Father of - PDF document

5/5/2014 1 Peter 1:3-4, NIV "Praise be to 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." Colossians 3:1-2, NLT "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth." 1

5/5/2014 A. We all have doubts – are we alone in the universe? Are our sacrifices for God worth it? B. Answer – the reality of Christ’s resurrection and therefore of ours 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4, NLT "I passed on to you what was most important and what has been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins; just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said." 1 Corinthians 15:14, NLT "And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless." A. Temporary things have real importance, but the eternal alone has lasting value. John 6:27, NIV "Do not work for the food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." 2 Corinthians 4:18, NIV "For we fix our eyes not on what was seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." B. The dangers of "affluenza" Ephesians 5:5, NLT; Colossians 3:5, NLT "a greedy person is an idolater, worshipping the things of this world" A. Become a ”shrewd” manager of your resources Luke 16:8b-9, NIV "The people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." 2

5/5/2014 B. God "repaying" us what we have saved is far more trustworthy than banks Revelation 22:12, NLT "Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds." C. Get ready for your eternal retirement, not just your earthly retirement Matthew 16:27, NIV "For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with the holy angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done." A. Result of sin in our world – death, sin (and illness) reign Romans 5:12, NIV "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned." B. Our new glorified bodies will arrive when Christ returns 1 Corinthians 15:40, 42, 44, 45, 49, 53, NIV "the splendor of the heavenly bodies…it is raised imperishable…it is raised a spiritual body…(through) the Last Adam, a life-giving Spirit…(with the result that we) bear the image of the heavenly man…(so that we) clothe (ourselves) with the imperishable…with immortality" C. Never again for all eternity will we ever suffer or experience painful situations Revelation 20:4, ESV "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 22:5, ESV "They will need no light or lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." 3

5/5/2014 V. Responsib onsibilit ility to to live f e for r God/hea od/heavenly thi y things ngs A. We should spend even more effort on the eternal than we do on the temporary 2 Timothy 2:15, NLT "Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth." V. Responsib onsibilit ility to to live f e for r God/hea od/heavenly thi y things ngs B. We need to build things that will last forever, not just be done in a few years 1 Corinthians 3:12-14, NLT "Anyone who builds on that foundation (Christ) may use a variety of materials – gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that person will receive a reward." VI. We mus VI. must live l e lives es i in cons constant r tant readi eadine ness f for r hi his r retur turn A. This was Christ’s major message in the parables of his Olivet Discourse, (Matthew 24-25) Matthew 24:42; 25:13, 29, NIV "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come…For whoever has will be given more…Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them." 4

5/5/2014 VI. VI. We mus must live l e lives es i in cons constant r tant readi eadine ness f for r hi his r retur turn B. The Christian life is to be lived for God in the light of our future homecoming 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, NIV "So we make it our goal to please him, whether at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." VII. In l VI In light of ght of thi this, s , seek eek to to become become mor more like Chri Christ, , not mor not more l like the the w orld 1 John 3:2, NIV "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." A. God’s will is that this life be preparation for the next, as we are progressively transformed 2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." VII. In l VI In light of ght of thi this, s , seek eek to to become become mor more like Chri Christ, not mor not more l like the the w orld B. Our constant goal – to be more like him as we ready ourselves for our eternal glory Ephesians 4:13, NIV "Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." 5