Core Truth: Sooner or later we all must come to some sort of conclusion about the fact that pain, troubles, and adversities are part of human life. As one writer put it: “If life is to be meaningful, we need desperately to find a place for suffering in it and to discover how to cope with it,” and nowhere are we given a better means of doing that than with what we learn from the Apostle Peter in our Scripture text for today’s message.
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:1-6
… God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and His Spirit has made you holy. … All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance – an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, … beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by His power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. … There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.