Prepare Like It.

1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. – 1 Peter 4:1-6 ESV

It isn’t a matter of whether you will suffer, but when. In this life, the life we now live in the flesh, as Paul put it (Galatians 2:20), we will be required to suffer, just as Jesus did. So, Peter tells us to prepare for the inevitable. He uses the Greek word, hoplizō, which means to arm yourself. It could be used to refer to taking up arms or to prepare your mind for something. Paul gives us a similar charge when he writes:

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. – Romans 12:2 NLT

We have to equip our minds with the same mindset that Jesus had. What kind of mindset did He have? He saw suffering as essential to His assignment from God. It was part of His divine job description. Without His death, there would have been no resurrection. Without His humiliation, there would have been no glorification. And as Paul puts it, rather than mirror the behavior or attitudes of this world, we are to alter our thinking and emulate the attitude of Jesus. When Peter states that we have ceased from sin, he is not saying that we are sinless or incapable of sin. He is teaching that we are free from sins slavery and control over our lives. Paul describes it this way:

6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. – Romans 6:6-7 NLT.

Earlier in this same letter, Peter referred to us suffering for doing what is good and right, just as Jesus did, and then he reminds us: “For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21 NLT). We are to follow His example. If we suffer for our relationship with Christ, we are to see it as a sign that we are emulating Christ. We are suffering as He did – for doing what is right – the will of God. And we treat sin as no longer having any control over us. We have been released from sins dominion and domination over us. And, as a result, we “live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:2 ESV). Rather than wasting our remaining years on this earth pursuing our own pleasure or seeking to live according to our own will, we submit to what God would have us do. It becomes our greatest desire. And we larn to say, as Jesus did, “not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

And, Peter reminds us “You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols” (1 Peter 4:3 NLT). We’ve been there, done that. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. We are new creations and we are to live as such. Our old way of life is behind us. That was then, this is now. The old things are gone. The new has come. As Paul puts it, “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT).

And tbis is what causes the suffering we encounter in this life. Because we are new creations and live lives that reflect our new standing in Christ, our old friends will find our new lifestyles convicting. They won’t understand why we don’t do what we used to do. And Peter points this out.

Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. – 1 Peter 4:4 NLT).

They’ll be shocked by our behavior. It will seem strange and out of character to them. And, as a result, they will slander you. Basically, they will have nothing good to say about you. Why? Because your new lifestyle will convict them. It will expose them for what they are: sinners. Just as Jesus was slandered by the Pharisees because His words and actions convicted them, so our former friends will turn on us, when we live Christ-like lives in front of them. But rather than get upset and return their slander with words of self-defense or condemnation, we are to remember that “they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead” (1 Peter 4:5 NLT). Don’t last out. Don’t feel the pressure to justify your actions or defend your behavior. Do what you do because it is pleasing to God, and leave the judgment of those who persecute you up to God.

Finally, Peter provides a timely reminder that this “life in the flesh” is not all there is. Jesus lived His life “in the flesh”, but He now lives “in the Spirit”. Remember, this is what Peter said earlier in his letter. Jesus was “put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV). He lived His life here on earth, but now sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. And He is not alone. There are others who have joined the Lord in the heavenly Kingdom. They are those who heard to gospel and who have since died.

That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit.– 1 Peter 4:6 NLT

There is a life after this one. There is more to life than what we see on this earth. That is why we should be willing to suffer in this life, because, as Peter puts it later in this same letter: “after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation” (1 Peter 5:10 NLT). Paul expands on this idea in his letter to the Corinthian believers.

16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are[e] being renewed every day. 17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! 18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT

We are to be prepared in this life, because we know God has already prepared a place for us in heaven. Jesus promised His disciples that it was so.

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” – John 14:1-4 NLT

We are to arm ourselves with this truth. We are to prepare ourselves for the worst in this life because God has prepared the best for us in the next one. We are citizens of heaven, not earth. We are children of God, not Satan. We belong to another Kingdom, not this one. This world is not our home, we’re simply passing through. But while we are here, let’s live as who we are. Let’s mirror the life of Christ and live out the love we have received from God to all those we meet. We are to be difference-makers, just as Jesus was. We are to be lights in a dark world, just as He was. And we are are to suffer, just as He did – willingly, patiently, joyfully, expectantly, and all according to the will of God.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)

Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

A Worthy Walk.

