Purchased For an Eternal Purpose – Beka Burch

 

Please read 1 Peter 1:17-25 then dive into this text with me!

We have been born again to a LIVING HOPE – an abundant life in and through the precious son of God! We can joyfully walk through testings & trials, knowing that our faith is being made precious and genuine, like beautiful gold! We are called to prepare our minds & fix our hope to the glorious day where the grace of Jesus will complete us!

So, as we close out 1 Peter 1, I want to lay out a little scenario that we all might be able to relate to:

Have you ever purchased something that you thought would be “life-changing?”… Let’s say by our first-world standards. For example, think of “that new dishwasher” that would change the way you washed dishes or “that new pair of headphones” you were saving up for to take your workout to the next level. You know “that purchase.” We have all had one… Maybe multiple. So, you saved your money for a long time, researched, read reviews, took so much time into figuring out where and when to purchase it, and then finally made the jump! You bought it. You were so excited. Remember that feeling? How happy you were. The joy that came to your heart when you took it home and made it yours. It’s just a FUN day! But have you ever made a purchase like this and then it did not live up to what it was intended and purchased to do? Maybe it was broken, needed constant fixing, or just not what you thought it was going to be… I’ve had that happen — it’s so sad… Because what I purchased didn’t live up to its intended purpose.

Now, let’s jump back to Peter’s words. Here we are in verses 17-25, where Peter is encouraging the church to live a holy life in Jesus…

It’s here that He spends a few moments relaying the BEAUTY of being purchased by the precious, spotless lamb — the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And he stresses that we were ransomed by the God of the universe! WOW. Do we really understand what that means? We were taken from the very grips of hell by GOD HIMSELF. Peter specifically says that we were not ransomed with futile things like silver or gold (like in our scenario above) but by this Spotless Lamb.

So, if we know this…. I mean REALLY KNOW THIS… What should it cause us to do? It should cause us to rejoice, to run, to jump, to dance, to shout, to live holy, to love others, and to live out what He has made us to be. In short:

Knowing who we have been purchased by should cause us to live out our intended purpose.

And what is that purpose? Peter talks about it here in this very chapter!
We are called to live a holy, godly, spirit-filled life that is overflowing with the love of Christ.
So, as this retreat comes to a close and we head back to our routines of 9-5 schedules, stay-at- home mom chores, and constant “LIFE,” I want to encourage you to remember this…

He has purchased YOU for this purpose. Not to simply to warm a pew, say an occasional prayer, or escape hell. It is for you to live out a radically changed life led by the Holy Spirit.

Now, I know what you might be thinking. “Oh gosh, that sounds nice, but in reality, it’s really hard! Living a holy life? Constantly pouring out love to my brothers and sisters? Sounds so difficult! I don’t think I can do that!”

And I would tell you this — you’re right. It is hard. And to be frank — YOU can’t do it. YOU will fail. YOU will get frustrated with yourself. YOU will want to quit. YOU will not be able to live out your intended purpose on your own.

But the beauty of this gospel comes at the end of the chapter! “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.” The grass that falls & fails is US! But the Word of the Lord that remains forever and is able to complete the intended purpose inside of us is JESUS!

Where we would have gotten frustrated, upset, or saddened by our broken vacuum or not-as- good-as-we-thought headphones, Jesus knew that we were broken even before He purchased us and works on us like a master mechanic. We would never do that. That’s what makes Him so beautiful. He knows our weaknesses and is able to perfect His strength & power through them. In the moments where we would have thrown out the dishwasher to replace it with a new one that would better fulfill the purpose it was intended for, Jesus is able to completely fulfill every purpose He calls his imperfect children to. If our faith and hope rest in Him and we are pursuing a life of holiness and love, He will constantly mold us from a “broken dishwasher” into His image.

And what better person to write these very words than Peter himself? The rebuker of Jesus, the one who actually was called “satan” by the Son of God, the crass, strong-willed fishermen that denied his Rabbi of three years! Peter came to the realization, through the knowledge by the Holy Spirit, that we do wither, we do fail and we cannot live out this purpose-filled life that Christ calls us to alone. We can’t prepare our minds, fix our hope, endure trials, live a holy life, and love others without Him.

BUT WITH HIM!

With his strength, with the Word that endures forever, we CAN live out this radical life that he has purchased us for.

All we need to do is prepare our minds, fix our hope & rely on Him.
And the master mechanic will do the rest.
He will take His broken purchases, mold them, and use them to live holy lives, filled with His love – a true testimony to the world around us.

“And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” 1 Peter 1:25

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