To This You Have Been Called

And I want us to think through Peter’s answer under three headings. He essentially says three things about how to live for Christ in difficult circumstances. He says first we need to learn to live under the gaze of God. We need to learn to live coram Deo, “before the face of God,” to live for His smile and His blessing and not the approval or good opinion of any earthly human being. That’s verses 18 through 20 - live under the gaze of God; verses 18 through 20. Then secondly he says we also must learn to live in imitation of Christ. The servant is not greater than the master. “If they persecuted Me,” Jesus said, “they will persecute you also, so take up your cross and follow Me.” This is the path of the ordinary Christian life - obedience in the context of suffering. And so we must learn to live in imitation of Christ, verses 21 through 23. And finally we must learn to live in light of the cross. Obedience to God in the context of suffering is not only His command, but it is His promise for which Christ died to supply us the grace we need in order to do it. And so live under the gaze of God, live in imitation of Christ, and live in light of the cross. 

And I want us to think through Peter’s answer under three headings. He essentially says three things about how to live for Christ in difficult circumstances. He says first we need to learn to live under the gaze of God. We need to learn to live coram Deo, “before the face of God,” to live for His smile and His blessing and not the approval or good opinion of any earthly human being. That’s verses 18 through 20 - live under the gaze of God; verses 18 through 20. Then secondly he says we also must learn to live in imitation of Christ. The servant is not greater than the master. “If they persecuted Me,” Jesus said, “they will persecute you also, so take up your cross and follow Me.” This is the path of the ordinary Christian life - obedience in the context of suffering. And so we must learn to live in imitation of Christ, verses 21 through 23. And finally we must learn to live in light of the cross. Obedience to God in the context of suffering is not only His command, but it is His promise for which Christ died to supply us the grace we need in order to do it. And so live under the gaze of God, live in imitation of Christ, and live in light of the cross.