The Joy in Faith!

Today the message is entitled “The Joy in Faith!”

Last week we looked at the effect of the empty Cross and empty Grave. The realization that we need faith to believe that Jesus Christ is alive, that He rose from the dead and He did that for us.

Jesus took on the punishment of our sin which is our disbelief in God and going against His plan for us. That punishment is death with an eternal life apart from God. Jesus bore that on the cross for us so we could be with God.

So, if we believe that Jesus accomplished all that for us – that is faith! We put our hope in that faith. Such an ugly time for Jesus and so much pain and sorrow for those who believed and followed Him.
So why the title “The Joy in Faith?”

Today we are going to look at the apostle Peter’s answer to that question. He wrote two letters that talk about our faith, what we should do with it and how to protect it.

Peter wrote his letters to those who believed what I just stated. Both his letters start with similar greetings.

1 Pet 1: 1 NIV
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,

2 Pet 1: 1 NIV
Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:

We observed the hope we have in Christ last week when we read 1 Peter 1:3-6 and now we continue in this 1st chapter of this 1st letter to find “The Joy in Faith.”

1 Peter 1: 6-7 NIV Hope
6 in this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
7 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.

Jennifer Benson Schuldt, in her devotional “Christ the Redeemer” states:
“Anyone who has accepted Jesus as Savior has a reason to be glad today. No matter what we endure on earth, we can have hope today and look forward to enjoying eternity with Him.”

Adam Hamilton, in an article yesterday with Clergy Coaching Network, states:
“God’s blessings are not about ease and comfort, but rather about the joy of being a part of God’s work, being used by God for God’s purposes, and being accompanied by God’s presence, particularly in the face of adversity.

Job, a man of God, who endured incredibly harsh trials and yet he too stood on the hope he had for the coming of Christ and eternal life with Him.

Job 19: 25-27 NIV
25 I know that my redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see Him with my own eyes – I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!

Those that believe in the empty grave and the risen Savior, can say the same thing Job did – “I know my redeemer lives!”

The apostle Peter had seen Jesus, walked with Jesus, listened and learned from Jesus’s teachings, and suffered with Jesus. Peter’s faith was built on reality and hands on experience. We do not have that same experience, yet everyone of us who have chosen to believe in Jesus, have had a life changing experience too.

Jesus has become real to us! We follow Him because He came into our lives and allowed us to see and feel His presence. This fills us with glorious joy!

1 Peter 1: 8-9 NIV
8 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,
9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Peter is writing to encourage Christians to stand on their faith, and to remember their salvation experience. We can start to forget the change we went through when life piles up mounds of grief and busyness. We need to step back and remember when God became real to us. Find the excitement and power that arrived with that realization of God’s presence in your life.

Then rejoice again in the hope of God’s glory!

Romans 5: 1-2 NIV
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

In this time of isolation, it is good to know that Jesus can come to you without worry of infection. He can stand with you in your time of struggle and give you the strength to endure. Many are those who search for God, and many can find Him.

1 Peter 1: 10-12 NIV
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care,
11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

William Barclay, in his Daily Bible Study on the letters of Peter, gives us two thoughts on these verses:

First, “the wonder of the salvation which was to come to men in Christ was such that the prophets searched and enquired about it; and even the angels were eager to catch a glimpse of it.”
Second, “Here we have the great truth that inspiration depends on two things – the searching mind of man and the revealing Spirit of God.”

In John 20: 5, 11 we find a disciple and Mary both bend down and peer into the empty tomb, searching for Jesus, hoping for Him to be alive.

How many of you are even looking for a God who cares about you? How many are like Mary, hoping that the message of Jesus is true?

What about the rest of you? Are you finding the Joy in your Faith?

Jesus’s life was about you! What Jesus did on earth was provide a way for each of us to find or reconnect to God. Then we share in the eternal life of Christ and have that close relationship that we desire.

Now Barb is back with another song “Blessed Assurance”.

That song is so true for all of us. I want to close with a verse from

Romans 15: 13 NIV
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s pray!