We Have Hope!
Meditation for the week of August 2, 2009
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Peter is trying to encourage Christians whose faith is being tried. To do that he reminds them of their living hope. Their hope was obtained by being begotten again or born anew as some translations say. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is what provides that hope.
This morning I was looking at the postings of some of my friends on the social networking site called Facebook. This is what one of them said to a friend with regard to his jail ministry, “Giving hope to those who believe they are hopeless must be very rewarding.†This is what another said to a friend whose Christian mother has been “gone†for twelve years, “Isn’t it great to have hope and know you will see her again?†The Christian has something that cannot be taken away from them. They have hope.
Many people hope to be saved. They aren’t really sure whether they are saved or not. The reason for that is many people think that they are saved based on how good they are. Of course if that was true, those going to heaven wouldn’t need to be saved. But those of us who have hope are basing that on the fact that Christ died, was buried and was raised again the third day in order that we could have our sins forgiven. We don’t hope to be saved but because we are saved we have hope. Our hope consists of a bright future and we are looking forward to enjoying eternity with the Lord. For us hope is a confident assurance that we are going to be home with the Lord after we die or that we are going to go home when the Lord comes for the church without dying.
Everyone needs something to look forward to when they get up in the morning. That something is what motivates them. I have people for whom I am praying that have children that are sick with cancer, some wives have cancer, and I have a father that has had a stroke. When their relatives write their updates on the hospital blogs that are available, it is obvious that they all have hope that their loved one is going to survive, at least for a while, with a good quality of life. They want and need hope.
But for the Christian, our real hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead. His resurrection has proven that God is satisfied with His sacrifice for us on the cross. He didn’t die for His own sins, he died for ours. If He had been a sinner like us, the grave would have held Him. But it didn’t!
Because He lives, we know we will live as well (See John 14:19). Our blessed hope is the expectation that the Lord Himself could return at any moment (Titus 2:13). Those of us who have confidence in the Bible and have confidence in the Lord, have a reason to get up in the morning. The Lord says He is coming again and that we who are saved will be with Him where He is when He comes. (See John 14:3).
We have hope!
Bruce Collins