Living in Exile: Identity

Series
Living As Exiles: A Series Through the Book of 1st Peter

Summary

Living in Exile: Identity

Message by Brian Stenson | Scripture: 1 Peter 1:22-2:3

A couple weeks ago, I had the privilege of sitting in on an amusing and inquisitive conversation between a 3 year old and her mother. The mother was talking about where she used to live. And the 3 year old asked, “where did we live?” To which her mother said, “well, you weren’t around yet.” And you can imagine where the mind of a 3 year old goes – she said, “Where was I?” It was truly a fun conversation to observe. Maybe you’ve had a similar conversation. We’re hardly surprised by the lack of self-awareness children have – and rightly so. Of course, they don’t know where they came from. We don’t expect them to know how to grow up and mature, or to understand the basic elements of their human nature. Have you ever seen a kid start to realize they can use their hands or they can crawl or run or jump? Children are only starting to learn about themselves.

Well, Peter uses that very metaphor in our passage this morning. In v. 23, he’s speaking to Christians, to elect exiles, and he says, “you have been born again..” And then in v. 2 of chapter 2, he says “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation…” A metaphor Peter and actually Jesus uses for becoming a Christian is being born again. Christians are people born again spiritually, growing up into salvation. And Peter indicates that as spiritual children we must know our identity, we must know what it means that we are not just exiles, but we are elect exiles. God speaks to us, like a parent to a child, in order to tell us what we need to know about ourselves. As Christians, it will be harmful if we don’t understand what being born again entails, what it means for who we are.

Peter has just addressed their hope, that we’re to set our hope fully on our home in heaven (which is why we’re exiles here on earth), he’s called them to live holy lives, as God himself is holy. And here at the end of chapter 1 and beginning of ch. 2, he says here’s what you need to know about yourself, so that spiritually you’re not a child with no self awareness.

As we get started, let’s pray for God’s help to understand who we are.

Peter makes a logical argument in this passage about what our identity as Christians is and what it means for how we live. You’ll see there are three points on your outline. First, if you are in Christ, you are born again through God’s Word. It’s the means to how you were born again. 2nd, because you were born again through God’s Word, you were born again of an imperishable nature. And Third, because you are rooted in God’s Word and given an imperishable nature, you are born again to love one another.

Let’s start with the foundation Peter lays, the bottom layer – You have been born again through God’s Word.

1. You Have Been Born Again Through God’s Word

Peter starts talking about God’s Word in v. 23. Let’s read it again, “you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” Peter says as a Christian, you have been born again of imperishable seed and how? How is it you were born again? Through the living and abiding word of God. The way that Christians are given a new nature is through the word of God doing its work in a man or woman’s heart. Peter continues to talk about the Word. Look at where it goes next, he quotes Isaiah, v. 24, “for ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” Peter makes this comparison in v. 24 and 25. Flesh is like grass and its glory like the flower of grass. But, the grass withers, it dies, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. Notice what Peter is stressing about God’s Word in v. 23 & 24. Peter emphasizes the eternal, remaining nature of the word of God. He calls it the living and abiding Word of God. He compares it to flesh in order to stress that flesh and its glory pass away, but the Word of the Lord remains forever.

If you are in Christ, you have been born again through the eternal Word of God. It’s part of your identity, it’s where you have come from. In other words, we don’t have the option to be Christians who aren’t that into God’s Word. We can’t say “well, those people are more of like the Bible Christians, we’re more into something else..” Saying you’re a Christian who isn’t that into the Bible is like saying you’re a soccer player, but you don’t really play soccer. Christians need the Bible.

If you’re here today and you’re not a Christian, maybe you’re interested in learning more about Christianity, ask someone to read the Bible with you. The Bible is where to start. And Peter is saying that the Bible is vitally necessary not only because Christians are born again through the it, but also because the Bible is eternal.

Of all the things you care about in this life, how many of them are eternal? What is it that you love, that you invest yourself in? Is it making a name for yourself at work or in music or something else? Is it making money or maybe just enjoying life? Look at what Peter says about flesh and all its glory. It will all pass away, it will wither and die. But if you invest yourself in the eternal word of God, when your life comes to an end, you will not regret it, because you’ve made an investment in eternity with the Lord.

Look at what Peter says after that in v. 25. He’s just said “the word of the Lord remains forever.” And he says, “And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” He’s making a case for how amazing God’s Word is. It’s eternal, look at how valuable it is. And then he points and says to these people, “and look, you have it.” That’s amazing, that’s unbelievable. We have the eternal words of God. Can you imagine if that’s what we told ourselves when we go to read the Bible at home? What would it look like if we thought about the Bible like that as we planned our priorities for the week? Prioritize the Bible because of it’s eternal nature.

