“your Great Inheritance” Series

Title: “Your Great Inheritance”

Big Idea: Through Christ, believers are heirs to a great eternal inheritance.

Text: 1 Peter 1:3-5

1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

NKJV

Introduction : Peter states a greeting from God the Father and Our Lord Jesus Christ this greeting identifies to us as Christians that his (Peter's) message is from God the Father and Our Lord Jesus and not just a letter from himself. This message is about a message of "Hope" to the church that is under persecution and has been scattered. Peter's message is a message of hope to all who face difficult times as a result of the dispersion (v.1) . and to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His (Peter's) use of the word "begotten" ("anagennasas" ) refers our regeneration, our new birth as a result of the resurrection of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is "the First-begotten of the dead" (Rev 1:5); we are "buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead" (Col 2:12). The Church, "which is his body" (Eph 1:23), died with him in his death, rose with him in his resurrection. Christians individually are baptized into his death, "that like as Christ was raised up from the dead. Regeneration without the resurrection would only produce dead works. It is only through the blood of Christ's which was shed that regeneration is possible.

Heb 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? NKJV

Peter that because of the resurrection we have a "living hope" and that is our inheritance. He identifies (1) Reasons for the inheritance, (2) Reality of the inheritance, (3) Recipients of the Inheritance (4) The Receipt of the Inheritance

I. The Reasons for the Inheritance (v.3)

1 Pet 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (v. 3)

a. In Eph 2:12 the Apostle Paul reminds the church at Corinth that without Christ there is no hope. Ephesians 2:12 "....having no hope and without God in the world. and if it were not for the sacrifice of Christ on the cross we would not have received the " unmerited favor of God (mercy).

Rom 11:30-31 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, NKJV

Jude 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. NKJV

b. Peter clearly declares the connection between God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father states "this is my beloved Son" (Matt 3:17). The love of God is demonstrated in His Son (Jesus Christ) (Rom 5:8). Peter clearly states that the inheritance we have is eternally secure and is and comes through Jesus Christ

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. NKJV

c. The phrase "living hope" is a direct connection to the "inheritance" that await us from Our Lord and living Savior. "I serve a living savior, He is in the world today" (He Lives)

Typically for a person to receive an inheritance the " testator " must died, on the contrary we have a "living hope" Jesus Christ our hope is only in Him and no other

Heb 9:16-17 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. NKJV

i. Without the "living hope" we would have no inheritance, without the resurrection we would have no hope and without hope we would be most miserable and still in our sins.

1 Cor 15:14-19 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up — if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. NKJV