One of the most depressing points in life is being without hope. The great dreams we had are in shambles, and we sit grasping our head, trying to cope with the loss. When we look at sin, we should see it as a hope-stealer. But, when we look in 1 Peter he tells us that we have a living hope, not dead, or broken. This hope will be offered as long as we have opportunity to obey Him.
This hope is very special. This hope is very different. This hope is worthy of a change of life. Peter says this hope isn’t going to pass away; it won’t fall apart like the hopes of this life. This one is “incorruptible and undefiled and does not fade away.” What an amazing hope! There is a place “reserved in heaven” for us! This is our inheritance from God! But, there are things we must understand about this hope. Peter says that it was out of the “abundant mercy” of God that we have this living hope. We didn’t deserve this kind of hope because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). It comes from God as a gift that we could never earn.
But how was this hope prepared? What was done so that we can have this hope? Peter says we have been begotten “again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” We have this living hope because of what Christ did, not because of what we did. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty” (vs. 14). If Christ had not been raised we would not have this living hope. But, because Christ has been raised we can hope for the time when Christ “will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body” (Phil. 3:21).
That is what the Father and Christ have done for our hope. But what must we do? Vs. 5 reads, “who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Our part is to continue to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). We continue imitating those great examples who “through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:12). This hope is not offered with out conditions. This hope demands a maximum effort to obtain. Paul said, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” It will take effort to receive that hope, but we should be extremely thankful that we are not left in our lost condition. We have this great living hope put before us by God’s mercy, through the resurrection of Christ. The question is, will we have the faith to obtain this living hope?
Shane Millard
