A Living Hope

It is written in 1 Peter 1:3, “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.”

Hope is knowing with confidence that there is a future. This future is based on God’s faithfulness and willingness to rescue us through his son. The Hebrew writer says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23).

It’s about His faithfulness, not mine. My faith is weak one moment and strong the next. Struggling one day and confident the next. My heart is full of joy one day and broken the next. My spirit is enthusiastic one day and crushed the next. About the time I feel discouraged I am reminded of what David said in Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

I recently lost a friend who served God faithfully for many years yet after a struggle with sickness, took his own life. Now—for many—this event would hold no hope because of a bad theology that it is the unforgivable sin. This is not the theology of the Bible but that of legalism. When a man’s organ such as his heart fails to work and he has a heart attack and dies, we don’t lose hope in God’s faithfulness. 

But when a man’s organ such as his brain or mind fails to work and he dies, we all of a sudden lose hope in God’s faithfulness. Did God not say he was close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit? One event does not describe the tenor of one’s life, and our moment of weakness (crushed in spirit) does not negate the faithfulness of God. We have a living hope which is based on Jesus not my ability to be strong or perfect. 

Jim McGuiggan wrote the following in The Power To See It Through:

Where hope is not placed in God and Christ, there can be no security in the future. Hope is much like biblical trust; it is the surrendering of one’s own resources and looking to God for the final and desired outcome. If we place our hope for the future in our skill, wealth, health, education, friends, family, political influence or brilliance, we open ourselves up to fear and uncertainty.” 

Hope not only secures our future but motivates us in our present times. We grieve, but we don’t do so without hope. We suffer through difficult times—but not without hope! Because of hope, we rejoice in good times and bad times. We preach and live with joy because of what God has done not us. 

“O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption” (Psalm 130:7).

We trust in God’s faithfulness and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We trust in what God has done, is doing, and will do. Our living hope is in Jesus, and our everyday hope overflows by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may over-flow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).