1 Peter – Back in the Old Days 1 Peter 1:10-12

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Scripture Text

1Pe 1:10-12  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Introduction

If there is a phrase that makes the younger generation roll their eyes it would be this: “Back in the old days…” With a start like that you can imagine hearing something like this… we used to walk 5 miles, uphill, to school barefooted.  We used to have to go outside to go to the bathroom.  We used to carry water into the house to cook with.  We used to have one set of cloths.  You get the idea; they mean to say it used to be a much harder life.

In our text Peter is going to use this same thought to describe what it was like for God’s children before Jesus died on the cross.

That brings up a serious question; how did things work before Jesus?  Today we confess and forsake our sin believing in Jesus.  What did people do before Jesus came and died on the cross?  This topic is not in our text but we should answer it before we go on.

Old Testament Faith

The best place to go for an answer is Hebrews chapter 11.  This chapter is commonly referred to as the roll call of faith chapter.  It is a roll call record of many well-known Old Testament believers and the faith they showed in God.

We have clearly established before in our studies that salvation comes through faith believing in Christ.  So how did Abraham, Moses and Daniel become believers? 

The answer might surprise you, they came the same way we did, by faith.  They believed forward to the time of Jesus, so their faith was in the promise of the coming Messiah.

Hebrews 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Closing Thoughts

We believe in Jesus, they believed in the promise of Jesus.  Both took faith, both requires trusting in God to keep His promises. Both methods require that we turn our back on the world and follow God.  One God, one Savior, one way to heaven.

Until Night,

A Servant

 

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Give Me That Man-Made Religion – Acts 7:40b-41

Introduction

The title of my post is a play on words of an old song entitled “Give me that old-time religion”.  Our scripture text is taken from Acts chapter 7 covering the events leading up to the stoning of Stephen.  Before they stoned him Stephen recounted a history of the nation of Israel.  We will focus on one event in that history, the making of the golden calf.  The original account of the story Stephen mentions is in Exodus chapter 32.

In Acts 7:40 the children of Israel told Aaron, Moses’ brother…“Make us gods to go before us”.  Moses, as commanded, had ascended the mountain to meet with God.  He had been gone, in the estimation of some, too long and his return was called into question.  They saw an opportunity to make some changes due to the fact that they were already questioning Moses’ leadership.  They had decided to create a god in their image and to their own liking.

You might be thinking “that’s insane”, you can’t create a god.  First off I would agree, that is insane, but you don’t have to be a history major to know that since the beginning of recorded time our history is full of such efforts.  In my years on this earth I have personally witnessed the birth of new man-made gods.

Why does man seek to create their own god?  Clearly, in the case of Israel, they wanted a god they could see.  Over and over again the children of Israel desired to be like the nations around them who served rocks, trees, crafted precious metals and even the sun and moon.  An inanimate object, like the golden calf, is not going to deliver any laws.  This is man’s effort to tell God how things are going to work from now on. How great is this?  Decide what your god will look like and how it will act.  You can then make up your own rituals and rules to fit your lifestyle.