A Sustaining Inheritance

Peter Neilson November 22, 2019 0 3

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1 Peter 1: 3-9 (NIV)

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you…' (verses 3,4)

Richard Rohr, the Franciscan author, writes that we live in the “force-field of resurrection”. If that is so, then we can face every setback with resurrection resilience. The dead-ends of disappointment, failure or brokenness, are never the end they seem, but the painful place of birth into something yet to be imagined. Even death itself, is not the end, but the threshold of heaven.

Beyond, always beyond.
When doors close and relationships fail,
When debt engulfs us and dark days threaten,
When temptations ambush us and old habits cling fast,
Lord Jesus, You offer us a new beginning,
Pointing beyond Your Cross to Your empty tomb,
Beyond, always beyond.

Beyond, always beyond.
When sickness invades body and mind
When the grey mists of depression shut out the sun
When grief exhausts us and shuts us down,
Lord Jesus, You promise us a new kind of trusting,
Tested in the fire, stripped of old certainties,
Beyond, always beyond.

Beyond, always beyond.
When news headlines mock our faith,
When world events thwart your justice,
When powers exalt themselves above You,
Lord Jesus, You lift our eyes of faith 
Beyond what we see to rejoice in the great unseen.
Beyond, always beyond. AMEN.