How Great Is Our God?

We serve a Big God. This God of the Bible that created us and sustains us wants nothing more from us than obedience. This is the only thing we mere mortals have to offer our triune God.

1 Peter 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

We see God the father, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. All 3 are active in all of us. We are held and kept by this all-powerful trinity.  

This is what the 1689 London Baptist confession of faith has to say about the trinity: – “all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on Him.”

Comfortable dependence , or hope, on God. So, in verse 2 we see the trinity and now he’s going to tell us why we can place our hope in this triune God. 

Peter says according to the foreknowledge of God. We see this same word foreknowledge used in this passage in the book of acts and it was said by peter in the sermon he delivered after pentecost. 

Act 2:23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

This word foreknowledge shows us God’s infinite knowledge of all aspects of our lives. He has everything planned out for His glory and our good. 

This sanctification of the spirit refers us to the Holy spirit who works in us after we have believed, it’s another way God holds us by His Spirit. This sanctification brings obedience to Jesus Christ by way of His shed blood on the cross. Peter mentions the sprinkling of the blood which was an allusion to the Jewish customs that these recent converts would have known about and practiced in their former lives. 

Obedience to Christ is something that is foundational to the Christian life. 

I pulled this quote from a C H Spurgeon sermon. He was preaching on Hebrews 9 verse 8 where it says essentially by faith Abraham obeyed. Here is what Spurgeon said: –“I preach to you, at this time, obedience— absolute obedience to the Lord God; but I preach the obedience of a child, not the obedience of a slave; the obedience of love, not of terror; the obedience of faith, not of dread. I shall urge you, as God shall help me, in order that you may come at this obedience, that you should seek after stronger faith”

Every Christians obedience stems from God’s grace and mercy in saving us. If we are truly saved we will want to obey that great God who selflessly gave His Son Jesus to pay our sin debt. There is nothing else we mere mortals can do besides believe and obey.