Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but He died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but He was raised to life in the Spirit ~ 1 Peter 3:18.
Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God and all the angels and authorities and powers accept His authority. So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude He had and be ready to suffer, too.
For if you have suffered physically for Christ you have finished with sin. You won't spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God. You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy, their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So, they slander you. But, remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead. That is why the Good News was reached to those who are now dead, so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit ~ 1 Peter 3:22-4:1-6.
So, dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. So, be happy when you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you ~ 1 Peter 4: 12-14.
Praise God for the privilege of being called by His name! ~ 1 Peter 4:16
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