Insights on James, 1 & 2 Peter by Charles R. Swindoll

Author:Charles R. Swindoll [Swindoll, Charles R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2014-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

It’s not comfortable to stand out in a world increasingly at odds with Christ and his followers. But stand out we must. If we’re going to fit into his holy temple, we need to nurture attitudes and actions that mark us as a royal priesthood, a chosen race, a holy nation, a unique people of God.

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OUR STRANGE LIFE (1 PETER 2:13–4:11)

I love the story of an American missionary couple that returned to Americas by ship after several decades of faithful service in Africa. On board with them was an important diplomat who received VIP treatment during the voyage while the missionary couple simply stood back and watched the fanfare. Upon arrival in New York City, a crowd and a band had gathered to receive the politician. And when he walked down the gangplank, music and loud applause erupted as his motorcade whisked him away.

Then, quietly, with no fanfare, no attention, no music, the missionary couple walked arm in arm down the gangplank, taking their first steps on American soil in over thirty years. After some silence, the husband turned to his wife and said, “Honey, it doesn’t seem right after all these years that we would have nobody to greet us, while that man got such a grand reception.”

The wife put her arms around her husband and gently reminded him, “But, honey, we’re not home yet.”

By faith [Abraham] lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (Heb. 11:9-10).

Because of his hope, driven by faith, Abraham, like countless Old Testament saints, lived in this world like a foreigner. Noah, a preacher of righteousness and recipient of God’s grace, didn’t fit in his world of constant wickedness (Heb. 11:7; 2 Pet. 2:5). Moses, too, lived the life of a sojourner and wanderer, never feeling at home in Egypt, in the land of Midian, or in the wilderness of Sinai. In fact, Moses named his first son “Gershom,” which means “a stranger there”—a constant reminder that he was “a stranger in a strange land” (Exod. 2:22, KJV). Like Noah and Abraham before him, Moses knew all too well that as a servant of God his ultimate citizenship was not in any earthly kingdom, but in the kingdom of God.

You and I live our lives as Christians away from home. Although we’re temporary residents of particular nations here on earth, we’re actually eternal citizens of another land (Phil. 3:20). Let me put this plainly. We live in the midst of a pagan culture surrounded by pagan people who embrace a pagan philosophy, a pagan way of life, and a pagan attitude toward believers. But God has planted us here to be the ambassadors of a different kingdom and to lead others to that better city whose architect and builder is God (Heb. 11:10).

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