Easter 2 Sermon #V0132R

1 Peter 1:3-9 Rev. Christopher D. White

THE GENUINE JOY OF EASTER

I. The joy of inheritance in Christ
II. The joy of victory in temptation
III. The joy of eternal glory in heaven

Did you ever see those commercials on television a couple of years ago that had
the slogan, “A diamond is forever”? Those were the commercials where the husband
would buy his wife a new diamond ring or a stunning diamond necklace, and the wife
was so stunned by the beauty of the jewelry that she couldn’t help but throw her arms
around her husband and plant a giant kiss on him, as if to say, “Now, everything is
perfect!”
Lots of people saw those commercials and bought into the overall philosophy that
they could save their marriages or make everything in their marriages and lives perfect
simply by purchasing the affection of their spouse, by buying and presenting their spouse
with a sparkled charm that they could wear as a token of love and appreciation. But is
that reality? Does that really happen? Can anyone make their marriages perfect simply
through some article of jewelry, no matter how expensive? The reality is that the joy that
comes from receiving a stunning piece of jewelry is a joy that fades very quickly into
non-existence after one big fight. How many of us have received gifts like that and then
a year later looked at that gift and said, “Yup, everything is still perfect!”
The kind of joy that the media portrays in commercials and dramas is really a
temporary and transitory kind of joy that fades away when trouble rears its ugly head.
But today, on the heels of our glorious celebration of the resurrection, God is going to tell
us about genuine joy, the kind of joy that won’t fade, but instead lasts to eternity, the joy
that has its foundation in Jesus Christ and the wonderful Easter message of his
resurrection. Today, you and I are encouraged to know the Genuine Joy of Easter: The
joy of having an inheritance in Jesus Christ, the joy of victory in the face of temptation,
and the joy of eternal glory in heaven.

I. The joy of inheritance in Christ

Our section begins with a promise, that through the resurrection of Jesus, we are
given a living hope of an eternal inheritance. Peter writes in verses 3 and 4, APraise 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 fadeCkept in heaven for you...@
For those of you who are married, take a look at your wedding rings. Are they as
shiny as they were when you received them on your wedding day? Are the diamonds or
the gold as brilliant as the first time you saw them? Even if you were to have your rings
cleaned by a professional, could they get them to shine as brightly as the time when they
were in the jewelry case? Of course not.
 But here in verse 4 of the first chapter of 1 Peter, we have described for us an
inheritance that can never fade, it will never lose its value, it will never lose its luster,
unlike our earthly possessions that do lose their value, like our cars get old and rusty, or
our food that spoils, or our jewelry that fades and loses its brilliance. The genuine and
lasting joy that comes from recognizing Jesus as Savior and his glorious resurrection by
faith is a joy that will last forever, because all who trust in Jesus as the atoning sacrifice
for their sins have a living hope knowing that Jesus conquered death, an enduring hope, a
sure hope of receiving an inheritance that is being guarded and held kept safe until it is
received.
That is an interesting way to thing about heaven, isn’t it? As an inheritance? That
description of heaven underscores the Biblical teaching of salvation by grace alone.
Heaven is not something that we can earn for ourselves. It is not something that we can
accomplish by purging the evil around us and abstaining from this or that, like the self-
righteous moralists that you might see or hear. When you are an heir, you receive
something for nothing. Because your family member died, you receive some wealth that
they acquired in their life. You don=t do anything to get it, it’s just a gift. So it is with the
inheritance that our Lord Jesus gives to us through his death and resurrection, it’s a gift!
Ephesians 2:8,9, AFor it is by grace you have been saved, through faithCand this not
from yourselves, it is the gift of GodC not by works, so that no one can boast.@
As heirs of the promise, we receive something for nothing. As our brother in the
flesh, Jesus earned perfection. When he died, he gave to us what he earned in his life.
We have done absolutely nothing to receive that inheritance. God has given the crown of
life to us as a free gift, free of the obligation of the law, because Christ already earned
that wealth for us. And that crown will never lose it=s brilliance. It will never lose it=s
luster. It will always shine with the brightness of perfection that no earthly article can
match.

