A Living Hope

1 Peter 1:3–9 NIV

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, 28th Edition Chapter 1

3 Εὐλογητὸς ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁ κατὰ* °τὸ πολὺ ⸉αὐτοῦ ἔλεος⸊ ἀναγεννήσας °1ἡμᾶς εἰς ἐλπίδα* ⸀ζῶσαν διʼ ἀναστάσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐκ νεκρῶν, 4 εἰς κληρονομίαν ἄφθαρτον καὶ ⸂ἀμίαντον καὶ ἀμάραντον⸃ τετηρημένην ⸄ἐν οὐρανοῖς⸅ εἰς ⸀ὑμᾶς* 5 τοὺς ἐν δυνάμει °θεοῦ φρουρουμένους διὰ πίστεως εἰς σωτηρίαν* ἑτοίμην ἀποκαλυφθῆναι ἐν καιρῷ ἐσχάτῳ* 6 ⸂ἐν ᾧ⸃ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε ὀλίγον ἄρτι, εἰ δέον °ἐστίν, ⸀λυπηθέντας ἐν ⸁ποικίλοις πειρασμοῖς,* 7 ἵνα τὸ ⸀δοκίμιον ⸉ὑμῶν τῆς πίστεως⸊ πολυτιμότερον ⸁χρυσίου τοῦ ἀπολλυμένου, ⸂διὰ πυρὸς δὲ⸃ δοκιμαζομένου εὑρεθῇ εἰς ἔπαινον καὶ ⸄δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν⸅ ἐν ἀποκαλύψει Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ 8 ὃν οὐκ ⸀ἰδόντες ἀγαπᾶτε,* εἰς ὃν ἄρτι μὴ ὁρῶντες, πιστεύοντες δὲ* ⸁ἀγαλλιᾶσθε χαρᾷ ἀνεκλαλήτῳ καὶ δεδοξασμένῃ* 9 κομιζόμενοι τὸ τέλος τῆς πίστεως °ὑμῶν σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν.*

Note: People’s Bible:

There is perhaps no paragraph i all of Scripture that can give more comfort to a suffering or dying Christian.

When Christians are painfully aware of what is being taken away from them, such as their freedom, their dignity, their health, or their money, it is comforting to remember which treasures cannot be taken from them. : The mercy of God, the new birth of Holy Baptism, and the heavenly inheritance that cannot perish, spoil, or fade away. Stock market may crash; buildings burn down; banks may fail; doctors may fail; businesses may fail; the love of family members may fail; but the good things that Christ gives will never fail because they are based on irreversible historical fact-Christ’s resurrection from the dead. He lives; and because he lives, hope lives too.

how can God shield this living hope for us?

God never promise heaven on earth - did not promise an earthly life without pain, sickness, hostility from Satan accomplices, or death. But he did promise to set limits to the hardships that came upon us; he would allow only as much trouble as he knows we can bear.

He promises that after the night of trouble, relief and deliverance will come in the morning - these troubles are only “for a little while”

He promises to work it all together for our good. In some ways, God turns every disaster inside out and makes it an opportunity for blessings

God compensates Christians for everything they have to give up for him. That compensation is given in eternity, but also now. “No one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life”

Luke 18:28–30 NIV

Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

When Christians suffer, God makes out painful experiences serve us by toughening our faith and by burning off harmful distractions to our goal. In verse 7 — Peter compares our faith to gold ore, which has to be smelted at 110 degrees Fahrenheit to be refined enough to be useful. We all need this wake-up call-our number one priority needs always to be our relationship with our Savior, so that our Reunion with him at his reaping will be full of praise, not dread.

I. New birth - Baptism and Faith

A. Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ — give us new birth

B. Inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade

C. God will help our faith - as shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation

II. Toughening our faith for the judgment day

A. You have not seen him, you love him /You have not seen him but you love him. Gold is to be purify and only the best is selected.

B. You believe in him and filled with an in expressible and glorious joy

C. End result of our faith is salvation of your souls.

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Hope

Some years ago a hydroelectric dam was to be built across a valley in New England. The people in a small town in the valley were to be relocated because the town itself would be submerged when the dam was finished. During the time between the decision to build the dam and its completion, the buildings in the town, which previously were kept up nicely, fell into disrepair. Instead of being a pretty little town, it became an eyesore.

Why did this happen? The answer is simple. As one resident said, “Where there is no faith in the future, there is no work in the present.”678

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Hope

In his book Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl, successor of Sigmund Freud at Vienna, argued that the “loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect on man.” As a result of his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, Frankl contended that when a man no longer possesses a motive for living, no future to look toward, he curls up in a corner and dies. “Any attempt to restore a man’s inner strength in camp,” he wrote, “had first to succeed in showing him some future goal.”679

Dear friends in Christ:

A Hydroelectric Dam in England was to be built. The city was beautifully up keep and when the plan to build the dam is started to finish, the beautiful town became despair. The situation was clear as one resident said, “Where there is no faith in the future, there is no work in the present.”

Today, our Lord give us a Living Hope. How did we get this living hope?

Christ Jesus came back to life from his death on the Christ. This is a living hope that God gave to the world. When the world is full of pain and troubles, the Lord, the maker of heavens and earth gave man kind a living hope. A hope that only God can give.

how do we receive and get this living hope? We get this by faith in the one and only Son of God who came an died on the Christ. God give us this hope by allowing us to become his children. God promise that he turn his people to be children of God not by human wisdom and preferences but by faith.