the book of 1 Peter | Daily Encouragement

Good Friday

Today’s words of encouragement comes special for the remembrance of Good Friday, and is taken from today’s reflection by Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost for His Highest”:

“. . . who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree . . .” (1 Peter 2:24)

“The Cross of Christ is the revealed truth of God’s judgment on sin. Never associate the idea of martyrdom with the Cross of Christ. It was the supreme triumph, and it shook the very foundations of hell. There is nothing in time or eternity more absolutely certain and irrefutable than what Jesus Christ accomplished on the Cross— He made it possible for the entire human race to be brought back into a right-standing relationship with God. He made redemption the foundation of human life; that is, He made a way for every person to have fellowship with God.

“The Cross was not something that happened to Jesus— He came to die; the Cross was His purpose in coming. He is ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Revelation 13:8). The incarnation of Christ would have no meaning without the Cross. Beware of separating ‘God was manifested in the flesh. . .’ from . . . ‘He made Him. . . to be sin for us. . .’ (1 Timothy 3:16 ; 2 Corinthians 5:21). The purpose of the incarnation was redemption. God came in the flesh to take sin away, not to accomplish something for Himself. The Cross is the central event in time and eternity, and the answer to all the problems of both.

“The Cross is not the cross of a man, but the Cross of God, and it can never be fully comprehended through human experience. The Cross is God exhibiting His nature. It is the gate through which any and every individual can enter into oneness with God. But it is not a gate we pass right through; it is one where we abide in the life that is found there.

“The heart of salvation is the Cross of Christ. The reason salvation is so easy to obtain is that it cost God so much. The Cross was the place where God and sinful man merged with a tremendous collision and where the way to life was opened. But all the cost and pain of the collision was absorbed by the heart of God.”

Tagged Good Friday, My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers, the book of 1 Peter, the cross

January 1

New Year’s Day

“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16, NIV)

Resist the temptation to allow others to redefine the hallmarks of Christian discipleship. The original definitions of who we are, and what we are to do, are found in God’s word and nowhere else.

Peter reminds the Christians that are scattered throughout what, today, is Asia minor that while they may reside in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and other locales with cultures and customs that may be peculiar or even hostile; above all, they are to reflect “in all you do” the holiness of the God who called them.

Generally, the word “holiness” has been redefined to mean something that is less than desirable because it distinguishes one from the masses. However, the disciple should never let his or her choices be determined by the crowd or the circumstance — only by the Christ within us. This does not come to us naturally. It comes with practice, patience, and the grace that God provides.

It is through this simple act of obedience by God’s scattered people that those who know not God catch their first glimpse of what it means to be “of God.” We need not be anything more. We dare not be anything less. The next step is the Holy Spirit’s to make.

All humanity echoes the words of St. Augustine of Hippo who wrote: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” – Luther