Our Anchor Holds {1 Peter 1}

I remember Max Lucado telling a story in  his book, Six Hours One Friday, of how he and his boat survived a hurricane. Someone had advised him to take his boat out into the deep water and drop four anchors off each corner of the boat, and pray that the anchors held. Max and the boat survived, but he claimed that he learned an important lesson during that storm, which was, all of us need an anchor that will hold during the storms of life. That anchor for all of us is called, faith.

I've got to start by asking you, what have you put your faith in? I've caught myself over the years anchoring my faith in my husband, my bank account, eating right and exercising, my home, church, family, etc. All of which are temporal and could be taken away tomorrow. Not one of those anchors are strong enough to help me weather any and all storms.

Do you remember where you were on 9-11- 2001? Do you remember how you felt that day and the days following? I remember our house was full of neighbors and friends that evening all coming together to pray and seek to comfort one another. I remember the nation's churches overflowing the following Sunday. People knew only God was powerful enough to anchor their faith to then.

When Peter wrote his letter, things were changing. As the first century church grew, the constrictions of the government were increasing, and people were finding it more and more difficult to live out their faith in the midst of such fierce persecution. Even today it's not easy being a Christian at times. We're being criticized or worse because of our beliefs, and we need to find a way to live out our faith without compromising it.

Peter knew how important our faith would be and gives us a great picture of faith, and helps us gain some insight into how to live out an authentic Christ centered faith in the midst of trying times.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:3-7

 Peter assures us that if we will anchor our faith in Christ Jesus we will find our faith to be:

A faith that is imperishable

We have the advantage of so much history behind us to know that kingdoms have come and gone, economies have risen and fallen, and nations have been established and destroyed. BUT there is one kingdom that has remained constant for over two thousand years in spite of all the opposition. Our faith is to be set in heaven, and not on the things of this world.

A faith that's undefiled & uncorrupted

I'm sure you've heard the saying, "absolute power corrupts absolutely". It's a statement which speaks of our sinful nature. History is full of leaders (men and women) who started off with the very best intentions but pride got in the way. BUT if we place our faith in the power of an Almighty God and Christ Jesus who knew no sin, we can rest in knowing God has absolute power that remains uncorrupted.

A faith that is unfading

We all know fads come and go just as quickly as they came, BUT Jesus will always be the same yesterday, today, and forever. There's great comfort and peace that comes when we can trust that the faith we have now will see us through to eternity.

  A revealing faith (1:7)

As our faith begins to reflect our deeper knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, our lives will change. We'll begin to think and  live differently, because our faith is growing, and those around us will begin to see a difference in us.

A faith centered on our love for Christ (1:8)

Peter talks here about how we love Christ even though we have not seen Him. The author of Hebrews has defined faith as, "... the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen." (Hebrews 11:1).  In essence, Peter says that real faith is loving Jesus, who we have never seen, but still know exists.

The truth is all of us have faith, but will our anchor of faith hold in the storms that will come? Has your faith been tested and proven to be sure? Is your faith the very same faith Peter has described for us in the first chapter of his letter?

I remember that first Sunday after 9-11, when the whole country was wondering what would happen next? Would the stock-market crash? Would more attacks come?  Would the airline industry recover? On and on the questions kept running through people's minds. The days ahead were so uncertain, but as I sat in church that Sunday a man in our congregation got up and began to sing a song and The Lord quieted my spirit and assured me through the song that everything was going to be alright. He was still reigning over all. The song was, The Anchor Holds... Enjoy!