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. – Colossians 1:9-10 ESV

Colossians 1:9-14

What does Paul mean when he says, “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord?” He uses the Greek word, peripateō, which can literally mean, “to live your life.” It can also mean, “to make one's way, progress; to make due use of opportunities.” So, in essence, Paul is telling his readers to conduct their lives in a manner that is worthy of the Lord. But what does that mean? What does a “worthy” life look like? This seems to be a favorite topic of Paul's. In Philippians 1:27, we read a very similar statement: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…” He had the same thought in mind when he wrote to the believers in Ephesus. “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God” (Ephesians 4:1 NLT). But Paul went on to explain what he meant. “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace” (Ephesians 4:2-3 NLT). There is a sense in which our lives are to reflect who we are in Christ. God saved us in order to transform us into the likeness of His Son. He adopted us into His spiritual family and made us His sons and daughters. As such, we are heirs to His Kingdom. We are joint-heirs with Christ. God placed His Holy Spirit within us in order that we might have the power we need to live the life He has called us to live. We are His ambassadors and we represent Him on this earth. So the manner in which we conduct ourselves on a daily basis is to reflect favorably on the One who saved us and has sent us into the world as His emissaries.

Which brings us back to Paul's prayer. How are we to know what a life worthy of our calling looks like? In Ephesians, Paul describes it as one marked by humility, gentleness, patience, unity and love. But before we think we can pull off this kind of life on our own, he tells us that it is only possible as we are filled with a knowledge of God's will. It is as we understand His will and receive His divine knowledge and understanding that we will know what it is He would have us do on a day-by-day basis. An awareness of God's will is what provides us with direction for life. But that awareness must be followed by obedience. Knowing what to do and actually doing it are two separate things. I can know God's will and choose to ignore it. I can decide that His will is not what I want to do. But each time I make that decision, I am choosing to live a life that is NOT worthy of the Lord. That is a serious and sobering thought. Disobeying God dishonors Him. It robs His of glory. it is no different than a disobedient child who chooses to throw a temper-tantrum in the middle of the grocery store aisle. His behavior reflects poorly on his parents. How much more so does my willful decision to disobey the will of God for my life by demanding my way instead? A life that is lived worthy of the Lord has certain visible characteristics about it. It is marked by behavior that is Spirit-driven and, therefore, not normal or natural. It will be a life that pleases God and produces the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22). That kind of life honors God because it is made possible by God. We can't pull it off on our own. Paul reminds us, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25 ESV). But it all begins with a knowledge of God's will. His will makes possible a worthy walk. His will makes possible a fruitful, God-pleasing life.

Imagine what might happen if we all began to pray for one another, asking that God would fill us with a knowledge of His will with all the spiritual wisdom and understanding that comes with it? And what might happen if we each began to willingly obey that will as it was revealed to us? Paul tells us we would be fruitful. He reminds us that we would be pleasing to God. And he lets us know that we would grow in our knowledge of God. That means far more than just an intellectual understanding of God. We would know His heart and learn to trust His word. We would discover just how much He loves us and has His best in mind for us. We would learn to obey more quickly and willingly. We would seek His will gladly and readily. And our lives would become glowing testimonies to the life-transforming truth of the gospel and the power of God.

Pleasing God.

1 Kings 13-14, 2 Corinthians 5

So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. – 2 Corinthians 5:9 ESV

Solomon failed to please God. He lived in disobedience to the will of God, worshiping false gods and making the pursuit of his own personal pleasure and satisfaction his highest priority. His son, Rehoboam, would follow his example, reigning over Judah for 17 years, and failing to please God the entire time. “And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done” (1 Kings 14:22 ESV). Jeroboam, God's hand-picked king of the northern tribes of Israel, also failed to please God. He developed his own gods, temples, and priesthood. He led the people of Israel into apostasy and encouraged them to disobey God's commands. God said of Jeroboam, “…but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back” (1 Kings 14:9 ESV). These men all looked like kings. From the outside, their kingdoms may have looked successful and their reigns may have had all the appearances of power, prestige and earthly success. But they had failed to please God, and as a result, God was forced to deal harshly with them. He split Solomon's vast kingdom in half. He predicted the future fall and eventual deportation of the northern kingdom of Israel. He allowed the Egyptians to attack the city of Jerusalem and ransack the Temple, taking as plunder all the treasures of the house of the Lord that David and Solomon had so painstakingly collected. The history of Israel and Judah will be marked by kings who, for the most part, failed to live lives that were pleasing to God, instead, doing “what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (1 Kings 14:22 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about God?

