To those who are chosen. To do what? To obey. And to be sprinkled with His blood. This is well worth repeating because it sheds profound light on the vocational purpose of those who would identify themselves as Christians. We devote exorbitant amounts of time and energy to talk of vocation, and of finding one’s purpose, without recognizing that the predominant part of our purpose on earth, our raison d’etre, so to speak, is simply to obey Christ and to live as marked men and women in a world that is perishing.
Peter goes on throughout his epistle to highlight the various ways in which Christians are called to demonstrate their allegiance to Christ by submitting to earthly authorities: citizens to governments, servants to masters, wives to husbands, and young men to elder men. The application may differ depending on one’s station in life, but the essential call is the same for all people: obedience to Christ displayed through obedience to authority, even when that authority is unreasonable.
Lest there be any confusion about this, Peter states very clearly: “…this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly’ (2.19). He goes on, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps” (2.21).
We do not submit because we feel like it; in fact, if submission corresponded with our natural inclination it would not be submission at all but preference. Neither do we submit because we are convinced that, in doing so, we will achieve the particular outcome we think best at the time.
We submit because we believe that the best things emerge from obedience. Just look at the Cross and all it accomplished. Every single act of obedience, however small, is a profound demonstration, an overt testament of our belief that God’s way is the best way, that His ‘good’ is the only good worth having, and His ‘freedom’ the only kind that truly makes us free.
“Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him her lord;” but just because she called him lord does not mean that she mistook him for the Lord. Sarah’s hope was in God just as Christ’s hope was in God. She knew, just as Christ did, that obedience to any earthly authority – in this case, her husband – could only work in her favor. Perhaps preempting the words of the Psalmist, “This I know that God is for me,” Sarah, when threatened by Hagar, called upon God to be her advocate, not Abraham. She knew that no man, not even her husband, could thwart His purposes for her as long as she remained submitted to Him.
When in faith we obediently submit to the leadership of any earthly authority it requires us, at a certain point, to confront our deepest fears. But if we remember the words of God – “Do not fear…I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great” – we will prove ourselves master over them.
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