Living Hope

Praise to God for a Living Hope 1 Peter 1:3-9

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, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 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. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 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. 8 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, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Hope is one thing. Living hope, well that’s something altogether different! God, in His mercy, has birthed us into “living hope” through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Not only that, but because of this living hope we also have an inheritance that will never perish, spoil or fade! In a world full of fads and trends and so many things that just wear out, that’s good news. That’s worth a shout of praise!!!

Sometimes its hard to rejoice about this life that is filled with challenges, grief and all kinds of trials. The Bible says that it is faith-faith that is more precious than gold, that is proved genuine by praising when all hell is raising. Hope that is “living” does not disappear when things go bad. It doesn’t give up when circumstances take a wrong turn. This faith and belief in Jesus brings inexpressible and glorious joy into our lives which leads to the goal of our faith: salvation!

Faith is the substance of what we hope for. It activates and initiates this living hope so that all of the desires of God for our lives come into our lives. When you know Jesus, you are birthed into living hope and everything changes…IN YOU! Thanks be to God!