The Believer's Living Hope

The Believer's Living Hope

1 Peter 1:3-5

Intro: What is this great hope we can have? It’s eternal life—the glorious privilege of living forever with God. Just imagine living face to face with God forever! No greater privilege could ever be given to us.

Note that our hope is said to be a living hope.

A living hope means that it’s not a dead, lifeless hope. It’s not the kind of hope that we use to stir positive thinking for the moment but does nothing for us beyond the grave; not the kind of hope that gives us meaning and motivation for life but is dead and lifeless beyond this life. 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’s not a probable hope; it’s not the kind of hope that may or may not come to pass.

The hope that God gives is a living hope, a hope that is real and true, that actually exists.

A living hope is active & functioning; it acts and works both within our heart and within heaven apart from us.

Eternal life is a living hope because it is reality; it’s a life that really exists in another world, the spiritual world that is more real than the world in which we live. Our hope for eternal life lives, acts, and works within us now, even while we are on earth. It’s not that we are going to receive eternal life; we have already received it. This is the glorious hope we have, the living hope of living forever with God face to face.

A. The source of this hope is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (v. 3)

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

Note who our Lord Jesus Christ is:

He is our Lord, the One to whom we have surrendered and yielded our lives; the One who sits in the spiritual and heavenly world at the right hand of God the Father.

He is Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, the Man who claimed to be the Son of God and who was sent into the world as the Savior of all men.

He is Christ the Messiah who was promised by God to save men.

This means: if we follow Jesus, then the God and Father of Jesus becomes our God and Father.

And note: He is the God who gives eternal life. This means: God is not off in outer space someplace, far removed from us, a god with little or no interest in our welfare. God is near at hand, all about us, living within the spiritual world and dimension, longing to relate to us and to look after and care for us, and to give us eternal life. Jesus Christ shows us this. This was the way His Father took care of Him; & if we follow Christ, it is the way God, even our Father, takes care of us. He gives us the most wonderful gift: eternal life; the living hope of living forever with Him even as Christ now lives with Him in heaven.

Thought: Eternal life exists nowhere else. Only the God and Father of our Lord possess eternal life. Therefore, if we want to know God and to receive eternal life, we have to come to the Lord. We must trust Christ if we want the God and Father of Christ to give us eternal life. And we must always remember: only the God and Father of Jesus Christ can give us the living hope of living forever.

How does God go about giving us the living hope of eternal life? This is a critical question, for when we look around our world all we see is corruption & death. We are born and then before we know it, it’s time to die. And even while we are here on earth there is sin, shame, accident, disease, suffering, evil, cursing, lying, stealing, deception, assaults, murders, wars—so much corruption that death just seems to engulf the earth. We know that man and everything else including the world itself are dying. How then does God stop this process of corruption and death? How does God go about giving us the living hope of eternal life?

1. The living hope comes by the mercy of God. (v. 3b)

This is the basis of our hope; it could be no other way. We are so sinful we have only one hope: the hope that God will have mercy upon us. If we are going to ever be accepted and given the living hope of living forever, then God has to be merciful.

And note that God is said to have abundant mercy. His mercy flows on and on; it is forever covering us and creating the living hope and presence of eternal life within our hearts.

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)" (Eph. 2:4-5).

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus 3:5).

"But the mercy of the lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children"

(Psalm 103:17).

"It is of the lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not" (Lament. 3:22).

2. The living hope comes by the new birth. (v.3c)

Note the words begotten again or born again. There is no hope for eternal life unless we are born again by the Spirit of God. We have to be regenerated & made into a new man before we can ever live forever.

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3).

"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; & that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John 3:5-7).

3. The living hope comes by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (v. 3d)

How does His resurrection give us the hope of living forever? By three things:

a. First, God has proven that He has the power to raise the dead.

There should never be any question about this; for God, if He is truly God, has unlimited power to do anything. But His power to raise the dead and to keep them from ever dying again is now proven beyond all questions: it’s proven by the fact that He has raised Jesus from the dead and exalted Him into heaven never again to die.

b. Second, the fact that God raised Christ from the dead proves that Jesus is exactly who He claimed to be: The Son of God who came into the world to save men.

