FRIDAY October 27th
1 Peter 4:11
‘To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.’
1 Peter 5:11
‘To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.’
We have come to the last of our devotions from Peter’s first epistle, (although as I announced a week ago while preaching I will send out a further eight devotions as a summary of the epistle). It has taken seventy four devotions. As we have gone through the various verses, I had deliberately left out the two verses before us today, for they are a fitting declaration to make as we leave this letter, and I will quote the longer of the two ‘To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen’
We are all aware of the hymn that says ‘To God be the glory, great things he has done’, and he truly has done great things, therefore he is worthy of all the glory. But even if God had not come down to meet us at Calvary, all glory and dominion would still belong to him, for he is the Eternal God and the Creator and Sustainer of all things. Romans 11:36 reads ‘For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.’
But we are so glad that he did come to this earth in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, his eternal Son to save us. Therefore we can say without any doubt in our hearts, ‘To God be all the glory and dominion forever and ever’.
But, there is a challenge within these closing verses, for if all the glory and dominion belongs to God, forever and ever then it means that we should endeavour to ensure that all that we are and all that we do as his redeemed sons and daughters should bring glory to God. This means that in every moment of our life, however long or short it may be, that we seek to honour God both through our lives and through our lips.
I think that this is why perhaps the most important issue that Peter brings up in this whole letter is the need for us to be people whose lives reflect something of the holiness of God in this unholy world in which we live. So I conclude our look at this epistle by using the words that Paul wrote in Romans 12:1-2 ‘I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ When we truly do this our lives being lived out will bring glory to God.