By Gerald Melton
Pastor, Sycamore Baptist Church
1 Peter 1:3-9
All of us have experienced hope of some kind in our lives for it has come to be part of life for all people. I surely hope that it doesn’t rain tomorrow; hope you have a good time today; hope I’m feeling better tomorrow.
Hope gives us something for which to look forward and for hope to be meaningful it must be alive. If it ever dies, live becomes meaningless and has no purpose.
The bible speaks of the Christian hope which is a different hope than the hope of the world. Our hope is based on the promises of God which is a sure thing. It is where we get our strength when all else falls and helps us to grow in our Christian life and purpose.
Peter begins his thoughts on hope by giving thanks to God who made it all possible. We have a living hope because of Christ and what He did for us. Through God’s mercy, He sent Jesus to earth to die for our sins. Because of God’s love, He raised Jesus from the dead and that gives to us a living hope which shall never die.
We who accept Jesus as our savior have an inheritance that can never perish. We too shall be raised from death just as Jesus was raised, for that is our hope and promise from God.
What does this hope bring to our lives today? We shall have things intended only for God’s people and we will continue to have blessings in this life. Our hope now is for greater blessings awaiting us in heaven and with that hope we can face the hard times which will come.
Why are all these trials and difficulties necessary? Their purpose could be to prove our faith is real and our hope is living.
Peter uses the illustration of gold and the refining heat to bring out its best and separate it from the impurities it contains. For a little while we may be called upon to suffer grief in many kinds of trials but these will prove that our faith and hope is real. Each test will strengthen our hope in Christ as testing makes us stronger.
In the light of the glory that awaits us, “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.” Salvation is such a precious gift to us that it is certainly worth all the trials we endure.
Peter calls our attention to the fact that we love someone that we have not seen nor will we see Him while on earth but He is our hope in whom we place our trust. We rely upon the testimony of those who saw Him and felt Him in their lives and our hope is strengthened through our personal relationship with Him.
Jesus lived, taught, suffered and died to give us the hope and joy we have today. With our relationship with Him He becomes real to us. Our hope is not only in words we have read but in the person of Christ.
As Peter puts it, this fills us with an “inexpressible and glorious joy.” Let our hope in Christ be seen in our joy in life for this is one of the best testimonies we can have.
Do people see the faith, hope and joy we have from Christ in our joy of life? We should show our joy each day with a positive attitude seen through our living! Don’t lose the joy we had when Jesus came into our lives.