God would have never raised Christ if He had been a liar and deceiver. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world; therefore, God raised Him from the dead.

c. Third, Christ is the Son of God, the Perfect and Ideal Man who lived a sinless life when He was upon earth.

This means Being the Perfect and Ideal Man, whatever He does is acceptable to God. When He arose from the dead, His resurrection was the perfect and ideal resurrection. Therefore, it can stand for and cover every man's resurrection. If we are in Christ—if we really believe in Christ—then God can count us in the ideal resurrection of Christ. God can raise us up to live with Him forever just as He did with Christ.

"Who was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25).

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:9-10).

"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him" (1 Thess. 4:14).

B. There is the inheritance of the hope. (v. 4)

The inheritance is the eternal life that God gives us. Note how our inheritance is described in (v. 4).

"To an inheritance incorruptible, & undefiled, & that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4).

1. Our inheritance is "incorruptible".

The word means that it cannot perish; it does not age, deteriorate, or die; it does not have the seed of corruption within it.

Thought: Matthew Henry points out that everything on earth changes from better to worse, but not our inheritance. It’s perfect and incorruptible. It never changes, and it shall never cease to be the most perfect inheritance and gift imaginable.

2. Our inheritance is "undefiled".

The word means that it cannot be polluted or defiled, dirtied or infected. It means that our inheritance will be without any flaw or defect; it will be perfectly free from sickness, disease, infections, accident, pollution, dirt—from any defilement whatsoever.

3. Our inheritance “does not fade away”. It will last forever and ever.

The splendor and beauty of it all—of life and of all the positions and possessions which God shall give us—none of the splendor and beauty shall fade or diminish whatsoever. Nothing, not even our energy and bodies, shall wear out or waste away.

4. Our inheritance is “reserved in heaven for us”. It’s actually being held there by God for us.

God is simply waiting for us to finish our task here on earth and to come home to Him. Then He will give us our inheritance.

Note: Those who are to receive the inheritance are those who have received the mercy of God, been born again, and are trusting the resurrection of Jesus Christ to cover their resurrection (v. 3).

"And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified" (Acts 20:32).

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together" (Romans 8:16-17).

"[Christ] in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Eph. 1:11).

"Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ" (Col. 3:24)

C. There is the assurance of the hope. (v. 5)

“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

How do we know for sure that we will receive the inheritance? The temptations and trials of life are so forceful and threatening, how do we know that we will receive the living hope of eternal life and its glorious inheritance? How do we know that we will not fall and come short of the great day of redemption? There are two answers.

1. There is the assurance of God's power. God's power keeps us. The word "kept" means to guard; to protect. The might and strength of God's power protect us throughout our journey in life—through all the trials and temptations of life—and God will see to it that we shall reach the glorious end of life: salvation. God Himself, in His sovereign and omnipotent power, will see to it that we receive eternal life and the inheritance that is being reserved for us.

"But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil" (2 Thess. 3:3).

"For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed & am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Tim. 1:12).

2. There is the assurance of faith. We are kept not only by God, but...

· by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

· by our faith in God's power.

We shall never receive the hope of eternal life or of God's glorious inheritance unless we truly believe in God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Belief in Christ is absolutely essential. But once we have truly trusted Christ as our Savior, we are saved; we shall receive eternal life & the great inheritance of God's promise.

But a true faith is a continuing faith and trust in God's power.

And a continuing faith is diligent and watchful. It’s a faith that loves Christ with all its heart and life. It’s a faith that seeks to follow Christ and to please Him in all that it does.

Therefore, a continuing faith is a faith that lives a holy, righteous, & pure life and that serves the Lord.

True faith is a real commitment that obeys and follows Christ & that trusts the power of God to deliver him through all the trials and temptations of life. This is the kind of faith that keeps us.

The person who has this kind of faith has the assurance that he will receive eternal life and the promise of the inheritance.

"That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:15).

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).