“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, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:3-5, ESV).
In many points in our life we want something to happen. We cherish a desire to be realized. In short, we hope.
But not all we hoped for happened. Not everything we cherished with anticipation is realized. And there are hopes that we gave up. But what a great joy when what we hoped for became true!
What are you now hoping to happen in your life?
A student would want to finish his/her study. A graduate would want to find a job. An employee to have a promotion. A single to have a spouse. A young couple to have a child. A child to have a toy. A senior to have more years. A tenant or renter to become a homeowner. A sick to have complete healing. A poor to become financially sufficient. Our church to have its own church building.
We could rejoice for any of those hopes to happen. And the world could offer other hopes we could embrace. The Word, however, shows the kind of hope that will never give us disappointment. It is certain to happen. It will not tire us, as we hold firmly on it until it is realized.
So, as would be reflected in our title, let us desire to… HAVE THE LIVING HOPE …, as we discuss our text (1 Peter 1:3-5, ESV).
While many settle on the earthly hope that could bring disappointment, let us long for this “living hope.” While we could let go our other hopes, why should we hold on tightly and find more joy on this firmly established hope that lives on until it is fully realized? Why this kind of hope called “living”?
Our text was part of the first letter of the Apostle Peter, who could be in Rome, before A.D. 68. He addressed both the Jewish and Gentile Christians, who were scattered throughout Asia Minor and were suffering local persecutions.
Peter was aware of the difficult conditions of the believers. So, he would like to encourage or to strengthen them in the faith. At the very start of his letter, he directed their thoughts on what God had done to them.
He implied that the Christians then should live or react not according to their trials, but according to what God did to them. They should not focus on what their persecutors were doing against them. They should not live as persecuted, oppressed, or threatened.
Rather, they should live as true believers. They should live as an elect (verse 1). They should live as sanctified or set apart (verse 2A). And they should live as obedient and cleansed people (verse 2B).
In our text, Peter pointed out to the believers the extraordinary hope that they have. And in our time time, we need also to long for it. We need to hold firmly on it. Why?
It’s the hope based on the...
I – GREAT MERCY OF GOD (verse 3).
We read verse 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, .”
Before we dissect verse 3, let’s go first to verse 4 and see what this hope is pointing at here. Now, we read in verse 4, “…to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,…”
So, the hope that Peter was saying referred to “an inheritance.” The believers could hope for an inheritance. It is imperishable -- indestructible. It is undefiled -- pure, without blemish. It is unfading -- does not lessen its worth. And it is kept in a very secured place, not just in Fort Knox -- but in heaven.
And what is more interesting, as Peter pointed out the safety of the inheritance, he went on in verse 5: “who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
According to Peter, the inheritance “…kept in heaven for you” while you, “who by God’s power are being guarded…” -- you who have faith are being guarded until we are fully saved at the return of Christ.
Both the inheritance and the inheritors are safe.
Back in verse 3. Why cherish expectantly for this inheritance? Why hold firmly on the living hope?
First, it is based on the great mercy of God. It is not just the kind of mercy He showers to His creation -- the rain, the sunlight, the air, and other common grace for everyone. The living hope was based on the great mercy of God. It’s on the higher level. It’s greater than the ordinary. It’s special. It’s great, not just in its scope but also in its intensity. This kind of mercy is different.
This is the kind of mercy mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Romans in chapter 9. He quoted the words of God from the OT in verse 15, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
So, Paul argued that those who were elected to become children of God were not all those in the bloodline of Abraham, or anyone who did the best, but who “had done nothing either good or bad” (verse11). He wrote in verse 16:
“So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”
In like manner, the living hope does not also depend on our own human will or effort. It depends on God’s mercy.
How would we response to this great mercy of God?
Paul told us what to do. In Romans 12:1, he wrote:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
Present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. As we worship God, offer to Him not only our time, not only our money -- in tithes or offerings, not only our skill, talent or energy in church ministry. But it was specifically pointed out: offer our body, which is our spiritual worship.
How should we present our body, “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God”?