I would hope that if a stranger walked into our church on any given Sunday, they would notice an abundant focus on God’s Word. I would hope they’d say, “Wow, these people read the Bible throughout the service, someone explains a Bible passage for a half hour, they sing songs that continually reference the Bible. And if that’s not enough, they have Bible studies throughout the week. These people really focus on the Bible.” I would hope that’s what they’d say. Because Peter is saying the Bible is essential to the life of a Christian. So, as a church we must prioritize God’s word in all that we do. May we be a people who love the Scriptures.

But that’s only where Peter starts. We have been born again through the eternal Word of God. But look at what Peter says the Word of God results in. You were born again through the word of God, but you were born again of not perishable seed, but of imperishable seed.

2. You Have Been Born Again of an Imperishable Nature

Peter tells us we’ve been born again through God’s Word, and what he wants these people he’s writing to to realize, is that because they have been born again of God’s eternal Word, they have been born again to an imperishable nature. The imperishable Word has given you an imperishable nature. That’s the seed that you’ve come from.

In chapter 1 v. 4, Peter told them they have an inheritance that is imperishable, but Peter now uses that same word to describe them. These people, and all Christians, have an imperishable nature. And we know Peter is stressing that word imperishable because he includes this simple contrast. “You have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable.” Couldn’t Peter have left out that “not of perishable seed?” He could have just said “you’ve been born again of imperishable seed.” But he knows they’re tempted to feel like and believe that their nature as Christians is perishable. Remember how he addressed them in v. 1 “elect exiles.” Exiles are outcasts, they don’t have a home or a people. Peter knows that whether or not, these people are physical exiles, they certainly are spiritual exiles. They’re outsiders in their culture, they’re spiritual people living in a physical world. And likewise, we are exiles and frankly we’re starting to feel like exiles more and more lately.

In California, there’s currently a bill trying to be passed, that would no longer allow Christian universities to require that students adhere to a profession of faith or require chapel services, even private universities. As someone who works in college ministry, there’s the looming question of will we eventually be kicked off campus because we think certain things are right and wrong. I’m sure you feel it too. Take a look at the political climate. Abortion laws are being struck down in Texas. Our culture and society in general is increasingly approving of sinful practices. Conflicts are arising because Christians say certain practices are wrong. It feels like we’re trying to swim upstream, but the current is getting stronger and stronger, and we’re about to get swept away. Which is why Peter says what he does. Because it may feel like you’re losing. It may feel like following the Lord will fail and not be worth it. It may feel like we have no chance for the future spread of the gospel, maybe even for our own freedom. But actually, our nature as followers of Jesus Christ is not perishable. It’s not passing away and getting swept downstream. No, it’s imperishable, it’s eternal, unshakeable. Even if everything in this life collapses, even if Christianity is outlawed in the U.S., even if we’re persecuted for following Jesus, the reality is that you have an unshakeable, rock solid identity before the Lord.

Take heart, eternity is waiting for you. Glory with Jesus is coming regardless of where our culture goes. You have a spiritual foundation that is built on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. If you are a Christian, you must know that you have an unshakeable nature. The Word of God will last forever, and so it has given you a new nature that will last forever. Your destiny is secure. Christian, do not forget where you’re going.

You have been born again through the eternal Word of God to an imperishable, unshakeable nature. Which leads us to the final aspect of the new birth, what Peter actually starts with. You have been born again to love one another.

3. You Have Been Born Again to Love One Another

Look at v. 22 “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart…” That first line is a mouthful, Peter says “having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love…” Notice Peter adds this line ‘for a sincere brotherly love..” Peter is saying the end to their salvation, one result of it, is a sincere brotherly love. Which he reinforces in the next line as he commands them, “love one another earnestly from a pure heart…” Peter is saying that if you become a Christian, you are expected to love one another. You’re expected to love God’s people. You are born again to love one another.

If you have children, at some point you expect them to start to crawl, then to walk, and to talk, and start to learn other things. These are signs of growth, signs of maturity. What do you tend to think a mature Christian should look like? Maybe someone who knows a lot of doctrine, or has large passages of the Bible memorized. Or maybe someone who’s very spiritual or who has a seminary degree. This is saying that one thing maturity for Christians looks like is loving one another. It’s remarkably not flashy. In fact it’s difficult. Is your life marked by love for God’s people?

