I remember being really young and having a dream where I was walking in some sort of park toward a building that sat in the middle of that park. The clear sky suddenly became dark and tornados began to come down out of the sky. My only thought was that the others present in the park needed to be saved. Like a super hero, I took off in flight and started saving people, delivering them safely to the building in the center of the park and punching the tornados that threatened their safety.

There are other odd dreams that people have that tend to be much darker. Whether it is a falling dream or a dream in which our teeth keep falling out, death seems imminent to us. Upon having these types of dreams, I am forced to reflect upon the fragility of human life. I realize that in this life we will get sick. We will suffer emotionally. We will endure pain. We will get old, and we will die. Despite all of this, God has given His people an amazing promise.

And if you address as Father the One who judges impartially based on each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your temporary residence. For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was chosen before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the times for you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again — not of perishable seed but of imperishable — through the living and enduring word of God. For

All flesh is like grass,

and all its glory like a flower of the grass.

The grass withers, and the flower falls,

but the word of the Lord endures forever.

And this is the word that was preached as the gospel to you[1]

God is the good judge who judges impartially

            When Peter describes God, he begins by saying that God literally resides as judge over humanity, and that God does not play favorites. God, as He is described by Peter, loves not only Christians, but also Atheists, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Nihilists, Americans, Israelis, Iranians, Mexicans, etc… The God of the Bible is not a God that discriminates between religious and non-religious, between ethnicities or genders or even ages. All people, no matter religion, nationality or gender have an amazing and awe-inspiring opportunity to be in Christ.

Since we are imperfect and since God is so impartial, all people who are not in Christ will be judged according to their own works. When they fall short, they will not have a place with God.

This earth is our temporary residence

I am currently under the impression that one-day I will die. My belief in that truth may be changed if someone could offer some convincing evidence to the contrary, but at this moment I observe that most people do in fact stop living in these earthly bodies. When I think about this fact, I am forced to think about what it means for anyone to live a worthwhile life. Money is only good for spending and it does not last. This means that money is not worth living for. The stuff that we buy with that money fades faster than we do. How can stuff that fades in this life be worth anything in the vast scope of eternity? Because I am imperfect, I realize that I cannot please everyone. This means that fame, popularity and acceptance do not benefit me even slightly. They are not worth living for. When I choose to live for any of these things, I find that my life is literally empty: containing nothing that is lasting or worthwhile.

Peter mentions that this earth is our temporary residence. Everything we gain on this earth is temporary, yet I have this longing deep within me for something more: something deeper and something that lasts forever. Peter also mentions that by the blood of Christ, we have been redeemed from this empty way of life.

When we have trusted in Jesus Christ as the lord and savior of our lives, we are removed from an empty way of life where all we have to strive for are temporary things and we are given a chance to pursue something that lasts forever. We get the chance to pursue God who gives rewards in the realm of eternity. In Christ we no longer have to spend the life we have pursuing temporary treasures. We can pursue treasures that last forever and are given directly by God! If anyone reading this finds that his or her life is empty, my hope is that you will trust in Christ and begin a worthwhile, everlasting pursuit.

Imperishable seed

This new life that Peter describes is imperishable. In this life we get sick, we are bullied, we suffer, people cut us down, we get old and we die. In this life we are perishable, but God yearns to give us a life in Christ where we are imperishable, indestructible and incorruptible! In this life I will suffer and die, but in Christ I will receive glory and life!

In this earthly life we fall apart. In Christ we live forever! If you do not know Christ, let me encourage you to begin that relationship today. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

[1] 1 Peter 1:17-25 (HCSB)