Living Hope

The older I get the more excited (dare I say emotional) I get about Easter. As I come to understand the depth of my brokenness and my desperate need for a savior, the more awe I have for the sacrifice of Christ and the power of His resurrection. As all this bundle of revelation, emotion and excitement come together, the more I realize what a time of thanksgiving Easter truly is.

1 Peter 1:3-4 brings this into focus for me:

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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you

Kistemaker says Peter wrote this letter to "testify to God’s true grace and to offer a message of hope and encouragement"; true hope, living hope. This is a hope that goes beyond the circumstances of life. If we look at this passage the first thing we see is praise, the proper position for us all as we come to understand and believe, we then see the relationship God and Father of our Lord which can only begin to point us to the great mercy that we are provided as believers.

This is a new mercy that leads us to a new birth; a spiritual rebirth into a new life. This is a life of living hope; a hope that is personal, living and active. It is a hope that is part of us and our lives. It is a hope that is always there. We may lose sight of it from time to time, but it is the hope that will always be there for us.

It is amazing to me that this hope stems from the power of the resurrection of Christ; hope that is realized and living because Christ overwhelmed the grave and conquered death. That is true and living hope and this hope show us as believers we have something to hope for; an inheritance…what? In fact an inheritance that; no matter what is going on in our lives, can never perish, spoil of fade; an inheritance that is kept in heaven, an inheritance that is eternal.

Praise be to God; for He has risen, He has risen indeed. May we all recognize the living hope through the resurrection of our Lord and Savior; Jesus Christ; the hope of an inheritance that is eternal, the living hope of a child of God! Amen…

Happy Easter – Grace and Peace!