Always Hopeful!
You can virtually summarize hope in one word: resurrection.
It is claimed that humans can live a little over 45 days without food, slightly over 3 days without water, and about 4 minutes without oxygen, but no one can live without hope.
Researchers tell us there’s an array of debilitating consequences with hopelessness (insomnia, headaches, fatigue, chronic pain, increased risk of heart disease, weight loss or gain, nausea, inflammation, decreased libido, exacerbates chronic illnesses, gastrointestinal problems). Research also reveals some great advantages to being hopeful (reduces physical pain, boosts circulation, improves cardiovascular health which is preventative for heart disease).
The best way to experience a sure hope is EASTER. Listen to 1 Peter 1:3: “Blessed by 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.”
Hope from the world’s viewpoint is typically defined as being optimistic or having a wishful desire that something might work out for your good or the well-being of others. Hope from God’s perspective is defined as a guarantee that good will happen on your behalf. It’s described as “an anchor of the soul…both sure and steadfast” (Heb. 6:19), and it “does not disappoint” (Rom. 5:5).
Since God tells us we have a “living hope” because Jesus Christ is alive, let me spell out a few characteristics of that H.O.P.E.
It’s a heavenly hope. The significance of your hope is determined by the source of your hope. The source of the believer’s hope is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 3a). Since our God cannot lie, we can trust His faithful promises about our forgiven past, empowered present, and guaranteed future.
It’s an obtainable hope. Many things in this life aren’t obtainable, but hope is because God gave it to us “according to His great mercy” (v. 3b). If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then you and I are still in our sins, we can just eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die, and that’s it. However, He "caused us to be born again" (v. 3c) and “saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy” (Titus 3:5).
It’s a powerful hope. The only way anyone can explain the radical change of the disciples after Jesus died is the bodily “resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (v. 3d). It transformed defeat into victory as our resurrected Lord filled Peter’s boat with a mountain of fish after being skunked all night long (John 21:3–6). It transformed doubt to faith as our risen Savior met Thomas face-to-face and showed him His nail-pierced hands and feet (John 20:24–25). It transformed despair into hope as Mary Magdalene’s overwhelming sorrow was met with the reality of her risen Messiah (John 20:1–18).
It’s an eternal hope. When Jesus rose from the dead, Peter notes that believers were given “an inheritance that is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (v. 4-5). This great promise is not only a gift for this life, but it’s an eternal guarantee for the next life…”imperishable” (won’t wear out or decay), “reserved in heaven” (what a bank that is), and “protected by the power of God” (who’s stronger than God?).
What an incredible hope we have right in the middle of a hopeless world. Let’s tell them what they so desperately need and don’t yet know what they could have.
Happy Easter. Hope springs eternal…in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!
Pastor Jeff