#4 Faith *Hope Love
Faith hope love • Sermon • Submitted
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24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
(TPT)
24 For this is the hope of our salvation. But hope means that we must trust and wait for what is still unseen. For why would we need to hope for something we already have?
13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
(TPT)
13 Until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope, and love—yet love surpasses them all.[a] So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run.
3 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,
(TPT)
3 Celebrate with praises the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has shown us his extravagant mercy. For his fountain of mercy has given us a new life—we are reborn[a] to experience a living, energetic hope[b] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.[c]
Footnotes:
1 Peter 1:3 This is the only place in the New Testament where the Greek verb anagennaō is found (a hapax legomenon). This shows that God himself is the one who gives us new birth as newborn believers filled with the life of Christ. God is truly our Father, who gives us new life through his living mercy.
1 Peter 1:3 Some Greek manuscripts and the Aramaic read “the hope of life.”
1 Peter 1:3 Peter states that the first result of our new birth is that we are brought into a living hope in the power of God, based on the resurrection of Christ. The God of resurrection gives us a powerful hope to excel in life.
Today the word “hope” usually means nothing more than wishful thinking. We often hear people say,
“I hope I get an ‘A’ on that paper,” “I hope my team wins,” or “I hope it doesn’t rain today.” In all of these statements, hope is nothing more than a wish for something good to happen.
Of course, people need to have hope—it keeps them going. Present hurts and uncertainty over what the future holds create the constant need for hope. Worldwide poverty, hunger, disease, terrorism, and destruction create a longing for something better. Historically, people have looked to the future with a mixture of longing and fear.
Many have concluded that there is no reasonable basis for hope—therefore, “to hope” is to live with an illusion. This viewpoint is partially correct; Scripture tells us that those who do not have God in their lives do not have hope
12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
The Greek term elpis denotes “confident expectation” or “anticipation”—not “wishful thinking.”
Hope is consequently an expectation or belief in the fulfillment of God’s promises, Biblical hope is hope in what God will do in the future.
In the OT God alone is the ultimate ground and object of hope. Hope in God was generated by His mighty deeds in history. In fulfilling His promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:1–3), He redeemed the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. He provided for their needs in the wilderness, formed them into a covenant community at Sinai, and led them into the successful occupation of Canaan. These acts provided a firm base for their confidence in God’s continuing purpose for them. Even when Israel was unfaithful, hope was not lost. Because of God’s faithfulness and mercy, those who returned to Him could count on His help
A corollary of putting one’s hope in God is refusing to place one’s final confidence in the created order. All created things are weak, transient, and apt to fail. For this reason it is futile to vest ultimate hope in wealth (Pss. 49:6–12; 52:7; Prov. 11:28), houses (Isa. 32:17–18), princes (Ps. 146:3), empires and armies (Isa. 31:1–3; 2 Kings 18:19–24), or even the Jerusalem temple (Jer. 7:1–7). God, and God only, is a rock that cannot be moved (Deut. 32:4, 15, 18; Pss. 18:2; 62:2; Isa. 26:4) and a refuge and fortress who provides ultimate security (Pss. 14:6, 61:3; 73:28; 91:9). An accurate summary of the OT emphasis is found in Ps. 119:49–50.
For this reason it is futile to vest ultimate HOPE in wealth
28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
who put their hope in princes
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
or in empires and armies
1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses,
who trust in the multitude of their chariots
and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
or seek help from the Lord.
The NT continues to speak of God as the source and object of Hope.
Paul wrote that it was “God who raises the dead” in whom “we have placed our HOPE”
9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,
For the early Christians, hope is also focused in Christ. He is called “our Hope”
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,
At the heart of Christian hope is the resurrection of Jesus.
Paul discusses the nature, certainty, and importance of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians (
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 27 For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. 28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
Paul is certain that Christian hope points to the future, “If we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world”
19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
The significance of Christ’s resurrection is not only that it points to His victory over death, but it also extends that victory to those who are His: “Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised”
23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
The apostle Peter said, “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”
3 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,
In that passage, Peter attributes living hope to the resurrection of Christ and points to God’s future blessing upon those who belong to Christ.
This future hope empowers us to live without despair through the struggle and suffering of the present age.
The Future of Hope
The Future of Hope
While the NT affirms the sufficiency of Christ’s redemptive work in the past, it also looks forward to His return in the future to complete God’s purpose. Indeed, the major emphasis on hope in the NT centers on the second coming of Christ. The “blessed hope” of the church is nothing less than “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ”
13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
The Assurance of Hope
The Assurance of Hope
Christians live in hope for two basic reasons.
Christians live in hope for two basic reasons.
The 1st reason is because of what God has done in Christ.
The 1st reason is because of what God has done in Christ.
Especially important is the emphasis the NT places on the resurrection by which Christ has defeated the power of sin and death. “According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3 HCSB).
The 2nd reason is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The 2nd reason is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
“The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom. 8:16 HCSB).
Given the assurance of hope, Christians live in the present with confidence and face the future with courage. They can also meet trials triumphantly because they know “that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope” (Rom. 5:3–4 HCSB). Such perseverance is not passive resignation; it is the confident endurance in the face of opposition. There is, therefore, certitude in Christian hope that amounts to a qualitative difference from ordinary hope. Christian hope is the gift of God. “We have this hope—like a sure and firm anchor of the soul” (Heb. 6:19 HCSB).