“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
The word hope is used in our day more like wish, as in “I hope this works out.” It expresses a desired outcome but no assurance. But in the Bible, it means something quite different. The Greek word can be translated as “confident expectation.” The hope we have in Christ is a confident expectation, an assurance that in the end we have an inheritance that will never fade away and cannot be taken away. This confidence enables us to endure the hardships and the times of uncertainty we face in our daily lives.
There are very few things in life in which we can have confidence. If the last few years have taught us anything, it is that institutions and ideas that may have formerly been held secure are not anywhere near as stable or trustworthy as we may have believed. When I was in England, I was explaining to some friends that throughout my life the recommendations of the CDC were considered trustworthy and the best advice medically available. But throughout the pandemic, that assurance has been obliterated. Another example might be that the assurance we had in our judicial system and the election process has been seriously eroded as they are being challenged by seemingly every side. Our economy is another example. No one seems to be able to define what “The Great Resignation” is, let alone how to overcome it and the other breakdowns we are seeing economically.
“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. But now Christ is risen from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:19-20). Paul, like Peter in the passage above, directs our hope to the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus overcame every obstacle, even death, to rise from the grave. This is our “Living Hope.” Christ is alive, and that fact is able—through faith—to infuse every circumstance in our lives with hope. Not wishful thinking, nor positive thoughts, but a confident expectation that in and through everything this life throws at us, we know that we, like Jesus, will rise to a life eternal, free from sin, sickness, Satan, breakdown, burnout, brokenness, oppression, injustice, and every form of suffering. We have HOPE because Jesus LIVES!