"A Living Hope"
[I Peter 1:3-9]
April 22, 2007 Second Reformed Church
Last week we began our look at I Peter, and we saw that as Christians, we always have hope, no matter what circumstances we are in, because we have been elect in the Trinity: we were chosen by the Father, bought and paid for through the Blood Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and now we are being sanctified -- made holy -- by the Work of the Holy Spirit in us.
This morning's Scripture is one excited, run-on sentence in Greek, in which Peter tells those Christians who are running for their lives, living in foreign lands -- people like you and me -- he is explaining to all Christians that our hope is a living hope.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy, we are born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," (my translation)
Peter breaks out in praise, singing a doxology to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that: He is Lord, our Master and Sovereign. He is Jesus, the Real and True Man of Israel. And He is Christ, the Messiah, the Savior, the Very God Who saves us. And He is to be praised. Why? Because, in accordance with His Great Mercy -- see, it is nothing you and I have ever earned or merited or been owed, no, it is all of mercy, it is all a free gift. He has raised us from death -- we who were spiritually dead are now alive; we who we dead in our trespasses and sins, unable to do any good thing are now alive and able by our God to do what is good and pleasing in His Sight. We have been born again into a living hope -- an active, real, pulsing, full-of-life hope -- a sure reality that has not yet come, but must. Why must it? It must based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead -- since He is risen, our living hope is secured and guaranteed -- there is no losing it or forgetting it or finding it dead along the roadside. We have a living hope guaranteed by Jesus. Peter preached, "God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of dead, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him" (Acts 2:24).
"to an inheritance that is immortal and undefiled and unfading," (my translation)
When do we inherit? When someone dies. The writer of Hebrews wrote, "In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living" (Hebrews 9:16-17). Who has died? Christ has died; much more than that, Christ is raised. It is through Him, then, and His Death, that we receive an inheritance which is immortal -- it is not subject to death or time, it is imperishable. Our inheritance is undefiled -- it is pure. And our inheritance is unfading -- it endures in its beauty and in every one of its qualities.
"kept in the heavens for you, who by the power of God is guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time," (my translation)
Our inheritance is kept, guarded, shielded, protected from danger in the heavens. No being can get to it to tamper with it or steal it or corrupt it. That inheritance, that salvation, that eternal life, pure, holy, that Jesus secured for us through His Resurrection, God is keeping for us until that final day when we received the fullness of salvation, sanctified and glorified -- that inheritance is ready, it is safe, it is secure, but it is not the last day, so we wait. We wait with a living hope, looking forward confidently to what is already accomplished and is soon coming to pass.
"in this you rejoice exceedingly, even if it was necessary, now, for a little while, for you to be pained by various trials" (my translation)
Since we know our salvation is secure, since we know we have not yet fully received it, but we will on that final day, we rejoice. We rejoice exceedingly. There is no question, no shadow of doubt, no chance in anything on the earth or above the earth or below the earth that Jesus and the salvation He has for us will ever fail. It is coming -- it's not a question of if, but when -- we can rejoice -- we can rejoice exceedingly. And when we are called to endure pain, trials, when we are called to suffer, even though we don't like those trials, even though, like Job, we mourn our children, we cry over our pets and flocks and job, even though our families should turn away, even though we should become sick and in pain, and even if Nero has sent the whole Roman army out after us to kills us in the most horrible way -- still we rejoice exceedingly. Why? Paul put it this way, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18). We still hurt; we still don't enjoy trials; but we have a hope that is greater than the worst that comes our way.
"that the testing of your faith -- far more valuable than gold , which is lost though it is tested in the fire -- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revealing of Jesus Christ," (my translation)
But why are we tested at all? Why do we have to suffer? What good does it do us? Peter tells us that just as gold taken straight from the ground has to lose its dross -- its impurities through the refiners fire, so do we also have to endure the refiner's fire for the purification of our faith -- which is worth more than the finest gold. And, though we endure this refining now -- though it is not pleasant -- when Jesus "himself [] descends from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ [] rise first" (I Thessalonians 4:16) we will be transfixed on the sight and through our faith, which has been proven genuine, we shall praise Him and glorify Him and honor Him from that day forth and forever and ever. That is the glorious day we are waiting for, and in that moment, every trail will fall away as nothing, and we will be lost in the wonder and praise of our God and Savior.
"who, though you have not seen him, you love, though you do not see him now, you believe him and are exceedingly glad, with joy unspeakable and with glory, obtaining the fulfillment of the faith, the salvation of your souls" (my translation)
Thomas doubted the Resurrection of Jesus and said, "'Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe'" (John 20:25b). It was just eight days later that Jesus appeared when Thomas was present, and Jesus told him to do just what he had asked. But without touching Jesus, "Thomas answered him, 'My Lord and my God!' Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed'" (John 20:28-29).
If you have believe in Jesus Alone for your salvation this morning, it is not because you have seen Him, yet you have loved Him. Indeed, none of us have seen Jesus in the flesh, yet we have believed in Him. We have believed and we are exceedingly glad, we are unspeakably joyful, and we are filled with the glory of Him Who gives us this living hope. We are filled with a supernatural joy that reaches its fullness in that final day when Jesus returns.
So, Peter tells those Christians on the run -- and you and me -- no matter what happens the rest of this day, the rest of this week, the rest of our lives, no matter what trials we endure, we are filled with unfathomable joy, which changes everything about us, and expresses itself in praise and honor and glory to our God and Savior. Why? Because we who believe have received the goal of our faith -- a living hope -- the salvation of our souls.
Let us pray:
Our God and our Joy, our Hope and Salvation, we thank You for Your Promised Living Hope. Cause us to live it out, showing that our hope -- our sure hope -- is greater and more valuable that everything and anything we might endure. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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