◆“How Will You Live the Rest of Your Life?” (1 Peter 4:1-2) September 22, 2024

You might think that being asked, “How will you live the rest of your life?” is something people hear only from their sixties onward. But if you think about it, everyone is living the rest of their life. Even a newborn baby is in the same position. Will they live an average lifespan, longer, or shorter? In any case, there is no doubt that we live toward the end of our lives.

In that sense, life might be like an hourglass. The older we get, the more anxious we become. How many years do I have left? How much sand remains in the hourglass? Maybe there is almost no sand left. Such thoughts can be painful.

But there is another fact to notice: “Now,” I am alive. I don’t know how many years remain, but it is certain that I am alive now. Living means moving forward, no matter how much time is left. We cannot live backward, toward the past. So whether the future is long or short, today is the starting point. We come to this realization.

Yet here we often stop. Generally, people are better at looking back with self-reproach than dreaming about the future. We tend to forget past successes but vividly remember failures and fears. So we think, tomorrow is just an extension of yesterday. Therefore, we can only live as before. We must drag the past with us. Now is not a new start but just a midpoint between past and future, and nothing changes before or after. In other words, if things have gone badly so far, they will continue to go badly. It is too late for a fresh start. We tend to think like this.

But is that really true? Is it really so? This is not about experience or statistics but about what God says through the Bible. God does not want us to calculate the future based on past experience, but to make a new departure “today” by His support and guidance.

Looking back, the nation of Israel in the Old Testament stumbled and failed repeatedly, and God often corrected them. Even Abraham, the father of Israel, was like that. God told him to go to the land He would show him. Abraham believed and set out. Yet when famine came, he went down to Egypt. To avoid being killed by the king who wanted his wife, he said she was his sister. He suffered terribly and, though he should have learned from this, repeated the same mistakes.

After leaving Egypt, Israel sang and danced in celebration of God’s grace, but soon faced hunger and even grumbled, “There was no land in Egypt; they led us out here to die in this wilderness.”

The Book of Judges shows that when threatened by foreign enemies, they called on God and were saved but then forgot Him once again.

Jesus’ disciples were no different. They said they would follow Him until death but then denied knowing Him.

If these people look back and base their future on the past, the outlook seems rather bleak.

But God does not give up easily. God repeatedly says, “Here is the start; you can start over, so it’s okay.”

“Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2, KJV). “Behold” means you must look carefully to see. Look closely—there is something different than what you usually see.

No matter what the past or present is like, look—now is the time of grace, the time of salvation, a new beginning.

Also, 2 Corinthians 5:16 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

“A new creation.” Creation is not making something from old materials or past things, but bringing forth something entirely new, separated from what was before.

And you are such a person, newly created by God, not simply an extension of your past. Moreover, you are being created anew daily.

Does this mean that past failures and setbacks have no meaning? No, not at all. What happened before might have been something we wished never happened—shameful, meaningless, and best forgotten. But these experiences are not wasted.

The future does not start on the foundation of these experiences alone; it is created anew by God’s power.

Indeed, the past is not denied or erased but used meaningfully.

Through Paul, God says in Romans 8:28:

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

What is the purpose? The “good” here is not a temporary benefit or a mere blessing. Verses 29 and following say,

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” And verse 30 ends with, “Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”

God causes us to start anew so that we may know Him more, rejoice in Him, and share in His glory. He leads us onward toward this goal.

So, how will you live the rest of your life?

One way is to keep dwelling in nostalgia and remain where you are now. Another is to live holding on to past glories. Some may say, “It’s too late,” or “My past is too stained,” and give up.

But none of these are God’s will. Therefore, there is no satisfaction or true happiness there.

Now is the time of grace. Now is the starting point of my life. Now is the time of dedication.

From here, let us pray to God and live guided by Him. This is the secret to living life to the fullest, no matter your age.

Recently, I watched a TV program introducing a pharmacist and a hairdresser over 100 years old, still active. They shared common secrets to staying healthy and active at such an advanced age.

They were asked the same question:

“When were you happiest?”

Both answered, “Now is the happiest time.”

They may not be Christians, but I was reminded that they live as if now is the time of grace, the time of salvation.

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Sermon script modified based on proofreading and translation with ChatGPT.