This week’s Hammer Verse passage is 1 Peter 5:6-8 and reads: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Here is a brief summary of what this passage teaches.
As Peter instructs suffering believers how to deal with their trials, he reminds them to place themselves willingly under their pastors (lit. “elders”) and also to be humble toward one another (1 Peter 5:5). A reason he gives is that “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” In other words, one of the chief characteristics of one who has true saving faith and is a recipient of God’s gift of eternal life is that they are humble, which includes their understanding they are a sinful servant in need of God’s grace and so they should not act in an arrogant way toward others. Instead, they should willing seek to love others, meet their needs, consider others even above themselves, and to follow the leaders God has given them. It is another way of saying that love and submission are marks of one who truly believes (cf. Eph. 5:21; 1 John 4:8).
Since this is true, Peter writes in verse 6 a person should also have the right attitude of themselves in relation to God, meaning they should consider God’s will more important than their own and they should realize they cannot make it through life on their own and so should trust in God. When a person trusts in God in this manner, they are placing themselves underneath his great power, his “mighty hand”. When a person does this, it is a sign of true saving faith and so God someday will exalt them when he transforms their lowly bodies into the same kind of body Christ has (Phil. 3:20-21) and he will lift them up as his trophies, as demonstrations of his grace (Rom. 2:29) when they enter into their eternal reward, joy, and pleasure (Ps. 16:11; Mt. 6:19-21; 1 Thes. 1:10; 1 Peter 1:6-9). As with Christ, so with his followers, humility will lead to exaltation (Phil. 2:5-11).
The means by which we humble ourselves underneath the mighty hand of God is by casting all our anxieties upon him. This is an indication that the person who has truly received Jesus Christ as his Savior also continually rests upon God to take care of him, knowing God is able and faithful. The reason a person should trust in God in this fashion is because God cares for him. Since God has loved us and given his Son in behalf of us, we should know that God will do for us all he has promised to do and all we need—in fact, nothing or no one can separate us from this love God has for us in and through Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:31-39). So, we should cast all cares upon him.
Of course, one of the great areas of life in which the believer should trust God has to do with Satan. Since Satan is like a roaring lion looking for prey, we must be watchful, on guard, and fully aware God will take care of us against him.
0 comments:
Post a Comment