1 Peter 1:3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
If there’s one thing Christians are not allowed to be it’s hopeless. Hope is at the center of the entire Christian life. When Peter sits down to write a letter to Christians who feel the weight of persecution and suffering, he begins by reminding them of their hope. Their living hope.
There’s a big push these days to “live in the moment,” or to “be present.” Make the most of today. Live one moment at a time. Therapists call this “mindfulness.” Even as Christians we can tend to live in a sort of “present only” faith. Where is God in my present pain and suffering? How can I experience God in this moment?
None of this is bad, but it’s not enough. It’s not sustaining. We were never meant to live only in the present. Our God is a God of the past, the present, and the future. Our faith is not only in the past work of Christ, or even the present reality of the indwelling Christ, but also in the future hope of life with him forever.
Trusting in this future hope is vital to your present living. Why? Because what you believe about your future actually changes your present. It changes how you live today. Is there any real comfort in knowing that you were forgiven in the past, if you are not also moving toward the hope of a future transformation into Christ? Is there any real motivation to pursue holiness without this living hope of sharing Christ’s holiness one day? A forgiven past without a changed future still leaves us with an unchanging present.
And what about our suffering? Would it really comfort us to know that God is with us in our suffering but that things will never get better? That our suffering will know no end? That our trials will never lead to transforming glory in eternity? That there is no growth in perseverance, character, or love as we travel along this “way of suffering” with Christ? Of course not. Bright hope for tomorrow is what produces strength for today.
We all live in the present from our hope for the future. Whatever that hope may be. Which is precisely why we all need a living hope. Not a dead or dying hope.
So often the hope that the world sets before us is devoid of any meaning. But because we are so desperate for meaning we will settle for all kinds of lesser hopes. Hope in finding romance. Hope in family. Hope in the feelings of nostalgia. Hope in accomplishments. Hope in politicians or church leaders. Hope that my situation will eventually change.
But all of these hopes are dying or already dead.
And that’s exactly what a living hope is, one that will never die. For something to add ultimate hope to our lives it must be both everlasting and perfect. A hope that is not everlasting will eventually run out and let us down. A hope that is not perfect will eventually fail us and let us down.
Christ alone offers us a living hope by his resurrection. Jesus alone is both everlasting and perfect. Everything else that you are using as a source of hope is dead or dying. Sure, it may be a wonderful gift from God, but it was never meant to be your living hope. Your spouse, partner, or children were never meant to be your living hope. When you ask them to be, you are crushing them under the weight of deity, requiring them to be a god for you. Your career, education, and accomplishments were never meant to be a living hope. When you require them to be, they will crush you under the weight of their demands for perfection.
Only God and his mercy can offer us the unending, perfect hope that we need – God. Yes, God’s hope for us is God. God in us in the person of Jesus and by the power of the Spirit. Perfect resurrection power, and everlasting zoe life in us by our co-resurrection with Christ. Now in Christ (and only in Christ), we too are the good thing that never dies. In Christ, we have living hope and we ARE living, breathing, walking around, loving, caring, serving hope.
Let all lesser hopes point your heart to the ultimate hope of our future with Jesus, and with the Father. With the eternal love and glory of the Trinity. And may our living hope change how we live today. Free from manufacturing a dying hope from the present moment. And free to live our sorrowful today as if it is our glorious tomorrow.
You: What dying hopes do you tend to look to each day? How are they letting you down?
You in Christ: How does Christ’s resurrection prove that we have a living hope?
Christ in you: How can you use the lesser, dying hopes in your life to point you to the living hope of Christ? How might your today in Christ look more like your future with Christ?
Prayer: Father, it is by your mercy alone that I have been born again to a living hope. Help me to stop placing my hope in things that are less than perfect and less than everlasting. Jesus, you are worthy to be my everything – strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. Amen.
To Live is Christ 