HOPE
What do we mean when we use the word Hope?
Sometimes we mean something that we would like to have happen, something good, or something that we desire, and it might happen, it might not, but we hope that it does
I hope the weather is nice for our easter egg hunt.
I hope the Kansas City Royals win more games than they lose this year.
I hope my teacher doesn’t give us any homework today – (hope springs eternal, eh kids?)
But that’s kind of the small stuff, little hope
There’s a much grander hope to talk about isn’t there?
The BIG HOPE you might say.
HOPE in something bigger than ourselves
Hope in something with value, Hope in something with meaning,
Hope that gives meaning to our life
But what IS that Hope, really
Do you really believe in that HOPE
What are you hoping for – Do you know
Is it just Hope for something better – anything better
Do you really believe that you can have it, that it is even possible, whatever IT IS?
THIS IS HOPE APART FROM GOD
THIS is the best people can come up with when their Hope is in Something other than Jesus
Hope for Hope’s sake, Hope in Hope itself, that unreachable, unattainable something
Here are some quotes on this hope:
“The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope.” (Barbara Kingsolver)
“Hope is the last thing that dies in man; and though it be exceedingly deceitful, yet it is of this good use to us, that while we are traveling through life it conducts us in an easier and more pleasant way to our journey’s end.” -- François de la Rochefoucauld
“Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torments of man.” Friedrich Nietzsche
Pretty Cynical – but that’s the product of this kind of Hope
There is no reachable Goal, No real Meaning, Only uncertainty – It’s a false Hope
And deep down inside, we all know it
But there is such a thing as REAL HOPE
Hope in something Real, Hope in someone Real – God put that Hope in us
God has planted that seed of eternity in the heart of all of us
We know that there is something much bigger, much better than us
Someone who is in total control of the entire universe
That’s where real Hope comes from – because that someone is Jesus Christ
And true Hope comes only from Him
Peter calls it living Hope in our passage today,
Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
1Peter 1: 3-5 (NIV)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, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
PRAY
In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
In order to understand just what this living hope is and why it comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we need to understand why Jesus had to die in the first place.
We celebrate Easter every year. We get together in our church and we proclaim – He is risen, Jesus Christ has risen and he is alive!
And it is true and it is wonderful. But in order to be resurrected, first he had to die,
Why did he have to die? Was he just showing off – proving that he could do it, lay down his life and then pick it up again?
NO - That’s not it at all. It does prove something, it proves that he was who he said he was, the messiah, the son of God, a member of the Trinity, God in the flesh!
But the reason Jesus had to die was to solve a problem. A big problem – The Big Problem
A problem that started all the way back in the beginning, when God created man.
When God created Adam and Eve.
See, he created us, he created man to love Him and to have this incredible intimate relationship with Him, our creator, with God. That’s what you were made for.
But sin entered the picture when Adam and Eve ate from the tree. And our sin destroyed that relationship. It separated man from God.
God is perfect and Holy. And he cannot just wink at sin and tolerate it, Part of his perfection as God is his perfect justice,
And God’s justice requires that sin must be paid for. It cannot be allowed to exist un-paid for in the presence of God – There is the problem
Because just one of my sins creates a debt that I can’t pay. I have nothing to offer God sufficient to cover the price of just one of my sins. One little lie, one word spoken in anger, one minute worrying about my basic needs, failing to trust in God’s provision. One little sin I can’t cover, and I sin a thousand times a day
You were made to be with God, to love God, but your sin separates you from God.
That’s why until you have that relationship with God, there is this great big empty hole in you. In your heart, in your very soul. That’s where the hopelessness comes from
And nothing can fill that hole but God. People try all kinds of things to fill that hole,
to quiet the raging scream of hopelessness that comes from inside us,
they try drugs, they try using other people, they chase after power, and money, danger and adrenaline, sex,
But it all falls short
Those things might give you a temporary rush, they might even make you start to feel like you are making some progress, make you feel happy – until the bottom drops out
And you are left feeling even more empty and hopeless than ever
The only hope left if that hope in hope itself. Unattainable, unreachable, uncertain, a vague promise of heaven a million miles a way, with no way to get there, just dreams, smoke and mirrors
Well Jim, if God is so perfect, so all-knowing and all-powerful, why doesn’t He solve this problem, the problem of sin?
