It took Balfour Beatty 11 years to finish cleaning and painting the Forth Rail Bridge – sandblasting and using the latest epoxy-resin paint – 240,000 litres! Now it looks better than new, and the bridge’s cleaning and painting reputation (being a never-ending task), has gone forever. Or has it? Yes, it’s the latest super-hi-tech epoxy-resin paint, but it will only last for 40 years, and then the bridge will need to be cleaned and painted all over again.
Through Peter’s letter, chapter 1 verse 22 to chapter 2 verse 3, I’m going to talk about a different type of cleaning. I’m going to talk about how God’s word cleans us (a clean that lasts forever), how it helps us grow, and how we should act accordingly.
God’s word cleans completely, lasts forever, and helps us grow
Believing and obeying the Bible, God’s word, cleans and purifies us. It makes us Christians. We’re believing that Jesus died a terrible death, a terrible death, a terrible punishment that we deserved. His death, his punishment, wiped the slate clean for us. It took away our sins, and was a one-off act – a one-off clean. It’s not something that needs to be repeated.
Peter writes his letter to encourage fellow Christians. They’re being picked on. They’re being persecuted and they’re suffering. Their earthly life is hard.
They must stand firm though, and remain faithful because they’re clean in God’s eyes, and have an eternal life in heaven to look forward to.
Later in Peter’s letter, chapter 3 verse 13, he writes “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God …””. “once for sins”, “once” – this isn’t a super hi-tech epoxy resin that only lasts for 40 years. It’s a one-off clean, a deep clean that purifies our souls.
Today, we’re working through chapter 1 verse 22 to chapter 2 verse 3.
Look at chapter 1 verse 22. Peter writes, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”
He starts by writing “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth …” Believing and obeying God’s word, the truth, purifies our souls. It deep-cleans us forever.
I’m a cheapskate. If I’m too lazy to clean my car, I always go for the cheap third-party option. Not the ‘full polish and wax’, not the ‘mini valet’, not the ‘inside and out’, just the ‘outside’ please.
The firm, Gurchan, is Britain’s most expensive car-washing service. (So you won’t find me there!) Gurchan’s top of the range deep-clean costs £7,200, and Gurchan claims a car will only need one such clean in its lifetime.
But that’s not the case, is it? As soon as you drive the car away, it starts to get dirty.
Cleansing through God’s word is deep, and lasts forever.
God’s word cleans completely.
We’ve been given a new start through Jesus’s death. We’ve been “born again”. We’ve been cleaned so completely that it’s like starting life again. A lifetime of sin, a lifetime of malice, hypocrisy, envy, slander, and a lifetime of constantly ignoring and forgetting God has disappeared. That burden isn’t hanging over us anymore.
And through Jesus’s resurrection (showing that Jesus has power over death), we know that we will have life after death too. Death isn’t the end for us.
Look at the next verse, verse 23, “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;”
We’ve been “born again”. We’ve been given a fresh start to live a joyful Christian life, knowing that we’ll have an eternal life in heaven. Unlike the car driving out of Gurchan’s car wash though, we aren’t getting dirty again. As far as God’s concerned, Jesus’s death is a one-off clean. This new birth is from an imperishable seed, a seed that will last forever. It’s a birth into an eternal life, so it’s never going to perish. When we stand in front of God and Jesus on the day of judgement, we will still be clean. Once we believe and obey the word of God (knowing that Jesus died for us and rose again), we get that last-forever clean and the knowledge that we have an eternal life in heaven.
Peter’s encouraging his fellow Christians to stand firm because however they’re picked on and persecuted, their new lives as Christians and their eternal lives in heaven cannot be taken away from them.
8 years ago I had a bicycle accident. It was silly really. I caught some wet leaves turning off a main road. I hit the ground still clipped to my bicycle. When I woke up I was surrounded by friends and paramedics. One of my friends said to a paramedic, “this is Clive, his wife is 8 months pregnant”. I said “Is she?”. I couldn’t remember. I had amnesia. When Elaine got pregnant 8 months previously, I was the first to the pregnancy test kit, and I was overjoyed to see it positive. That was a wonderful feeling, and I went through it all again when my memory came back.
Well we’re born again. We haven’t just gone back 8 months. We’re starting again, living a joyful Christian life. It’s an even better feeling than learning about a pregnancy all over again.
