Scripture: 1 Peter 1:3-12
May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Psalm 33:22
Introduction
- I hope for a lot of things.
- I hope we have a safe flight and I make it home.
- I hope the plumber doesn’t bankrupt me when he fixes my sick AC at home
- I hope my family has a good time down at the beach this week
- I hope that our church keeps growing and thriving
- I hope that Claudia and Mary Jane keep getting better and come back to Biltmore
- I hope that Carol’s cancer keeps improving and she is free from pain.
- Yes, I hope for a lot of things but none of these things matter outside of this world.
- And so, my great hope is that there is more waiting for me when I leave this world.
- I have full confidence that my hope will be fulfilled – because I have FAITH.
- My faith is rooted in the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for me.
- And because I believe in Him, my future life is assured.
- Does this mean that everything will be easy and wonderful now in this life? NO
- No, the great hope is not about this world as much as it’s about the next.
- This is what Peter is speaking about today.
- We very much have a living hope that we can cling to as we navigate the treacherous waters of living in this world.
1. A new life in Christ
- When you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, did your life stay the same? NO
- In John 3:3, Jesus said: “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
- Even though we are still alive and still stuck in this world we are living a new life.
- As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
- In verse 3 Peter says: “God has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
- If we doubt it or ignore it or dismiss it, it WILL pass us by, and we will miss it.
- God has given us free will in all things and salvation is no exception.
- My great hope is the life that awaits us for eternity. As Peter says in verse 4:
[We are born] into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
- This inheritance is being kept in heaven for all of us.
- Because of our faith, verse 5, we are:
Shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
- This is the great hope we have for the future and in this we can rejoice.
- It doesn’t mean life gets magically easier for us as Peter says in verse 6:
- For a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
- We are not promised an easy ride, but we are promised a living hope to carry us through
- We will face trials, but the “living hope” part is in how we respond to those trials.
- Peter compares this to refining gold which is perishable, but our faith becomes stronger.
- The trials we face are opportunities to prove our faith and show that it is genuine.
- It is through the growth and maturity of our faith that we bring glory and honor to Jesus.
- Jesus knows all the trials we will face; think of all the trials He faced.
- It was through His never-failing obedience to the Father that He brought the Father glory.
- This is exactly what He expects from us: obedience to His mission to the world.
- Jesus has given us an opportunity to be His hands and feet and voice to our lost world.
- When He gives us a job to do, He also gives us the resources and training to do the job.
- I just spent a week at my company’s home office in Minneapolis, MN receiving training.
- My company is investing in me as an employee and demonstrating commitment to me.
- This is the same thing Jesus Christ does for each of us; Jesus is making an investment.
- This is where the “living hope” comes in because He is investing in us.
- Another thing that my company did for me was to assign a mentor to help me find my way around and get acclimated,
- Do you know how Jesus does that for us? The Holy Spirit
- Jesus sent us our own personal mentor in the Holy Spirit; a helper for us as a living hope.
- Jesus is calling us to be His disciples.
- When we accept Him and accept His call on our lives, He provides training and a mentor.
- The Gospel is alive; we have a living hope in Jesus Christ.
2. The end result
- Peter knew Jesus and had seen Him and walked with Him.
- We have never seen Him and Peter recognizes that in the people He was speaking to which now includes us.
- But as Peter points out in verse 8:
Even though we do not see him now, we believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.
- What is the source of this joy? Peter tells us in verse 9:
You are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
- Isn’t that the great hope that we all have in our Christian faith?
- Matthew Henry says three things about this hope that has such a solid foundation as the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead:
- A good Christian’s condition is never so bad but he has great reason still to bless God.
- In our prayers and praises we should address God as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; it is only through him that we and our services are accepted.
- The best of men owe their best blessings to the abundant mercy of God. All the evil in the world is from man’s sin, but all the good in it is from God’s mercy.
- From verses 10-11 Peter tells us that this salvation, that we hope for, was presented by the prophets, who:
- spoke of the grace that was to come to you,
- searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances into which Christ would come
- The Spirit of Christ was in them predicting the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.
- It was revealed to the prophets that they were not serving themselves but you, US.
- Peter said that to his audience 2000 years ago but it applies equally today.
- We would like to know what the circumstances will be that bring Christ back.
- All we know is that our spirit groans for the time when our living hope gives way to eternal life in glory with Christ.
- The Gospel preaches these things through the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.
- Even the angels in heaven long to look into these things that are to come.
- As we move through our lives in this world we need to lean a living hope in Christ
- The Gospel Means a Living Hope.