Hope. Can we really have it?

Genesis 3:14-15; 1 Peter 1:3-6; Ephesians 1:11-14.

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Next Wednesday is Spring Break, we will be here but open gym with a short devotion.

Introduction

Show Pictures of things. Tell me what they represent to you.

School

Iphone

Food

NFL

White House

The Cross

The Empty tomb

What do they represent?

As Easter is approaching, I was thinking and praying of what the Lord would have me to teach. I was planning and had been planning our next section in John which was the feeding of the five thousand. But as I was praying and seeking the Lord put it on my mind that Easter is upcoming, and one of the main themes we get from Easter is this term Hope.

Read 1 Peter 1:3–9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Pray

Hope Promised

After the Fall of Man God makes a promise to Satan. Context

Genesis 3:14–15 “The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””

Take time to explain the hope of the serpent being crushed.

Why did he need to be crushed? To give life to us.

Time and time throughout the OT we see promises of a better day to come.

The Israelites were constantly in a rut. Constantly being beaten down. But when they were reminded, and when they were faithful to the promise, they were better off.

10,000 Sermon Illustrations (The Dying Boy)

The school system in a large city had a program to help children keep up with their school work during stays in the city’s hospitals. One day a teacher who was assigned to the program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular child. She took the child’s name and room number and talked briefly with the child’s regular class teacher. “We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now,” the regular teacher said, “and I’d be grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn’t fall too far behind.”

The hospital program teacher went to see the boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned to her that the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain. Upset at the sight of the boy, she stammered as she told him, “I’ve been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs.” When she left she felt she hadn’t accomplished much. But the next day, a nurse asked her, “What did you do to that boy?” The teacher felt she must have done something wrong and began to apologize. “No, no,” said the nurse. “You don’t know what I mean. We’ve been worried about that little boy, but ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s fighting back, responding to treatment. It’s as though he’s decided to live.”

Two weeks later the boy explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything changed when he came to a simple realization. He expressed it this way: “They wouldn’t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?”

It is easy for us to get discouraged. It is easy for us to miss it. Ya know? For us to miss the work that is being done around us.

It is easy to miss the fact that you are loved

The fact that if you are here tonight you are seen.

School might get you down

“Friends”

Hope Fulfilled

1 Peter 1:3–5“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Living Hope?

The song we sang by Phil Wickham. We just sang it. We have a hope that is alive and active today.

Unlike the Israelites, we know that we know that we know the hope that was promised in Genesis 3 has been fulfilled through Jesus.

Jesus was bruised, but Satan has been crushed through Jesus death burial and resurrection.

Hope Secured

Ephesians 1:11–14 “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Obtained an inheritance?

It is ours, what is the inheritance?

Why does it matter that we are sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit?

Who is Paul talking to here? Christians Look back at the intro to Ephesians

Ephesians 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:”

Our hope is secured not just due to head knowledge of Jesus. But it is due to the work of Jesus, and it is sealed with the Spirit.

Takeaways

WE CAN NOT PUT OUR HOPE IN THINGS OF THE WORLD

What do we know about Hope? Or what things do we hope in?

If i just have have a boyfriend or girlfriend, I will be okay.

If i make the perfect score on the exam, i will be okay

If I make it through high school and move as far away from Franklin, I will be okay.

If I make hundreds of thousands of dollars at my job, I will be okay.

If I become the social media influencer, I will be okay

If I can not be like my mom or dad, I will be okay.

If I can get away from my siblings, I will be okay.

WE CAN NOT PUT OUR HOPE IN RELIGIOUS WORKS

If I read my Bible, I will be okay

If I pray hard enough and long enough, I will be okay

If I attend church on Wednesday Night, I will be okay.

If I go to the camps, and retreats, and DNOW and all the events, I will be okay.

If I have my assigned seat in a pew when I get older like mom or dad, I will be okay.

I do not want you all to be like the Pharisees who put their hope and faith in works.

Jesus addresses this idea that if I do enough good things “for the Lord” then I will be okay.

Matthew 7:21–23 ““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

WE MUST PUT OUR HOPE IN JESUS. And the eternal sight Jesus gives us.

The gospel.

Go back to 1 Peter 1:3–9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Story of Maggie

Romans 8:28 “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

The temptation of when we leave here.

What I am about to say may sound too harsh or brash. But if you leave here tonight and you keep your hope in something that is of this world, or it is kept in doing enough good things. Nothing will change. It will be like dropping yourself in the the middle of an ocean with no help. You might be able to float on your back when the waves calm down for a bit and rest. But when the tide is insane, and all you can do is doggy paddle, you get twisted and

I would also be leading you astray that becoming a Christian solves all of the hurt and brokenness you have. That is what we call prosperity gospel and that is a lie from Satan.

Following Jesus is obedience, but it is fixing our hope on the resurrection, and fixing our eyes even through the storm that we have an eternal insurance through the blood of Jesus.

Conclusion

My prayer is that this was encouraging. That the Lord is working in your life to know you are seen, you are loved, and that you have hope in a man who perfectly man and God. That you can know practically what it means to put your hope in someone or something. And that the only way to have hope that lasts is that it must

To the nonbeliever who is struggling, I pray this spoke to you

To the believer who is struggling, fix your eyes on Jesus

To the believer who is chilling, use this to go and share the hope that we can find in Jesus.

Easter is coming, a perfect time to begin your daily walk with the Lord. Be here this Sunday, we have services at 9:30. Invite a friend, we would love to see you all.

To answer the question, Yes we can have hope. We can have hope in the risen Savior, the Father who has adopted us into His family, and we can have hope in eternal life where there is no more pain, sorrow, grief, anxiety, stress, burdens. We can have hope. Let’s pray together.

Small Group Questions

What things do you have the tendency to put your hope in?

Has Jesus given you hope? And how?

Who do you need to share the hope of Jesus with?