Freedom and Glory

'as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed'
1 Peter 5:1.

I like this verse because it shows the confidence of Peter in the eternal hope that he has. Peter is one of the well-known characters in the New Testament, he often seems to put his foot in his mouth - doing and saying the wrong things at times and occasionally missing the point. He was one of Jesus closest friends, they shared their lives together, prayed together, ate together, world together. Peter had a real good look at who Jesus is and how He lived. Peter was even a, ‘Witness of the sufferings of Christ’. That to me stands out somewhat, we often consider Jesus as fully God, which of course he is, but we tend to gloss over the fact that he's also fully human - He has human emotions, he gets disappointed, disheartened, degraded. Jesus also suffers. Peter knows, he's seen it. Sometimes even, Peter was a cause of some of Jesus suffering, as are we all.
Peter witnessed the pain, discomfort and betrayal of Jesus. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine seeing pain, discomfort and disappointment on the holy face of Jesus? We don't probably have to look far those it in the face of others, but have you ever considered thatJesus also had those feelings?
It's not just others, not just Peter who has caused Jesus to feel this way, we have all caused Jesus to suffer. We have inflicted trouble and hurt upon Jesus. How you may ask - well have we not all argued with God? disowned him? Forgotten him? Let Him down? I know I have.

However, this verse and this blog are not to cause us to feel desperate, downhearted or depressed- it should give us hope.

The fabulous thing this verse reveals, its that although Peter knows he has messed up, he does not dwell on his mistakes. Peter grows through them. You can too Peter does not consider himself the foolish man of old - you aren't either. He does not make the same mistakes again - you don't have to either. Peter knows any mistakes he still makes he can be forgiven for through Jesus. He knows the free gift of forgiveness that was bought at such a cost to Jesus.
This gift is given to us through Jesus death and resurrection. He died that we may live free from the guilt, shame and suffering our mistakes cost us. You and I do not need to dwell on our insufficiencies, we can dwell in the forgiveness of Christ. We can have hope, as Peter did, that we too will partake, 'in the glory that is going to be revealed'. 
Here Peter shows that there is more to life than living with our mistakes. Peter knows that he is completely forgiven and free and he lives it - do you? Peter knows that he will be a part of the great glory that is coming - do you?

The same is available for you too.

The restoration of relationship between you and God is complete. God does not even hold onto the memory of your mistakes - your record is clean, your sin is forgiven and you get to be a part of the glory to come! So are you living like that? are you living free? or do you hold onto, in your own mind, the wrongs you have done? Do you live with regret? shame? You don't need to, you are allowed to let it go. Peter, we read, made mistakes, yet he goes on to be an incredible man, free from shame because of the wholeness of the grace poured out to him. You are allowed to live a life of freedom too, you have no record of wrongs before God. You are forgiven and free. You don't need to hold onto the guilt or shame, you can live free of them. That's what Peter realised and that's what he did. Peter took hold of the fact that he was restored to full relationship with Christ. You can too. Focus not on what you get wrong, but see who Jesus is. He didn't die for you to feel bad about yourself, He died so that you don't have to even remember what you've done wrong because He made up for all of it! Now you can live an abundant life free from the chains of your mistakes. You can live a life full of the glory that is to come. what a great promise!