II. The joy of victory in temptation

But we don’t have to wait until eternity in order to have genuine joy, because the
resurrection of Jesus, which grants us an eternal inheritance, also gives us daily victories in
temptation, victory over suffering, grief and despair. Peter writes in verses 5 through 7,
A...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. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little
while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your
faithCof greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fireCmay be
proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.@
If you were to look at your rings once again, perhaps there are some of you who
would be able to tell what the size of the stone is in your ring, the type of gold or silver or
platinum in your ring, whether it is 10 karat or 14 karat or something like that. But do
you know how jewelry is tested to be genuine? Nowadays, jewelers have microscopes
and different procedures where we can find out. But in Biblical times, silver and gold
were proven genuine by a specific test – the test of fire.
Peter here tells us that the Christian’s faith, much like silver or gold, is also tested
by fire, by “all kinds of trials.” As Christians, we shine with the brilliance of our
resurrected Lord, to whom we are connected through faith. We shine gloriously. But I’ll
bet that you don=t feel that way all the time. I bet that you don=t feel like you=re shining in
the eyes of God every minute of your lives. I bet you don=t feel brilliant when you
inspect your spiritual life. I bet you don’t feel brilliant when, in the heat of moment,
facing all kinds of adversity, you curse the name of God rather than ask his blessing and
guidance. In fact, if we’re being honest, we don’t have to dig into our lives very far at all
to be reminded how weak and selfish and troubled we really are, not only because of our
own sins against God, but because of the evil that surrounds us that causes us daily
painful suffering.
But the Lord comes to us in his Word and shares a message of comfort and
concern when he says, Aand call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you
will honor me.@ On the days and in the moments when our faith is challenged the most,
when the message of the resurrection is so far from our thoughts, when Easter’s victory
seems to have lost its luster and shine in our lives, we are directed by our God to turn to
him in prayer and ask him for help, and ask him for guidance and strength.
Whether our trial by fire is familial, financial, physical, whatever it may be, we
know by faith that our God will use all things, even the most challenging battles for our
benefit, to refine us in our faith, and to cause us to lean all of our troubles on him, so that
in the end, when it is time to receive our inheritance which our Lord won for us, our faith,
which guarantees the reception of that inheritance, will be proven genuine. James 1:3
says, A...you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.@ When we, as
believers are tested by fire, God uses that fire to drive us back to himself through prayer
and meditation on his Word in order to bless us with genuine joy, even in the face of
suffering...the joy that is ours through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

III. The joy of glory in heaven

And that’s where Peter leaves us today, with the lasting and genuine joy of the
resurrection, the joy of eternal glory in heaven. “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 goal of your faith, the
salvation of your souls.”
In these last verses of our text, Peter sets up a cause and effect relationship
between faith and salvation. What joy do we have in the resurrection of Jesus throughout
the year? Even though we haven’t seen the resurrected Lord, we know that he is
risen…by faith. Even though we do not see him with our eyes right now, we know that
he is with us, blessing us with his abiding presence and loving care, and we know that by
faith. And even though our lives may be plagued with all kinds of suffering, that does
not mean that God has forgotten about us or doesn’t care about us, because, by faith, we
hold on to the promise of a brighter future, a future of eternal brilliance with Jesus.
In essence, Peter is explaining the purpose of faith – joy! And it’s not the kind of
transitory and temporary joy that one might get from receiving an expensive gift – it is
the kind of joy that we can come back to again and again, the joy of Easter, the joy of the
empty tomb, a solid declaration of victory that sustains us through life’s most difficult
days as we look forward to a joy that is unbroken and undiminished in heaven.
It’s funny whenever I hear the old commercial slogan, “A diamond is forever.”
It’s funny because whenever I look at my own wedding ring, given to me 7 ½ years ago,
it certainly doesn’t shine like it used to, it doesn’t have the same kind of luster and
brilliance as it did when it sat in the jewelry case in Chesaning, Michigan. But that’s
okay. You and I have been given a gift that is worth far more than any piece of jewelry,
worth far more than any amount of money or any acquired asset, a gift that shines more
brilliantly than the most brilliant gem in the world. We have the empty tomb. We have
genuine Easter joy – an “inexpressible joy” in the glory that Jesus won for us on the
cross, a glory which will shine like the sun in heaven, where finally we will be able to
say, “Yes, everything is perfect!” Amen.