THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
God’s Administration
Message Four—God’s Governmental Judgment
Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 1:17; 2:23; 4:5-6, 12, 17-19
I. God’s judgment as seen in 1 Peter may be likened to the hub of a wheel; if the hub were taken away from a wheel, all the spokes would collapse; likewise, if the thought of God’s judgment were removed from the books of 1 and 2 Peter, these Epistles would lose their basic structure—1 Pet. 1:17; 2 Pet. 2:3-4: (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
A. The scope of these two Epistles extends from eternity past to eternity future; these two books consummate with the new heaven and the new earth with righteousness as their contents; this is related to the government of God—1 Pet. 1:17; 2 Pet. 2:3-4. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
B. Since these two Epistles are concerned with the government of God, the judgment of God and of the Lord is referred to repeatedly, as one of the essential items—1 Pet. 2:23; 4:5-6, 17; 2 Pet. 2:3-4, 9; 3:7: (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
1. It began from the angels, and passed through the generations of man in the Old Testament—2:3-4, 5-9. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
2. Then in the New Testament age it begins from the house of God and continues until the coming of the day of the Lord, which will be a day of judgment on the Jews, the believers, and the Gentiles before the millennium—1 Pet. 1:17; 2:23; 4:6, 17; 2 Pet. 3:10. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
3. After the millennium, all the dead, including men and demons, will be judged and perish, and the heavens and the earth will be burned up—1 Pet. 4:5; 2 Pet. 3:7, 10b, 12. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
4. By all these judgments the Lord God will clear up and purify the entire universe, that He may have a new heaven and a new earth for a new universe filled with His righteousness for His delight—v. 13. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
II. All the saints, especially the young ones, have a clear understanding of 1 and 2 Peter; in particular, we need to see that the subject of these two books is God’s government carried out by His judgment—1 Pet. 4:5-6; 2 Pet. 3:7: (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
A. This is true of the judgments we experience today; persecution, trouble, and illness are God’s judgments resulting in a disciplinary dealing in this age—1 Pet. 4:5-6; 2 Pet. 3:7. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
B. In no other book of the New Testament are we told that the Lord Jesus lived under God’s government; Peter is the only one who tells us of this; in 2:23 Peter indicates that when the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was under God’s government; because the Lord lived under God’s government, He committed all His sufferings to God—1 Pet. 2:23. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
C. The Lord is ready to judge all, both the living and the dead. His judgment is God’s governmental administration to deal with the situation among men—4:5. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
D. God puts us into a burning furnace, into fiery ordeals, to burn away our dross; this is regarded by Peter as a judgment in God’s governmental dealing with the believers—v. 12. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 30)
III. “Because it is time for the judgment to begin from the house of God; and if first from us, what will be the end of those who disobey the gospel of God?”—1 Pet. 4:17: (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
A. This book shows the government of God especially in His dealings with His chosen people; such disciplinary judgment begins from His own household, and it is not exercised just once or twice but is being carried out continuously until the Lord’s coming—2:5; 2 Pet. 1:11: (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
1. God’s house, or household, is the church composed of the believers—2:5; Heb. 3:6; 1 Tim. 3:15; Eph. 2:19. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
2. From this house, as His own house, God begins His governmental administration by His disciplinary judgment over His own children. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
3. The purpose of this disciplinary judgment that begins at God’s house is that God may have a strong ground to judge, in His universal kingdom, all those who are disobedient to His gospel and rebellious against His government. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
4. This applies in particular to the unbelieving Jews; the result of this judgment will be the establishment of God’s kingdom—2 Pet. 1:11. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
B. We need to be deeply impressed from 4:17 that judgment begins from the household of God. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
IV. “And if the righteous is saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly and sinner appear?”—1 Pet. 4:18: (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
A. Here “the righteous” refers to the believers, who became righteous by being justified through their faith in Christ and by living a righteous life in Christ—Rom. 5:1; Phil. 3:9; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rev. 19:8. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
B. The believer, who has been disciplined by God through the sufferings of persecution to purify his life, is saved with the difficulty of persecution from the destruction of God’s wrath toward the world, especially toward the unbelieving Jews, with the coming destruction of Jerusalem in view—1 Thes. 5:3. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
V. “Wherefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well doing to a faithful Creator”—1 Pet. 4:19: (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
A. Persecution can damage only the body of the suffering believers; it cannot damage their souls; their souls are kept by the Lord as the faithful Creator; they should cooperate with the Lord by their faithful commitment—Matt. 10:28. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
B. While He is judging us, as His household, in His government, in His love He cares for us faithfully; in suffering His just disciplinary judgment in our body, we should commit our souls to His faithful care—1 Cor. 10:13. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
VI. First Peter is a book on the Christian life under the government of God; it is easy for us to pay attention to the Christian life and to neglect God’s government; actually, the Christian life and the government of God go together—1 Pet. 1:17-19: (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
A. On the one hand, we have been reborn to have a spiritual life, the divine life; on the other hand, we are still in the old creation—1 Pet. 1:3. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
B. For this reason, we need God’s governmental dealings; in order for the Christian life to grow, we need the discipline of God’s government—Col. 2:19. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)
VII. “The preciousness of Peter’s writings is that he combines the Christian life and God’s government; therefore, in the Epistles of Peter we need to see the Christian life and God’s government and also see how the two go together”. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 31)