We begin our study this morning of the letters written by the Apostle Peter. He was once a rough and tough fisherman of the Sea of Galilee, then he became an outspoken and impulsive disciple of Jesus, then in a moment of terror he denied he'd ever met Jesus. But since he has seen the risen Savior face to face, Peter has become a powerful evangelist and a leader of the Christian church. His life is a perfect example of how a relationship with Christ changes a person from the inside out.
These letters are written to Gentile believers but are written from a Jewish perspective, as Peter often quotes Scripture from the Old Testament. But he does something no Jewish teacher would ever have thought of doing prior to the advent of Jesus Christ: he applies the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament to the Gentiles. What brings the Gentiles into the family of God and makes them just as much a chosen people as the nation of Israel? Their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Now the beautiful promises of God apply to nations that have, up til now, been on the outside looking in. In our study of Peter's letters and of the Scriptures he chooses to prove his point, we are going to understand that it was always God's intention to make a chosen people out of those who formerly walked in darkness and wasted their energy serving gods that did not exist.
Peter was one of the first advocates for the Gentile believers, insisting they be treated as equals, and I can just imagine him nodding his head and shouting "amen" to these words the Apostle Paul wrote to the Gentiles: "Remember that...you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility...Consequently you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone." (Ephesians 2:12-14, 19-20)
Though Israel always was and still is and always will be a chosen people in the sight of God, God never intended to permanently exclude the Gentiles from His family. This is made evident by His promise to Abraham in Genesis 22:18 when He said, "Through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed." God was not speaking specifically of Abraham's immediate offspring (his son Isaac) but of the Messiah who would come from Abraham's family line. God made it clear from the beginning that the nation of Israel was a chosen people, and at the same time He made it clear that He intended to call a chosen people from the Gentile nations too.
Peter begins his first letter with this salutation, "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance." (1 Peter 1:1-2) It is believed by many scholars that Peter was writing this letter from Rome because the cities are named in the order in which a person carrying the letter would reach them if he set out from Rome at the port of the Black Sea.
In his salutation Peter assures his readers that they were chosen and foreknown by God long before they were ever born. On the day God made His awesome promise to Abraham, He foresaw these believers. Though they did not yet exist, He had already chosen them. God didn't promise to make Abraham a father of only one nation; He promised to make Abraham a father of "many nations". (Genesis 17:4-5) God fulfilled the promise of making Abraham a father when He gave him his son Isaac. God began fulfilling His promise of making Abraham a father of many nations when His own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ of the line of Abraham, was born and accomplished His purpose on earth and was crucified and was raised from the dead. Now that this promise is coming true, the Gentiles who were once on the outside looking in are invited to sit around the Lord's table as His children. They are as welcome there as the nation of Israel. The beautiful promises of the Scriptures are now theirs, for they who once were lost and without God in the world have become His children.
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