It can sound vague or too general to say that we ought to love one another, we ought to love God’s people. So let’s do this: look around, these are God’s people, these are the people you’re regularly in fellowship with. Have you invested yourself in these people? Have you greeted people who look unfamiliar or started a conversation with someone you didn’t know well? Have you gotten to know people on a spiritual level, have you shared lives with them? Do you have people over for dinner, or welcome people into your home? Do you watch their kids or just give an encouraging word? Consider how you can invest yourself in the lives of others here at West Valley and in the church of Jesus Christ around the world. How can you love God’s people?

Peter’s also concerned with how we love each other. He says “earnestly from a pure heart.” He talks about “a sincere brotherly love.” And look at what he says in ch. 2 v. 1 “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” Peter is not only concerned with what we do with each other when we’re together. He’s not only concerned with the positive ways we love one another. Did you notice what links those 5 words? They’re all negative things to avoid, and they’re all things we can do against people without them noticing. They’re sins, ways we do not love one another in our hearts.

Malice – thinking about evil things we want to do, deceit – being dishonest, hypocrisy – not doing what we say, envy – sinfully wanting what someone else has, and slander – speaking dishonestly about someone behind their back.

Peter not only cares about the things we do to love each other, he cares about what is in our hearts regarding each other. It’s not love to strike up conversation with someone in the bagel hour, only to go home and speak ill of them. It’s not love to spend time thoughtfully with someone else, when in reality we’re envious of the certain gifts God has given them. God cares about what is going on in our hearts. He cares about how Christians relate to each other in unseen ways. So let me ask you again, is your life marked by a love for God’s people? An earnest love from a sincere heart? Let us seek to put off the ways we sin in relation to each other in our hearts, let us repent and put on a true love for each other. If we are honest, this seems impossible. Did you see the way Peter tells us to love one another? A sincere brotherly love, earnestly from a pure heart, put away all malice, all deceit, all slander. Not only that, Peter just called these people “elect exiles.” Peter is speaking to suffering people, people with hard lives.

How could we possibly do this? Peter has already told us. He’s given us two keys to loving one another. v. 23, he says, “love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.” Do you see his logic?

You have been born again of an imperishable nature therefore love one another.

You’re not swept to and fro by suffering. You’re rooted in the unshakeable identity he has given you. Your souls have been purified by God. So use that rootedness to love one another. We don’t base loving one another on what we get in return. It’s not based on the other person at all. It’s rooted in the identity God has given us as his children. So we can gladly bear the cost of loving those around us. We can put out effort to care about our fellow brothers and sisters even though there’s chaos swirling all around us. Love one another because you are rooted in the imperishable nature God has given you.

And Peter says you have been born again through the eternal word of God therefore love one another.

In ch. 2 v. 1, Peter says put away all these things, and do you see what he sees immediately afterwards? His commands is to “long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation…” It’s widely agreed upon that Peter here is referencing God’s Word based on the words he uses to say “pure spiritual milk.” So Peter is saying long for God’s Word if you want to grow up as a Christian. And we just said that growing up as a Christian, maturing, looks like loving one another. So where will we go to grow in loving one another? To the Scriptures. The Bible is the key to growing into maturity by loving one another.

I appreciate Peter’s picture here. It’s a specific way to long for God’s Word. He says “like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk…” Like a baby crying until their mother comes to feed them, you know what I’m talking about, like that – long for God’s Word. We must long for God’s Word because we desperately need it. How else would we possibly grow in loving one another earnestly from a pure heart than by the Scriptures? You have been born again through the eternal Word of God which has given you a new, imperishable nature, so that you will love one another. That is the identity of a Christian. That is what it means to be born again.

I started off talking about a conversation between a 3 year old and her mother. It is cute and adorable when a 3 year old lacks self-awareness, when a child doesn’t understand much about themselves. But it is sad and detrimental when a Christian doesn’t understand their identity. If you’re anything like me, it’s so easy to forget or even not to listen to what God has said about you. It is hard work to remember what it means to be born again. It’s work to remember to prioritize God’s Word because it is eternal, or to remember we have an unshakeable identity in the strong current of culture. And it’s certainly hard work to love one another earnestly from a pure heart. But let me remind you that in ch.1 v. 18 & 19, it says, “you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

God has ransomed his people, he has bought us back from the bonds of slavery with the precious, valuable blood of his own son, Jesus Christ that makes things like silver and gold look silly in comparison. It cost God a fortune to give us a new identity. Thank God that he not only worked in us through his Word, but he paid the price with his Son. If you are in Christ, as Peter says, “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good,” you have a new identity. By the grace of God, let us strive to live it out.

Let’s pray.