“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (I Peter 1:8-9).
Our devotion to Jesus should be so precious to us! Unlike Peter, who had personally seen Jesus, we did not witness Christ’s transfiguration. The vast majority of believers who read through Peter’s account have never seen Christ, yet still by God’s grace, He opened our eyes to love Christ, have faith in Christ, and rejoice in Christ. Peter even marveled at this. This could also be cross-referenced to Jesus’ word to Thomas in John 20:29. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. We should be immensely thankful to our heavenly Father for opening our eyes to the truth of the Gospel even though we lived thousands of years after Jesus’s journey on earth. It is truly through grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone that we are able to experience the inexpressible joy Peter was able to taste through following his Rabbi, personal Savior, and Lord on earth.
Peter also showed us that our faith and joy in Christ are interconnected with our love for Christ. The soul that loves Christ cannot help but believe in Him, and the soul that believes cannot help but love Christ. When our heart loves Christ, His commandments are not burdensome (I John 5:3). His commandments are reasonable, and it’s easy for us to love Christ because we strive to be holy as our God in Heaven is holy (I Peter 1:16). When we fill our thoughts with Scripture, we come to understand Christ’s truth, nature, and character more deeply; as a result, our ability to love Christ also increases. God gives us a new heart to love our Lord with all our heart, all our soul, and all our might (Deut 6:5). Even when times are hard, Scripture shows us that God will not only give us the ability to love Him, but also to believe in Him and suffer for Him (Philippians 1:29). As promised in Scripture, God is faithful, and He will give us the strength to endure these trials if we look to Christ (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
As we continue to trust and love Christ, our heart should naturally rejoice!
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus ( I Thessalonians 5:16-18)
We should rejoice in Christ at all times — when life is hard or when life goes smoothly. We should remind ourselves daily of the Gospel. We should rejoice and praise our Heavenly Father for giving us Christ who suffered a human death on earth by lowering his divine position for us sinners. We should be thankful to God for giving us salvation, the outcome of our love, faith, and suffering in Christ. Without Christ, our life is meaningless. Without Christ, we would still be enslaved to sin and be in eternal enmity with our Heavenly Father. So, allow our devotion to Christ be the priority of our life because He is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him! As we step in 2021, let us be drawn to Christ with full confidence (Heb 4:16)! By fixing our eyes upon Jesus because we love Jesus more than anything in the world, we should actively fight sin, be a light in the world to this crooked generation (Philippians 2:15), but not be of this world, engaging in its distractions. We can love and trust Christ more by always searching truth in Scripture, actively learning about His character and nature. We can confidently go to Christ for our burdens in prayer, knowing that He deals gently with sinners because He has a gentle and lowly heart (Matthew 11:28). May we all make our devotion to Christ so precious this year that our time on earth may bring our God the most glory!
12.11.2020 Fall 2020 Week Ten
Shao Wang
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