Sunrise Service

Just a few weeks ago I was listening to a Christian and an Atheist debate about Christianity.

It was a long and drawn out ordeal but one part of the conversation was specifically interesting.

The Christian said, “If you want to cut Christianity off at the knees there is only one thing that you need to prove.”

I started to lean in.

What was he going to say.

What would did he believe would be the most fatal blow to Christianity.

Then he said, “All you would have to do is prove that the resurrection was a lie.”

“All you would have to do is prove that Jesus didn’t rise from the dead.”

And I sat back and simply thought about what was said.

And he’s right.

For the Christian the basis of our belief.

The foundation for our faith is the Resurrection.

Paul puts it this way in 1 Cor 15:12-19

1 Corinthians 15:12–19 CSB

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? 13 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 proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 15 Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact 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 worthless; you are still in your sins. 18 Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. 19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.

Resurrection

What Paul is saying here is that if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead we have no life, we have no faith, we believe a lie.

And obviously we are here today on the day that we celebrate as resurrection Sunday.

We all believe and have faith that Jesus rose from the dead.

We are all confident in Jesus’ power over sin and death.

We trust in the God that can take dead things and make them alive.

But what do we do with that.

Sure we have salvation if we trust in the resurrection.

But I believe according to the scriptures that God has more for us than just a simple belief in the resurrection.

If we believe Jesus rose from the dead then we have hope.

A hope that can never waiver.

A hope that will never fail.

A hope that strengthens us.

A hope that guides us.

A hope that is not dead.

A hope that is alive.

A living hope.

And for Peter and some of the early Christians this hope in the resurrection is what they thrived off of.

We are about to look at the opening verses of 1 Peter.

But before we do I want to lay a little bit of a frame work for what is going on here.

When Peter writes this letter he is writing to men and women who have been cast out of their homes.

They now live in a land that is not their home.

They are surrounded by people that consistently and constantly persecuted them.

They live in a time when it would be easy for all hope to be lost.

Their lives and circumstances are bad.

But Peter tells them not to focus on their circumstances but focus on Jesus and the hope of the resurrection.

Listen to what he says.

1 Peter 1:3–12 CSB

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated. 11 They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.

Living Hope

In vs. 1-3 we read that God is to be blessed.

God is to be blessed b/c he has given us new life in Jesus.

He has made us new creations.

He has given us a living hope in Jesus Christ.

The resurrection of Jesus doesn’t just save you.

It also sustains you.

Because of Jesus’ resurrection we have a hope.

Not a dead hope but a living hope.

And we receive that living hope b/c of God’s great mercy.

When chaos surrounds us and things don’t go according to our plans.

When we face trials, temptations, and suffering there are many things that people put their hope in.

They put their hope in drugs, alcohol, other people, the government.

You name it they put their hope in it.

But all of that hope is dead hope.

Why?

Because eventually all of those things are going to fail.

All of those things will eventually leave you high and dry.

All of those things will pass away.

But through the resurrection we have something greater than these temporary fixes.

We have a hope and inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading.

We have the hope that no matter how bad things get here we have a loving God who has solved our greatest problem.

He has conquered sin and death.

He has died and rose again so that we can have new life.

So that we can be born anew.

So that we can be reconciled with God.

A living hope in the resurrection is more sure than a hope in government, people, or in circumstances improving.

If we belong to Jesus then we have hope.

A hope that is unable to be destroyed.

The Living Hope has signs of life.

It is vital, it is Victorious.

Just imagine for a second that you’re in Peter’s shows.

The night before the crucifixion you are being bombarded by people asking you if you know Jesus.

And three times you deny him.

Three times you deny knowing your friend.

Three times you deny your teacher.

Three times you deny loving your Lord.

And I can only imagine that those three days and nights for Peter were the darkest he had ever faced.

All hope had been lost.

But then on that Sunday Morning Dawn broke through.

When Peter Saw his precious savior.

Hope was restored.

Peter now had a living hope.

The Resurrection of Jesus was a life changing event for Peter.

And the resurrection of Jesus is no less powerful and life-changing if you believe.

Jesus restores.

Jesus heals.

Jesus brings life.

And when you believe.

God protects you.

He places his hedge around you.

He guards you.

We know and hope that if God raised Jesus from the dead we can experience that same life.

That is what we place our hope in

And God promises that he will protect those who belong to him.

Peter continues to tell us that this living hope we have in Jesus is the reason why we can rejoice in suffering.

Why we can rejoice during trials.

Why we can suffer various trials.

1 peter 1:6-9 “6 You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials 7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

All the suffering and trials we face now we know are temporary.

They are only for a short time compared with the eternity we get to spend in the Presence of our risen Lord.

And Not only are they temporary.

They are purposeful.

We don’t suffer or face trials arbitrarily.

There is purpose in our suffering.

The purpose is for our character to be proven.

for us to become more like Christ.

For us to place more of our hope, faith, and trust in him.

I heard a pastor say this before and it hold’s true.

“In your pursuit of Jesus not one ounce of your suffering is wasted.”

God uses all of you suffering for your good, for the good of those around you, and ultimately for his good.

Peter tells us that the purpose of our suffering is to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of JC.

If we truly have faith and we truly place our hope in Jesus.

Then we know that he’s got our back and that he is working his purposes how he sees fit.

We may not like it. We may not approve of it, but he is Lord and he can do as he pleases.

I know many believers that are ready for Jesus to come back.

And believe me, I’m ready to.

But there is still work to be done.

We can rest on our haunches and simply wait for his return.

We need to get out there and tell people about this living hope found in Jesus.

It isn’t hard to run into someone in town that feels like all hope is lost.

They feel like things will never get better.

They feel like this world is going to hell in a hand-basket.

But here’s what we need to do.

We need to tell people about the hope found in Jesus.

We need to tell people about the resurrection power of Jesus.

We need to let people know that all hope is not lost.

Hope is alive and his name is Jesus.