"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
1 Peter 1:3 NKJV
Peter here, speaks of a living hope. Let us look at this. Worldly hope is nothing more than wishful thinking. We say things like, 'I hope it's not going to rain today.' Also 'I hope that there isn't another lockdown.' These, when you think about it, are just throw-away statements. There is no substance to them. They are nothing more than wishes. However, Peter goes deeper here. Whereas worldly hope deteriorates and dies, a Christian hope is biblical and built on a resurrected Saviour - Jesus Christ. It is a foundation, one that cannot be shaken. A biblical hope is knowing what you believe in and standing on it. In other words, a certainty. God showed me years ago that we should discard the word 'hopefully,' because there is nothing to rely on, it is uncertain and just a wish. However, if we separate the word into two 'hope-fully' then we are into biblical thinking. We are biblically and fully hoping in God, in other words we are speaking a 'living hope.' It is something that I took on board and encourage you to do so, as well.
In verse 4, Peter says, we have a living hope of being with Jesus - eternally. If we have asked Jesus into our lives, we received salvation. The living hope is kept (garrisoned by an army), reserved there for when Jesus calls us home. We have mansions to dwell in there and He intends to come and take us there one day. (John 14:2). The term, 'garrisoned by an army' is the translated Greek word for kept. Therefore, no one can take our salvation away, not even the devil. We have a reservation in Heaven that is awaiting us.
Now this living hope is built around our faith, we can't see it but we know that it's there. 2 Corinthians 4:18 says, 'while we do not look at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.' It is a faith thing, and we know that we can trust Jesus. He will be true to His Word and one day we will share in the splendour of heaven with Him and others. Imagine having a chat with the Apostle Paul or King David. Wowzer, that blows you away, but you will be able to when you arrive there at your Heavenly destination.
These are the things that the prophets foretold and the things that angels long to look into. The Heavenly angels do not need salvation; they are there already. However, the fallen angels, together with their leader, get a glimpse of what we will have every time they see us.
So remember, keep your living hope alive! It will happen soon.
Copyriight 2021 Grahame Howard
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