A Living Hope
1 Peter 1:3-5 (NKJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Hope is one of those words that is hard to define but we understand what it is to be hopeless–without purpose, without motivation, disturbed, despondent, depressed. . .
If we consider the opposite, Hope gives purpose, provides motivation, prevents our being disturbed, despondent and depressed! It is to a “living hope” that God has caused us to be born again and that “hope” is through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead in anticipation of our own inheritance in heaven. What an amazing promise of God, what a wonderful FACT! As Christians, children of God, our place with God in Christ, is an absolute! Not a mere wish, not an “I hope, I hope, I hope” but a genuine knowledge that as those who are begotten again–born of God–born of the water and the spirit–we possess an inheritance that God Himself holds for those who belong to Him.
And notice that this inheritance is reserved in heaven for those who are kept by God’s power. How good is that? How powerful is God? He is omnipotent–all-powerful– amazingly strong, all authoritative, absolute in every way. In a world that questions any “absolute” how comforting is it to know that God is absolute in every way? Powerful “to the max!”
Don’t overlook the importance of “faith” through which the child of God is protected or kept by God’s power. We must believe in God, we must believe God, and based on that belief be obedient to God as we know Him and His will for us.
And the salvation that God has in store for His faithful children is “ready” to be revealed. The term translated “ready” denotes immediacy–and the impression reminds me of a stage production. Imagine God in heaven giving the command “Curtain!” and the division between the spiritual realm and the physical realm is removed all at once and the glory of heaven is revealed and the saved of earth are immediately transformed and transferred to that glorious realm.
A Living Hope! Makes you want to be sure you are “in Christ” doesn’t it? Submission to Jesus based on your absolute belief in Him as the Son of God is essential( John 12:48), turning away from sin–that which divides us from God(Isaiah 58:1-2)–is another. Being baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27), baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38) is part of the process of being saved. No one could be saved without being cleansed of sin, could they? Are you ready for God to draw time to a close and open the curtains and reveal heaven? If not, submit yourself to Jesus by deciding to be obedient to Him and let God take away your sins when you are baptized for the forgiveness of your sins. Then that “hope” that God has offered will truly “live” for and in you!
Jimmy E. Gaston