Heavenly Inheritance

Sermon Text

1 Peter 1:3-5

“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

New King James Version (NKJV) Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

• Peter's long sentence beginning in verse 3 is a summons to bless God; sound theology should produce praise rather than knowledge detached from worship.
• God has caused believers to be born again, not because of their goodness or works but according to his abundant mercy.
• New birth creates a living hope grounded in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
• The believer's inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading because God has adopted believers as his children and reserves their inheritance in heaven.
• The inheritance includes Christ himself, eternal life, the coming kingdom, access to grace, the Spirit of adoption, divine protection, and even loving fatherly correction.
• God guards both the inheritance and his people by his power through faith, giving the foundation for the perseverance of the saints.
• Those who permanently abandon Christ reveal that their profession lacked the deep roots of new life, while true believers are kept and therefore persevere.
• Christ's return will terrify the unrepentant, but believers may anticipate final salvation and give their account with joy because their standing is secure in him.

• Does our knowledge of salvation lead us to bless and praise God?
• Why must new birth be attributed to God's abundant mercy rather than human merit?
• How does Christ's bodily resurrection make Christian hope living and certain?
• What makes the believer's inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading?
• How does adoption help explain why God gives his people an inheritance?
• What does it mean that believers are kept by God's power through faith?
• How should biblical warnings about apostasy be understood alongside God's promise to preserve true believers?
• Does the prospect of Christ's return produce terror or joyful hope, and why?

Doxology

Praise offered to God in response to the truth of who he is and what he has done.

New birth

God's merciful act of giving spiritual life to sinners who were dead in trespasses.

Living hope

Confident expectation of life with God, made certain by the living and risen Jesus Christ.

Inheritance

The incorruptible and unfading salvation God reserves for his adopted children in Christ.

Perseverance of the saints

God's preservation of true believers through faith so that they continue in Christ to final salvation.

Apostasy

A decisive abandonment of a prior profession of Christian faith, revealing that the profession was not rooted in regenerating grace.