Starting in verse 2, Paul continued, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,…”
Would you like to know more how to offer your body to God? Just continue reading and studying what Paul wrote in the whole chapter 12 and all of chapters 13-16.
Again, why hold firmly on the living hope? Because it is based on the…
II – SOVEREIGN POWER OF GOD (verse 3B).
We read part of verse 3, “… he (God) has caused us to be born again to a living hope ..”
Notice very well that to be born again is caused by God. The Sovereign God alone on His own will and power can make it happen. Children of God, according John 1:13, “were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
So, Peter gave us also the answer to the question of Nicodemus to Jesus, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Part of the answer of Jesus in John 3:7-8, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
By God’s Sovereign Power, we are born of the Spirit -- born again. We experience the new birth or regeneration, “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” God caused us to be born again.
One who is born of the flesh has no heart for the living hope. Man is born in the world as a child of the devil. His spirit is dead.
During the time of Jesus here on earth, he said to the Jews who had believed him (John 8:31), “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires…” (verse 44A.)
Even descendants of Abraham cannot automatically desire for the living hope. Their tendency is to have the desire and, therefore, to perform their father’s evil desire.
The tendency of every man or woman, who is not born of the Spirit, is to disobey, destabilize, criticize, complain, covet, corrupt and hope for the things offer in this world.
Even in our time, one could say he or she believed Jesus, but the words of Jesus could bounce back: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires”!
Believers or lovers of Christ, do you really see the need to be born again?
If we are born again or born of the Spirit, God also gifted us the faith, the genuine belief in His Son, as our Lord and Savior. He gave us the privilege to become children of God. God becomes our Father.
And we are able to have the living hope.
What would be our response to the Sovereign Power of God in causing us to be born again?
Jesus told His followers, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Let us aim for perfection.
Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ’You shall be holy, for I am holy.’" Aim for holiness -- to be set apart from the world.
Finally, why hold firmly on the living hope? Because it is based on the…
III – RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST (verse 3C).
We read verse 14, “… through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead..."
God caused us to be born again to a living hope “through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
The resurrection of our Savior -- thus, He is the Living Saviour -- was the solidifying basis of the living hope. He is living, so we have a living hope.
How could our being born again be connected with the resurrection of Jesus Christ? In Romans 6:5, we read: “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
The resurrection of Jesus does not only show the possibility that we too would be resurrected from the dead. Through His resurrection, Peter pointed out that we experience the new life in Christ -- be born again. Through His resurrection, we have a living hope.
Realized, then, that the resurrection of Jesus was not just a miraculous event. It was not only meaningful, but accomplishing vital things in our Christian life.
In fact, not only we could have living hope because Jesus is living; but we could have living faith, because He is also living. And a dead faith is useless, according to James.
In Acts 3, Peter healed a man lame from birth. Then he told the Jews who witnessed the healing, that the “Author of life” whom they killed was raised by God from the dead. And to prove his point, he declared in verse 16:
“And his name -- by faith in his name -- has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.”
Read again the verse. Observe it carefully. The man was healed not only by faith in Jesus. But the faith that healed also comes through Jesus.
Genuine faith is not just through our human decision. It is God given.
So, how do we respond to the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
In Acts 3:26, Peter told the Jews: “God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness."
Did we experience that kind of blessing? By turning us from wickedness?
Earlier in verse 19, Peter told them, “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out…”
And in Acts 5:30-31, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”
Did the resurrected Savior give you not only forgiveness, but also repentance? Are you recipient of the blessing of turning from your sins? Do you rejoice in such blessing?
For all the believers or lovers of Christ, we rejoice. We have a living Savior.
Because He is Living, we could have living faith. We could enjoy forgiveness. We could have repentance. We could have healing. We could have peace. And we could have living hope!
CONCLUSION:
In closing, in 1 Peter 1:6 & 8, Peter related that we could rejoice not only in good times, but even in bad times. We could believe and love Jesus though we do not see him physically now. And how did Peter describe the rejoicing of the believers? “…with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory”!
Is it possible?
It is. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are born again and have the living hope!