That’s the good news I have for you this morning –HE DID
He had a plan from the beginning. A plan of redemption for mankind A plan to bridge the gulf between man and God, to solve the problem of sinful man and a Holy God.
He sent his son to dwell among us here on earth. His son Jesus Christ who is in his nature God, took on the additional nature of man, The eternal God, taking on human flesh, born of a virgin.
He lived a perfect, sinless life.
That’s something I cannot do, you cannot do, He did it, its all part of the plan
100% God, and 100% man – Jesus lived the perfect , sinless life
and though he performed many miracles, healing the sick, feeding thousands with a few loaves and a couple fish, casting out demons, making the blind see and the lame walk, raising the dead – even though he did all of this, we rejected him
He was rejected by men and condemned to die as a criminal. The only truly innocent man to ever walk the earth, condemned to die in the shame of the cross. All part of the plan
See- because he is 100% man – Jesus is our representative, taking our place on the cross, because that is what we deserve for our sin – but he took our place
And because he is 100% God, sinless and perfect, his blood poured out for us on the cross, his sacrifice, IS SUFFICIENT.
His payment for sin satisfies the Justice of our Holy God in full. The sacrifice of Jesus is enough to cover every sin ever committed by every person who ever lived throughout history, and every person who ever will live. All sins past present and future, paid in full
Are you starting to see the Hope?
It sounds good doesn’t it? The sin problem, the biggest problem in the universe solved just like that?
Can it be true? IS Jesus Christ the Son of God, and can his death on the cross gain us forgiveness from God for all of our sins and allow us to fill the void in our souls with the love of God? – with the very thing that we were made for?
That is why Peter calls it the LIVNG HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Because when Jesus walked out of that tomb, Alive – Resurrected, it meant HOPE for all of us
It was the final stamp of approval from God for all that Jesus had said and done
Divine certification of all the claims of Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God –Lord and Savior
There is no doubt what so ever that it happened – that he was resurrected - it is the single most proven historical fact of all time.
There were eye witness accounts, countless witnesses, the changed lives of the disciples, men who fled when he was crucified, but were ready to die for their belief in his resurrection after they walked and talked and ate with him, and sat under his teaching for 40 days after his resurrection
His resurrection means he IS the Son of God, he DID pay for our sins on the cross, we CAN be reconciled to God through Him.
That IS the LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
But that Hope is only for those who believe in Jesus as the Risen Son of God
That Hope is only for those who accept Him as their Savoir and the Lord of their Life
He will NOT save you against your will, he will not drag you into heaven kicking and screaming.
If you reject Him, then He will respect your decision.
He Loves you – nothing can change that, and he will continue standing at the door of your heart, waiting for you to simply open it and let him in,
But if you reject Him, then you will be left alone, left to the only hope you can find apart from God, that hope in something, Unreachable, unattainable, empty, nothing,
Hopeless Hope – then those sayings about hope are true for you, just prolonging your torment.
But if you do believe, and you turn to Christ for your Salvation – you fall at his feet, asking for His forgiveness, accepting his payment for your sins and trusting him with your very life, with your entire being. Accepting Him as LORD and Savoir
Then you have real Hope – The Living hope of the resurrection.
And there is NO UNCERTAINTY INVOLVED – THIS Hope is a SURE THING
And once you have that Hope, that living Hope, it can’t be taken away from you
4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
Your inheritance as an adopted child of God is everlasting, it won’t perish or spoil.
Your eternal life starts the instant you accept Christ as your Savior., and you are shielded by God’s power.
We have a saying about salvation: You are Saved, you are being saved, and you will be saved.
You are saved from eternal death the moment you accept Christ
You are being saved by Christ, shielded by God’s power, as he sanctifies you during this life here on earth, as the Holy Spirit works in your heart, making you more and more like Jesus
And you will be saved – The final hope through the resurrection
See – after Jesus was resurrected and he walked and talked and taught his disciples, he ascended into heaven. But he lives in the heart of every believer
And when this life is over for us, for those of us who believe in Christ as our Lord and Savoir, we will leave this body and be with Him.
John 11: 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
And one day he will come back. He will come back and at that time those that belong to him our bodies will be resurrected and we will spend eternity with HIM
That is the Hope of the Resurrection