It’s fantastic, knowing that we’re forever clean in the eyes of God and that we’ve been given a new birth and a fresh start. Every day we can wake up with our hearts full of joy knowing that we have a guaranteed future in heaven.
God’s word cleans completely, and it’s living.
The Bible’s an important book. Actually, it’s more than that. It’s the word of God. “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16). God speaks to us when we read his word, when we read the Bible. God is speaking to us today as we go through 1 Peter. And the word of God, the Bible, is “living”. It’s as relevant today as it was 2000 years ago.
Look at verse 23, “since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;”
“The living and abiding word of God”. God’s word is living (it’s relevant to us today), and God’s word is abiding (it won’t change).
Even in this letter from Peter, verses 24 and 25, Peter quotes from the Old Testament book of Isaiah (a book that was written 800 years earlier). So even something 800 years old was still relevant to the Christians Peter was writing to. God’s word is living.
My modern car comes with a 294-page instruction book covering everything from changing gears to changing wheels. There’s a separate 48-page instruction book just for the radio. But, the car’s instruction book won’t be relevant for cars in 80 years time, let alone 800 years time. And 80 years ago, a car’s accelerator pedal wasn’t even on the right, it was in the middle!
God’s word is living. It will still be relevant in 80 years time and 800 years time. And it won’t change.
Read it. Read God’s word. God speaks to us through the Bible. It’s relevant to our lives today, and our lives tomorrow.
God’s word cleans completely and lasts forever.
It’s not a snapchat message. It doesn’t disappear once you’ve read it. It lasts forever.
Let’s look at those 2 verses Peter quotes from Isaiah, verses 24 and 25. “for ‘all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’”
Peter writes his letter to encourage fellow Christians. They’re being picked on. They’re being persecuted and they’re suffering. Their earthly life is hard.
They must stand firm though, and remain faithful because everything on earth is transient. God’s word, its power, and its saving message is forever.
It doesn’t matter what earthly things they have and don’t have, or what earthly suffering and persecution they’re going through, it’s all transient. It will all wither and fall. God’s word will last forever, and so will their eternal life in heaven.
Back in 1947, Maurice Wilks designed the Land Rover, a go-anywhere, do-anything, off-roading car. Only available in military surplus aircraft cockpit paint (ie green), its body was made of aluminium and it was designed to last forever. Sadly, its chassis was made of steel, so it rusted, withered and fell.
Everything around us is transient. Nothing, nothing, in this world will last forever.
God’s word will last forever. Just like God, his word is eternal, and it will never lose its power. It will never wither and fall. The message of salvation will always be there – Jesus took our punishment so that we can be forgiven, and Jesus rose from the dead so that we can too.
So, centre your life around God’s word – a salvation message that will last forever. Be driven by the forever message of forgiveness through Jesus’s death, and eternal life in heaven through Jesus’s resurrection.
God’s word cleans completely, lasts forever, and helps us grow.
God’s word is good news.
Look at verse 25. “’but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”
God’s word is good news.
God made us to be with him, but our sins (like malice, hypocrisy, envy, and slander) keep us apart from God. We can’t get rid of these sins, get clean, through good deeds. We can only get clean by trusting and believing in Jesus, recognising that Jesus died and rose again and paid the price for our sins.
The moment we trust and believe in Jesus, trust and obey God’s word, we have eternal life and life with Jesus forever. It’s good news.
Peter is reminding his fellow Christians that’s God’s word is good news.
Peter’s fellow Christians are in exile and they face opposition. They’re being picked on. They’re being persecuted and they’re suffering. Their earthly life is hard.
They must stand firm though, and remain faithful because God’s word is good news for them. They have eternal life and life with Jesus forever.
“I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” How many times have you heard that? Which would you want first? The bad news, so you can offset it with the good news? Or the good news, so the euphoria of the good will water down the impact of the bad?
We all like to get good news.
But, like Peter’s fellow Christians, we’re in exile and face opposition. We’re living in a world that doesn’t want to hear the Christian message – a world that isn’t interested in the best good news.
If you’re here today and you’ve put your trust in Jesus, brilliant, share the good news with others.
If you’re here today and you haven’t yet put your trust in Jesus, I urge you to spend time reading God’s word. Check out our Christianity Explored Course. It will take you through Mark’s gospel, an eyewitness account of Jesus’s life. Or read God’s word with a Christian friend.
