SERIES
Sojourn: Toward an Enduring City
2016-09-11T08:00:00-05:00
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
Why would an ordinary fisherman leave the stability and familiarity of his business to follow an itinerant preacher? What would lead a monotheistic Jew to look at Jesus and say, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”? How could a man who denied Jesus preach with courage in the midst of persecution? And what would lead a man to choose being crucified upside down (according to tradition) because he felt unworthy to share the same death as his master? These questions paint a picture of Peter’s sojourn. The answer to each? An encounter with Jesus. Like Peter, we could produce any number of reasons for being hesitant about a journey with Jesus. The risk. The discomfort. The lack of control. But when Jesus opens our eyes to see Him for who He is, everything begins to change. All the great things that once defined us suddenly seem fragile compared to being a child of God. All our conceptions of home start to pale in comparison to an eternal home in the unveiled presence of God.
An encounter with Jesus redefines our identity and reshapes our sense of home. We trade what seems like a stable life in the world for what appears to be an unstable life as a sojourner. Was Peter crazy to follow Jesus? Are we? The journey that seems so uncertain is actually the most secure place for the people of God. Sojourner is only a temporary identity, for we are on our way to an enduring city whose designer and builder is God. The journey is full of struggle, but it won’t last forever. Until it ends, we can rest securely in our permanent identity won for us by Jesus Christ. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. We no longer have to define ourselves. The journey of Jesus Christ to love us and give His life for us defines us. And we no longer have to live for ourselves. We live to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.
Our theme, “Sojourn: Toward An Enduring City,” will focus on Peter, his life and his letter (1 Peter). But our ultimate focus is not Peter, but Jesus Christ. An encounter with Jesus led Peter to trade a life at home with family and fish for a life with Jesus as a sojourner. The Lord may not call us to leave our “family and fish”, but how might He reshape our identity and our sense of home? Have we embraced our temporary identity as sojourners and exiles? Have we embraced our permanent identity as the people of God? Would you pray that the Lord would unite us and transform us as we encounter Jesus in His Word and sojourn together?