Living Hope

The sermon at church this Sunday was taken from 1 Peter 1.  It was such a good reminder to me and I thought I'd share a little of what hit me the most.  


1 Peter 1 :3-5
"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,to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

These verses are so amazing if you take the time to just think about them for a little while!  God in His great mercy sent His only Son to die so that we could live with Him in Heaven some day and experience the wonders of being in His presence continually.  Just the thought of being in Heaven with Christ  for all eternity is absolutely mind-blowing.  I somehow think that if I kept my mind more on the expectation of what is to come, this life wouldn't seem nearly so weighty at times.  

The preacher used the example of a person who has an extremely hard time with money, he lives paycheck to paycheck and sometimes don't even make it to the next paycheck.  Bills pile up and life seems quite bleak.  But let's just say this person knows that when his dear, rich, relation dies he's going to inherit 50 million dollars.  His present money troubles don't seem quite so bad.  He knows that things will get better eventually.  He won't always be in the straits that he is in now.  When he gets the 50 million dollars he won't even really remember the money troubles that he had.

In a way, that is a picture of Heaven, only Heaven will be 50 million times better than 50 million dollars.  It is so hard for our human minds to grasp the thought of something better than our best laid out, planned life.  We spend so many futile years planning what we think is the "perfect" life and just hope that our dreams will come true. Sometimes the dreams do all come true and we wonder why we still feel an emptiness. 

But, if we are believers we have the hope of Heaven that makes the emptiness so different. Which, to me, is why these verses make so much more sense.

1 Peter 1:6-9
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,  that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,  receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls."

2 Corinthians 4:17-18
" For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the 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."

The troubles of life seem so much clearer when you can look at them with this perspective.   If we can remember in the middle of our trials that they are "for a little while," that they are testing the "genuineness of our faith."  And if we can "rejoice with joy inexpressible," the end of our faith will be the final salvation of our souls!!  

That is so mind-blowing!  While it doesn't automatically fix every problem in the here and now, or answer every question I may have, it does give me the hope that Christ can give me "Strength for today" and that there is a "Bright hope for tomorrow"!!!