God’s word cleans completely, lasts forever, and helps us grow
God’s word is spiritual milk that helps us grow. We need to build our lives on a foundation of God’s word. To grow as Christians, we need to read God’s word wherever and whenever we can. We need to long for God’s word so that we continue to grow in faith.
Look at Chapter 2 verse 2, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation”.
Studying God’s word should not be a labour, but a delight. Back in May, through our growth groups we looked at Psalm 1. Verses 1 and 2 say “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
The blessed man’s delight is in the law. His delight is in God’s word.
I thought my daughter, Kate, had a lot of Lego. But no. Kyle Ugone, from America, holds the world record for the most completed Lego sets in a private collection – 1,251! He’s obsessed with Lego. He eats, drinks, and sleeps Lego. The rooms in his house look like a Lego theme park. Every day when he gets up, he thinks Lego.
We need to be like that with God’s word. We need to eat, drink and sleep God’s word. Every day when we get up, we need to think God’s word.
We need to long for God’s word. And the more we read and study God’s word, the more we’ll grow as Christians.
If you’re here today, and you haven’t really read the Bible. Please read it. Taste it. Peter says if we taste it we’ll want more. Chapter 2 verse 3, “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good”.
So, God’s word cleans completely, lasts forever, and helps us grow. Knowing this, we should act accordingly – love each other sincerely, stand firm, and grow.
Love each other sincerely.
God’s word is wonderful news! Purification of our souls. Deep-cleaning. Eternal life in Heaven. So be joyful, and act accordingly. Love each other, fellow Christians, genuinely and sincerely.
Look again at verse 22. “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”
Peter’s saying we need to work harder at loving each other – a brotherly, Christian love. A love that’s counter-intuitive to today’s culture. What does that love look like?
Well Peter does give us some practical tips, which we’ll look at in a moment. But our model for love should be Jesus. Jesus said “just as I have loved you, you are also to love one another”.
Back in 1970, Kim Casali started the Daily Mail cartoon “Love is …”. Always with just a man and a woman and a caption that started “Love is …”. The most popular and famous was “Love is … saying you’re sorry.” I used to read these every day for tips. Some helped, some didn’t. I should have ignored the one that said “Love is … cleaning up after him again!”
Forget Kim Casali’s cartoons. Peter tells us exactly what sincere brotherly love is.
Chapter 2 verse 1, “So put away all malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.”
Have you been secretly glad it didn’t work out for someone? Maybe sometimes you haven’t given all the information. Maybe you’ve exaggerated, claimed to be better than you really are. Perhaps you’ve secretly wanted a job or a car or a holiday or free time like your friend. Maybe you sometimes go along with the gossip.
Put away all malice and deceit and hypocrisy and envy and slander. We need to get rid of the things that kill brotherly love.
Look around you. Look around at your fellow Christians – your brothers. Are we really loving each other sincerely?
We should love each other from a pure heart.
Extend an unconditional hand of friendship. Love when not loved back. Give without getting. Look for what’s best in others.
Chapter 1 verse 22, “love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”
Unconditional friendship doesn’t fit with today’s culture. Everyone wants to know what’s in it for them. Scan the Internet and you’ll find loads of organisations selling themselves by telling potential customers and employees what’s in it for them. There are songs with “what’s in it for me?” lyrics, and personal development, leadership and positivity sites and blogs all with “what’s in it for me?” headlines.
Peter encourages his fellow Christians to love each other sincerely, and love each other from a pure heart. They should do this because they’ve been cleaned through God’s word, and God’s word is good news.
For the 2012 Olympics there was a huge recruitment drive for volunteers, Games Makers. The application process started with an on-line form, and one of the questions was, “as a volunteer, would you like to get free entry and tickets to events?”. If you answered “yes” to this question, the application process terminated with a friendly message explaining that volunteering was not a way to get free tickets.
Our brotherly love for each other should be from a pure heart. An unconditional hand of friendship. Loving when not loved back. Giving without getting. Looking for what’s best in others.
In Paul’s final greeting to his fellow Christians, chapter 5 verse 12, he says “this is the true grace of God, stand firm in it.”
What a gift! What good news.
God’s word cleans completely, lasts forever, and helps us grow
So act accordingly – love each other sincerely, stand firm, and grow.
Let’s pray …
Heavenly Father, thank you for the good news. Help us to delight in that good news, and meditate day and night on your word. Help us to share that good news. And, help us to stand firm and love each other unconditionally, loving each other when not loved back, giving without getting, and looking for what’s best in others. In your name, Amen.