God requires obedience. His commands were just that – commands, and not suggestions. He expected His laws to be obeyed. When He told the young prophet to go to Jeroboam and speak a word against the king and his false gods, He also told him “You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came” (1 Kings 13:9 ESV). But the young man disobeyed. Yes, he was tricked and deceived, but the bottom line is that he failed to obey the word of the Lord and as a result, his actions failed to please the Lord. His own untimely and violent death was the outcome. God takes His word seriously and He expects His people to do the same. God had given Jeroboam the kingdom of Israel to rule over. But He had also told Jeroboam, “And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you” (1 Kings 11:38 ESV). But Jeroboam, like Solomon and Rehoboam, would fail to live up to God's expectations. He would not walk in God's ways. He would end up doing what was right in his own eyes. His kingdom would last 22 years, but it would be marked by sin and rebellion against God. From all appearances, Jeroboam's reign would have looked successful. Twenty two years would have been quite a long reign for any king during that period of time. But his kingdom would lack God's blessing. His rule would fail to please God. Any success he experienced would have been short-lived and just as short-sighted. Having failed to please God, he would learn first hand what it was like to reign without the pleasure of God.

What does this passage reveal about man?

The apostle Paul made it his aim to live a life that was pleasing to God. He lived with an eternal perspective that focused on something other than the temporal pleasures of this life. He knew that there was life beyond this one. He understood that eternity was real and that, as believers, “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV). There will be an accounting one day for every Christian. We will have to own up for every word spoken and action committed while we lived on this earth. Paul tried to live his life in such a way that he would not have to be ashamed of anything he said or did while “at home in the body” (2 Corinthians 5:6 ESV). He made it his goal to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV). In other words, he lived his life motivated by the as-yet-unseen promises of God. He didn't let the temptations of earthly pleasures or temporary trappings of this world lure him into doing anything that would be displeasing to God. “We make it our aim to please him” (2 Corinthians 5:9 ESV). For Paul, the issue was heart change. He knew that external actions or outward appearances mattered little to God. He looked at the heart. There were those who were influencing the Corinthian believers “who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart” (2 Corinthians 5:12 ESV). These people wanted to appear spiritual, but there hearts were not pleasing to God. They were focused on how they were perceived by men, and failed to worry about whether the condition of their hearts were pleasing to God. They lived for themselves. They focused on the flesh. But Paul reminded them, “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV). We have been made right with God. We don't belong to this world anymore. We are eternal creatures with a future reserved for us in God's kingdom. We are to live like citizens of that new kingdom, not this earthly, temporal one.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

I am to live a life that is pleasing to God. He has given me the Holy Spirit as a down-payment, a sort of guarantee of what is to come in the future. He has placed His Spirit within me and provided me with a source of power that I could never have manufactured on my own. I have the capacity to live in such a way that my life pleases God. The Holy Spirit, using the Word of God, shows me just what that life should look like, and also provides me with the power to pull it off. Paul put it this way: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 ESV). I want to make it my aim to please God. I want to live my life on this earth in such a way that my words and actions will be pleasing to Him when I stand at the judgment seat of Christ one day. But I must keep an eternal focus. I must realize that this life is temporary. I must live, not for myself, but for Him who died and was raised for my sake (2 Corinthians 5:15).

Father, I want my life to please You. And I know that when I live in submission to Your Spirit and in obedience to Your Word, my life DOES please You. I am grateful that my obedience is not mandatory for remaining in a right relationship with You. I don't have to obey to be made righteous. That was taken care of by Christ on my behalf. My obedience should be in response to what He has done for me. It should be an outward expression of the Spirit's presence within me. As I submit to His will and obey Your Word, my life will be pleasing to You. Amen