God's Word for Me Today
Friday, September 14, 2001
Focus: Our Mission: Sharing the New Life of Jesus Christ
A note about online study
Introduction to God's Word for Me Today
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for Jesus! He is the one through whom I have come to know You. He is the one who have give me new life! May I honor Him this day in all my words and actions. Give me the power of Your Holy Spirit to be a faithful follower of Jesus. As I read Your Word show me something that will draw me closer to You. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God's Word for Me Today:1 Peter 1:21-25
21Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And because God raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory, your faith and hope can be placed confidently in God. 22Now you can have sincere love for each other as brothers and sisters because you were cleansed from your sins when you accepted the truth of the Good News. So see to it that you really do love each other intensely with all your hearts.
23For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24As the prophet says,
“People are like grass that dies away; their beauty fades as quickly as the beauty of wildflowers. The grass withers, and the flowers fall away. 25But the word of the Lord will last forever.”
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
Questions for Reflection
What is the greatest gift your mother and father ever gave you?
What does faith mean to you?
Questions for Exploration
Why can we be confident that Jesus Christ is the means by which we come to God? (1:21)
What has Jesus done for us that allows us to love one another as brothers and sisters? (1:22)
How are we to love one another? (1:22)
What is the difference between the new life we received from God and the physical life we received from our earthly parents? (1:23) KEY VERSE
Questions for Understanding
What is the connection between the new life Jesus has given us and the way we treat one another?
What does it mean to love other Christians “intensely with all our hearts”? What does that look like in daily life?
What is the connection between Peter’s statement in verse 23, and the Biblical quote from Isaiah 40:6-8, which is quoted in verse 24?
Questions for Application
List two ways you will show your trust for God as you go about your day today.
Think of two or three Christians (they could be family members!) and then determine how you will love them intensely with all your heart today.
Think about your parents. Consider one way they have helped you be born again, or to lead you in that direction. If they are living thank them for that blessing.
Think about the New Life!
Peter reminds all of us of the same reality that Jesus shared with Nicodemus. In order to receive the new life Jesus offers we must be “born again.” Peter points out a simple but profound truth—that life that our parents gave us is physical. One day that life will end. The new life we receive from Jesus through our “rebirth” is eternal—it will last forever. Mr. Earl McRoberts wears a button to church every Sunday. I don’t know whether you’ve seen it. It reads Born Once-Die Twice. Born Twice-Die Once. That eight-word message sums up the absolute necessity of being born again. When we receive the new life Jesus offers, when we’re born again (born twice), we’re assured that we will only die once—physically. (And we may not even have to do that if Jesus returns in our lifetimes!) But if we never receive the second birth—the new life that Jesus died to give us—then we will die physically, and spiritually. We will be separated from God for eternity.
A lot of folks don’t understand how a loving God could send good people to hell for eternity. I don’t understand that either. The Scriptures we’ve read this week make it clear, though, that until we’ve been born again, none of us are good! We may be good when we compare ourselves to others, but God compares us to the standard of perfection, a standard against which none of us can stand. Our old nature is sinful. Our “flesh” is fallen. That’s what we’ve seen time and again in our daily Scriptures this week. That’s the bad news. God has to judge us for our sin, because God is holy. But bad news doesn’t have to be the final news!
The Good News of Jesus Christ is that we CAN be born again, that we’re offered a new life at no cost—so anyone may receive it. If you’ve never received the new life of Jesus, or if you want to help someone you love to receive it, then ASK.
Here’s a prayer that you may say, or share with a friend who has never received the new life of Jesus, and thus be born again, to a new and eternal life! Heavenly Father, I confess that I am a sinner. I haven’t loved you or served you as my Lord. Forgive me, God. I accept the free gift of a new life bought by Jesus death on the cross and the shedding of His blood for me. I ask you to fill me with Your Holy Spirit and empower me to live the new life with joy and gratitude today and every day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
If you prayed this prayer sincerely, you have now been born twice! Praise God! For more details on how to live the new life keep reading God’s Word for Me Today—every day!
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