Live For Eternity

Live For Eternity (1:13-21) -- Since We Have Such a Glorious Living Hope, Live For Eternity And Escape the Futility of the Human Condition

OVERVIEW:

a. LIVE IN HOPE BECAUSE OUR FOCUS MUST BE ON ETERNITY :13

b. LIVE IN HOLINESS BECAUSE THAT IS THE STANDARD FOR ETERNITY 14-16

c. LIVE IN FEAR BECAUSE ETERNITY MEANS ACCOUNTABILITY :17-21

INTRODUCTION:

I've never been much of an investor - never had the resources to dabble in the stock market - but I remember 1 important principle -- Diversify, Diversify, Diversify; Don't put all of your eggs in one basket

While we might not be big players in the stock market - we all are making important investment decisions every hour of every day - We are deciding how to spend our time -- how are we going to live our lives??

Peter gives us some important counsel - and it is not what we would expect from the financial experts - He tells us: Put all your eggs in 1 basket and LIVE FOR ETERNITY - "Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to at the revelation of Jesus Christ"

"Therefore" - Link to what has gone before we won't respond correctly unless we have understood the foundation Peter has laid in vs. 1-12

We have been sovereignly called by God into a priviledged position of being born into the family of God with the guaranteed future of:

1) a living hope, associated with the resurrection of Jesus Christ -- Death is not our Destiny --

we have been called to life

2) a protected eternal inheritance -- better than any inheritance this world could ever offer

3) a complete salvation -- not some partial deal where we still have the warts and blemishes of sin

The path to glory winds thru some troubling trials and intense suffering - but our faith is being refined and focused more and more on the person of Christ -- the object of our love and devotion and the source of our joy and rejoicing

Our priviledged position in this NT Church Age (where God has revealed these precious truths about our guaranteed future) is the envy of:

1)the OT Prophets -- who could only predict the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow

2) the NT Apostles -- who only dealt with isolated fragments of the entire jigsaw puzzle

3) the holy angels -- who have not experienced salvation and a personal relationship with the the indwelling Holy Spirit as we have

Let's think about what life would be like without the Living Hope as our focus; our Perspective; our Orientation --

Solomon in Ecclesiastes spells out the futility of the perspective of simply living under the sun -- without reference to eternity

(J. Sidlow Baxter) 10 Vanities that would frustrate us and condemn us to futility:

1) The vanity of human wisdom -- the wise and the foolish end up the same = in the grave - So what's the point??

2) The vanity of human labor -- The worker is no better off than the shirker in the end

3) The vanity of human purpose (cf. Management by Objective) -- Although man can plan all he wants, it will be God who actually brings about His purposes

4) The vanity of human competition -- You can strive to be #1 -- but the end result is envy rather than joy; people backstabbing you

5) The vanity of human greed -- You are never satisfied; the rich man builds his barns and stores his goods, but always wants a bigger barn -- elusive goal; you can never get enough

6) The vanity of human fame -- brief, uncertain, soon forgotten -- Who cares who Micky Mantle is today??

7) The vanity of entertainment -- Let's escape into a world of fun and entertainment -- only a temporary denial of the pain of reality

8) The vanity of human awards -- the bad are often honored; there is no justice

9) The vanity of human relationships -- How do others treat you?? Don't set your hopes on this or you will be disillusioned

10) The vanity of doing your best--- nobody more frustrated than a perfectionist -- We can't hit the target

How do we deal with our failures??

Nothing wrong with some of these -- but must be viewed from eternal perspective

Eccles. 3: 11 God has set eternity in the heart of every man so that we are restless until we find our rest and fulfillment in Him

The only way to escape the Futility of the Human Condition =

Since We Have Such a Glorious Living Hope, Live For Eternity

a. LIVE IN HOPE BECAUSE OUR FOCUS MUST BE ON ETERNITY :13

(1) Put All Our Eggs in One Basket = Eternity -- "fix your hope completely"