Christ Has the Final Word and Victory

Krisdosi gu Badgani Wyr]in Q0sku

1 Peter 3:13-22

My heart suffers with people of Haiti. There are no words to describe the devastation caused by the earthquake. Besides an estimate of 200,000 deaths, the survivors are living in an unbearable situation. Water, food, basic necessitates are rare. Those who were hurt by the earthquake do not have access to hospitals or medical care. The infrastructure of the cities is gone. People are suffering. An unwise preacher blamed the Haitian people for the disaster because they worship false gods, or demons. Many preachers and I disagree with him. It is not wise to blame anyone for such disasters.

20 years ago when the earthquake struck Armenia, many blamed God. Earthquakes are going to happen. We live in a fallen (imperfect) world where the earth under our feet is going to move. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. Let us stop blaming this or that for earthquakes.

In these tragic days, people are not stopping to see hope and to live or to bring life to the hurting people. For example, this couple from Iowa who were in the process of adopting a child from Haiti did everything to locate the child, go bring her and 4 others with her. When I was watching a report, I saw a hospital called Albert Schweitzer filled with countless number of patients. The reporter asked one of the doctors, “Where do you get you hope?” He answered, “It is inside me.”

I gave this entire introduction, so that I can explain to you our passage today. A tough one to understand.

Let me remind you where we are.

Peter wrote this letter to the First Century church that was suffering and persecuted. Nero, the Roman emperor was a lunatic. The conditions under which the Christians were living were very hard. Peter encouraged them to not give up their faith. In their suffering Peter gave practical instructions about their daily life. Endurance with government, endurance at home (wives/husbands), endurance in the work places (slaves) even if the environment is hostile, standing firm and not giving up the faith for the sake of witnessing Christ were some of the topics Peter touched on.

We move on to the next passage. Basically, the main theme of suffering repeats. Peter encourages the church to not give up. The victory is in the hands of God. Christ has the FINAL WORD.

We are protected

“Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?”

Peter is saying no one can touch you. You are protected by God.

Peter quoted from Psalm 34: “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (vs 12).

On the other hand, we know that people can harm us. People can intimidate us. People can make fun of our faith. These days, if people declare their faith in the media, it becomes an issue for being called narrow- minded. They think they can succeed. Perhaps they can harm our earthly bodies, yet they cannot harm our soul and our testimony.

Jesus said: “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)

This does not mean that people will not persecute us, or intimidate us.

The question then is how do we face these intimidations?

We will continue in English.