Satisfaction, Part 3

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. What if you could have deep satisfaction in your heart, even in the hardest circumstances?

What if our joy did not hinge on having what we want and being rid of what we don't want in our lives? 1 Peter 5 10-11 reminds us of the truths that, when we fully embrace them, will bring that kind of joy and satisfaction, the kind that we find only in the person of Jesus. Let's listen in. This is part three of a sermon first preached on March 19, 2023. I like what David Helm says of these four verbs. He says, There's a forceful flurry of verbs here. This is the future grace that God has promised us.

We can count on this. And he provides us a glorious portrait of what I am now in Christ, in view of God, from God's eyes. This is who I am. I've been glorified. And yet here I am still on this earth, walking around in flesh and bones, still struggling with the flesh.

But here's your glorious portrait. First of all, you are restored. You're restored because every one of us is born broken with the problem of self-preeminence. But the fact that I am restored and you will be restored means that we will be with him.

Two things. We will be with him and we will be like him. Isn't that a beautiful promise? That's the work that God is doing in us right now. He's molding us into the image of Christ. But when I see Jesus face to face, not only will I be with him, I will be like him. That restored image, the perfect reflection of Christ. Christ who perfectly walked with the father and pleased his father and was satisfied in his father. I will be just like him.

And if it's fully satisfied, it means you're not looking elsewhere for that satisfaction. Jesus wasn't. That's why he could live with abandon.

And he did, didn't he? Wholeness. The idea here is complete wholeness. Wholeness of soul and body. It's a beautiful portrait. The second part of the portrait is the next three. Confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

I think I get the sense that Peter was kind of using those synonymously. But you will be strong. You'll be restored in Christ, but you will be strong, firm, and steadfast.

In other words, you will be solid, an immovable masterpiece, a firm, you will be in a firm and fixed position. Done with a fall. Done with the curse. Done with brokenness. Done with self-centeredness. Done with broken relationships. Done with frustration, despair, death, all of that. Done. Gone.

Forever. We will be at the height of our humanity for which God designed us. All that God designed for you to be and do, you will be able to be and do. There will include productivity with pleasure as people in pursuit of him. Lewis points it out well. If you could see, if I could see how God sees me, if I could see myself in heaven in eternity, in glory, in my glorified state, if I could see how God sees me, if I could if you, let me turn this around. Let's use Glenn here, okay? If I could see Glenn in his glorified state, in all honesty, I would be tempted to bow down and worship him.

This is what Lewis says. And of course, you know, that happens in scripture when an angel appears, and when an angel begins to be worshiped, it says, no, no, no, no, don't do that. I'm a created being like you are. Worship God. Because only God deserves worship. But if I were to see Glenn in his glorified state, I would be tempted to fall in front of him. Because we are products of God's amazing grace.

It's not about how special Glenn is or me. It's about how amazing God's grace is. We will be at the height of our humanity. We will also be fully alive, fully alive. The end of the curse. Think about it.

Think about the ways, right now, the ways that you're impacted by the curse. Some of you are shifting. That's because the pain sensors in your buttocks are telling you you need to move, right? I've been sitting in this one position too long. Some of you are feeling some kind of disease, some kind of illness.

Think of all the ways. Some of you right now are lamenting a broken relationship. Some of you right now are experiencing frustration. Think of all the ways that we're impacted by the curse. And when we are fully alive with Christ in eternity, all of that gone.

Just try to imagine that. And yet it's the portrait that God paints for us of our eternal state. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5, when mortality is swallowed up by life. While we are still in this tent, we groan being burdened, not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. Those are profoundly beautiful promises of Scripture, folks.

These are things that we need to keep in mind. Irenaeus, an early church father, said this, the glory of God is manfully alive, restored, broken, fallen, rebellious man, restored and reconciled to God, and restored to the height of his humanity in Christ. You might be sitting here thinking, okay, this is all really good stuff about the future.

I want you to know something. This is not merely positive thinking and escapism. If that's what you think this is, first of all, you're denying the promises of the Word of God. These are divine promises for us. This is what God has in store for us.

That's why we need to keep this in view. But Ed Clowney, I really like how he says, Peter's hope of glory was not an indefinable nimbus cloud. It was as definite as the scarred hand of Jesus that passed the breakfast fish.

It's coming. This is ours in Christ. So now that makes a little more sense about what he says in verse 10, and after you have suffered a little while, because some of us might be sitting here thinking, what's this little wild bit?

Remember, contrast the dot with the line, okay? So why is it important that we know this? Because as Peter said right at the beginning of this book, chapter 1 verse 13, prepare your minds for action. Prepare your minds. He's not telling us all this just to help us relax and feel better. We know this, and we review this, and we remember this to prepare our minds for action, the action to which he has called us.

So here is what I want to leave with you this morning, four things specifically of how we prepare our minds for action to be on mission as we keep the big picture in view. Number one, defer your full satisfaction to God's time frame. Defer your full satisfaction to God's time frame.

Look at chapter 1 verse 13 with me. Preparing your minds for action, being sober, here it is, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you. That is a settled satisfaction.

In other words, stop looking for things to satisfy you. You're sabotaging your walk of faith. I will never forget when we were studying Job, and I've said this before, but I need to say this again, because this was so impactful on me. On Wednesday nights when we were studying Job, and John Bradley was able to be here, back there by the sound booth, he's hugging his pillow, and he says, Rich, he says, I've resigned myself in saying to the Lord that, Lord, if I have to endure this for 80 years but get you for eternity, I'll take it.

That's 1 Peter. That's living with the end in view. Number 2, set your mind on what God has promised.

One thing becomes clear from this text. If you are in Christ, if we are in Christ, God is for us. God is for us.

Who can bring a charge against God's elect? It is Christ who justifies. God is for us. Live with that in view. Live with the end in view. And as Christ, as the writer of Hebrews says, who for the joy set before him endured what? The cross.

You cannot possibly endure any more than what Jesus did on the cross. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, 7 Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. 7 Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace, weekdays at 10 a.m.