"Man, There's Hope!" Series

200231.ser

“MAN, THERE’S HOPE’

BREBC August 11, 2002 a.m.

Subject: Salvation

Theme: The Glory of our Salvation

Passage: 1 Peter 1: 1 - 9

Is there any hope for a fellow who always has his foot in his mouth? For a fellow who blows hot and cold? For a fellow who can say things that bring high praise one moment and earn a severe rebuke the next?

Well, welcome to the apostle Peter. Peter the vacillating stumble bum who denied the Lord, but preached the sermon that kick started the church. Peter, falsely given credit for being the Bishop of Rome and the first pope. Peter the writer of two wonderful books of the Bible.

In your bulletin, you have a four part skeleton for the book of First Peter, and and outline of the first section which is “all about salvation!” In the next 5 weeks, I want you to see The Glory of our Salvation; the Search for our Salvation’ The Goal of our Salvation; The Cost of our Salvation and the Growth of our Salvation.

And we’re going to start this morning with the glory of our salvation which I have entitled, “Man, There’s Hope.”

Hope is a very necessary commodity for the well being of human life. Now admittedly people are looking in a lot of wrong places for hope in our day. See them lined up in front of the lottery counter paying the poor man’s tax, and you see what I mean. People are always hoping that their ship is going to come in. In our house we have a sign, “When my ship comes in, I’ll probably be at the airport!”

But just because people look in the wrong places for hope, and just because a lot of people get their hopes dashed on the rocks of circumstance, does not mean that there is no hope available to every person who looks in the right direction.

That’s what this sermon is about this morning for I want to remind you of the most sure hope in the world. Listen to Peter as his voice rings out in praise to God: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again unto a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead.”

A living hope! A life giving hope! A hope that is sure and steadfast that is rooted and grounded in a living relationship with God.

1. A Hope That Transforms Your Life

a. This hope comes from God Himself.

Too often hope is placed in the wrong source: people have hope in themselves; they have hope in their partners; they have hope in their jobs, they have hope in their futures; they have hope in their doctors; but all of these can fail.

The hope of the Christian is rooted in the God and Father of Jesus Christ, and He can never fail. His Word is true. His promises are sure. His salvation is eternal.

b. This hope issues from His abundant mercy. “...who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope...”

Our sin is an offence to God. He could have cast us off forever. But in mercy He sent His Son Jesus into this world to become a human being like us, to live a sinless life unlike us, to give that sinless life as an atoning payment in place of us, so that we who are guilty might be declared to be innocent because we have been forgiven by the very one we offended. Abundant mercy indeed. Beyond all measure!

c. This hope brings about a new or second birth.

By our first birth we were born sinners; by our first birth we grew up to be rebels; by our first birth we could not please God, no matter how hard we tried; so God caused us to be born again through faith in Jesus Christ. By our new birth we were born as children of God. By our new birth we received a new nature of servants but even more, of sons and daughters. By our new birth, we can please God, and live for Him and worship Him, and be like Him, and go at last to live with Him forever.

d. This hope is made sure by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. “Blessed be God... who has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

If Jesus had just died on the cross, we could not have been saved. That may be shocking to say that - not saved by the death of Jesus Christ? If Jesus had just died on the cross, we could not have been forgiven. But Jesus did not stay dead. He died for us but He also rose from the dead. His resurrection proved that His sacrifice was accepted by God. His resurrection proved that our sins are really forgiven. His resurrection proved that He is able to give us new life, that we too are raised from the death of sin into the glory of new life, that He is able to keep us forever, that He is able to take us to heaven when we die.