He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done
in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration
and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through
Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made
heirs according to the hope of
eternal life.
Titus 3:5-7
In this week after Easter it
is only appropriate that we focus on the hope we have in living because of the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Living requires hope or it is merely existing. The person who lives without hope is
literally walking in death. God’s great
love for us brought a new life filled with hope.
This week’s study will focus
on a powerful passage from the book of I Peter.
This doxology is filled with theology which helps us understand the
security we have and the hope that it brings.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an
inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away,
reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith
for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5
This is a rich, rich passage
of Scripture. It is one of those passages that is so rich it would take an
eternity to grasp all that is taught in it. But probably the most wonderful things it teaches
is the believer’s glorious hope. What is
the great hope of the believer? It is
eternal life; the glorious privilege of living forever with our loving God. Just imagine living face to face with God
forever! No greater privilege could ever
be given man.
Life is
worth living with a living hope!
· A living hope means that it is not a dead, lifeless
hope. It is not the kind of hope that we
use to stir positive thinking for the moment but does nothing for us beyond the
grave. Despite all the earthly benefit
we get from positive thinking and motivational hope, these have no meaning
beyond this life and the grave.
· A living hope means that it is not a probable
hope or a wish. It is not the kind of
hope that may or may not come to pass. The
hope God gives is a living hope that is based in
a living Lord. A living hope is active
and functioning. It has a great purpose
in every believer’s life. It acts and
works both within the heart of the believer and within heaven apart from the
believer.
Eternal life
means Eternal Hope!
Eternal life is a living hope
because it is reality, not a desire or possibility. It is an experience that really exists in
another world, the spiritual world, which is more real than the world in which
we live. It has been accessed through
the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Our hope for eternal life
lives, acts, and works within us now, even while we are on earth. It is not that we are going to receive eternal life; we have already received eternal life. This
is the glorious hope of the believer, the living hope of living forever with
God face to face. Walk in that hope and
the peace of God will rule in your heart.
Scripture to Claim:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our
introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope
of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2
