Living A Normal, Victorious Christian Life

As Christians, we face trials and temptations every day.

These trials and temptations may bring with them varied and different struggles.

We may be struggling with personal matters

What do I do in this situation?

How do I overcome this predicament?

We may be struggling with personal feelings

I feel depressed

I feel frustrated

I feel a failure

I feel used

I feel no one listens to me

We may be struggling with personal finances

It’s getting harder and harder to live comfortably these days

The bills just keep coming in…how am I going to pay them?

We may be struggling with personal hurts

I’m sick of people taking me for granted

I’m sick of people saying nasty things about me

No one cares about me…and there is no one to help me

We may be struggling with personal busyness

Life is so busy….why am I so busy?

I don’t seem to have time for this or that

I wish the world would just stop so that I can catch my breath

What are you struggling with this morning? What are your struggles in life?

When I am struggling with different things, I often think of Joseph. Joseph faced many trials and temptations in his life but he faced them with a godly viewpoint (Gen 45:4ff) and that made a difference to his attitude and countenance.

Generally speaking, life is about struggles, trials, and temptations.

We could say it is a normal part of life. As Christians, we should not be surprised by these

struggles because they are a normal part of our Christian life.

How can we face these struggles, these trials, these temptations and still live a normal, victorious Christian life?

I believe the apostle Peter gave us the answer in this passage that was read this morning.

In fact, he gave us four keys to open the door to a normal, victorious Christian life.

The first key to a normal, victorious Christian life involves…

1. Our ongoing fellowship with Jesus Christ (2:4a)

Look at the beginning of verse 4, “Coming to Him…”

Coming to Him speaks of our ongoing fellowship with Jesus Christ.

These three words are very special and significant for the Christian. Sometimes, we read over them and fail to see the fullness of what Peter is saying here.

Why should we come to Jesus? Why should we have ongoing fellowship with Christ?

A. He is the living stone—He is the giver of life (2:4b)

Look at the beginning of verse 4 again, “Coming to Him, as to a living stone…”

There are two aspect of coming to Jesus….

The first aspect involves coming to Jesus for salvation

Remember the words of Jesus, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”

(Matthew 11:28-30).

We come to Jesus for salvation for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

When we come to Jesus for salvation, Peter says in 1:23 we are born again not of corruptible seen but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”

Yes, we come to Jesus for salvation but also…

We come to Jesus for life for our daily Christian walk.

Coming to Him introduces a repetitive approach to Jesus. Keep on coming to Him.

These three words are telling us to keep going back to the same source that brought us life in the first place.

As the apostle Paul said, “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him…” (Colossians 2:6).

In other words, keep coming to Him. He is the source of your Christian life. After all, He is the giver of life.

B. He is the chosen stone [one] – precious to God (2:4c)

Look at the end of verse 4, “but chosen by God and precious.”

Remember Peter previously said in 1:20, “He [Christ] indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in the last times for you [for me].”

God chose Jesus Christ to be the vehicle through whom salvation would come but also Jesus Christ is the person through whom we live our daily Christian life.

Jesus is the chosen one—precious to God. Therefore, we need to come to Him.

C. We belong to the household of God (2:5a)

Look at the beginning of verse 5, “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house…”

We belong to the household of God. We belong to God’s family. Family is special. It’s place of security, a place of protection, a place where we can find sanctuary.