God spent hundreds of years revealing His plan for our redemption. It started back in the Garden of Eden when He first draws our attention to Jesus Christ as the offspring of Eve that would crush the serpent's head. The history of the Jewish nation set up analogies and parallel story lines that would help us to know the Messiah when He did come. And then finally the angel appeared to Mary and the Messiah is born. Now that the plan of redemption had been revealed, the methodology of reaching the entire human race with the news of this plan became extremely important. God had sent His only Son and His Son had died for the sins of the world so that all who believe in Him should have eternal life in Heaven, but how would God get this message out. If the message did not get out, what good was the plan. We read in the book of Acts that God chose the church to be His megaphone telling of His redemptive plan for the human race. He sent the Holy Spirit upon the apostles to empower them to begin this new age, the church age which became so essential. And who did He choose to lead the church in this most critical time. We learn in Acts that Peter is the one God chooses. Peter! Peter?

Peter was a strange fellow, quite choleric in personality. When he was right, he was really right, but when he was wrong, he was really wrong. It was Peter who declared Jesus to be the Messiah when the other disciples were afraid to say, but it was this same Peter that actually rebuked the One he knew to be the Son of God. It was Peter, and Peter alone that had enough faith to get out of the boat and walk on water with Christ. But shortly thereafter, it is Peter who denies Christ three times even cursing as he does it.

Peter was definitely a great man of God and yet at the same time, not so great. We could easily say that he failed God over and over again. Yet God, knowing all the failures that Peter would have still chose him to lead the church. How wonderful it is to know that we don't have to be perfect to be great. Too often people wonder if God can still use them because of their failures, weaknesses, and sins, but God's plan is not stopped by our issues.

However, we must be careful to become so confident in the grace of God that we take advantage of it and continue to sin thinking that since God loves us, He will automatically lift us above our failure and sin. This simple is not true. God is still holy and sin is still sin. But we also can not become so confident in God's wrath and our imperfection that we give up and stop believing that God has great things in store for our life.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

But how do we access this grace of God that overwhelms and overcomes our sin and failure. Judas and Peter both betrayed Christ. Judas went out and hung himself. Peter was restored and became the leader of the church. What was happening within each of them that led to the direction their life continued or discontinued?

After denying Christ three times, no doubt Peter must have felt like a failure, but in spite of this, we see him with the disciples and we see him jumping out of the both to swim to the shore where Jesus has surprisingly appeared. It is here that we have Christ asking Peter three times if he really loves him. And Peter three times answers, "Yes, Lord." Through the language, we see that though Jesus is asking questions, He is really teaching a lesson to Peter. The lesson was, "You are not as good as you think. You are not perfect, stop acting as if you are." Jesus taught this lesson in front of the other disciples who had heard Peter say the most arrogant things.

If we are going to overcome our failures, we must be able to accept the rebuke of God. We must be able to have a spirit of humility that is constantly evaluating our own thoughts and actions to see how we might improve to live more closely to the example set by Christ. Too often, we are listening to sermons and songs picking out what we think others need to hear. But a humble spirit is constantly aware of how far from the perfection of Christ we are and thus constantly working on self, not others.

Do you have a lot of failure? Have you failed in your marriage? As a man of integrity? As a woman of decency? Do not run away from God, but run to Him. And run in the spirit of humility repenting and accepting the rebuke of God, even if it comes through others. Don't defend your actions. Don't justify what was wrong. Don't blame others. Listen and work on yourself. And God will give you victory over all of your failures, weaknesses, and sin.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time
1 Peter 5:6 (NIV)
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