HOPE FOR THE FUTURE…
By Chuck Hendrix
1PE 1:3 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.
1) PRASIE BE TO GOD….
We like praise…
We teach our kids to say thank you because others like praise…
What about God?
Our praise toward God is the means by which we express our joy to the Lord. We are to praise God both for who He is and for what He does (Ps. 150:2). Praising God for who He is is called adoration; praising Him for what He does is known as thanksgiving. Praise of God may be in song or prayer, individually or collectively, spontaneous or prearranged, originating from the emotions or from the will.
Peter was a smart man. He reminds us that God should have our PRAISE, but then he reminds us why we should praise God. He gives three reasons… all dealing with the hope of our Future… & Salvation.
2) NEW BIRTH—
THIS IS WHAT NICK WENT TO QUESTION JESUS ABOUT….
JN 3:1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council.
JN 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. "
Well, Nick did the old Arnold routine… “What you talking about…”
JN 3:5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, `You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
JN 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Paul put it this way…
2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
AMEN PRAISE BE TO GOD FOR OUR NEW BIRTH
3) LIVING HOPE—
A little boy who was standing at the foot of the escalator at a large department store, intently watching the handrail. He never took his eyes off the handrail as the escalator kept going around and around. A salesperson saw him and finally asked him if he was lost. The little fellow replied, ’Nope. I’m just waiting for my chewing gum to come back.’"
We too should look forward, even, intently to Christ coming back around.
We should praise God for the living hope we have.
Notice this is not a dead hope….
1 Peter 3:15a, But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
This hope is living and active. People should stand up, take notice and ask you about it.
Can I be real honest… If people aren’t asking you, it’s because you’re not living like you have a living hope!
HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE—
What makes a righteous, just God give us a living hope?
Why did he bother?
Because he loved us enough to send Jesus Christ to die for our sin. This passage clearly says it was Through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
4) INTO AN INHERITANCE …
WE ARE IN THE LAWYERS OFFICE….
We should praise God for our inheritance… What’s so good about it?
· It can never perish
· It can never spoil
· It will never fade
Matthew 6: 19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
GOD DESERVES TO BE PRAISED!
