Day 6 | August 11, 2023

Stephen Moeller

1 Peter 1:3-4

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 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

What is hope? What is the hope in this passage? and why is it living?

Hope is much like waiting. There is an anticipation for something to happen or for a promise to be fulfilled, it is something to look forward to and to focus on. In Hebrews 11:1 there is a definition of faith that describes our faith as the assurance and confidence of that which is hoped for. Faith goes hand in hand with hope. Therefore, this “living hope” is a foundation for our faith and is simple to find. In fact, God, through Peter, dictates about it in verse three and elaborates on it later in the complete chapter. He thanks God for sending us Jesus and for the mercy needed to send Jesus to a sinful world. He says God has CAUSED us to be born again because Jesus died and defeated death. Here is the hope; we have the choice to have an intimate relationship with our God which leads to new life. I will put it this way, if Adam’s choice was what led to death through sin and separation, our choice to accept Jesus as our perfect sacrifice and savior is our way back into relationship with God. The choice is now up to us. Our God wants a relationship with us; He wants us to come to rest in Him. Even greater than resting, He wants us to hope in Him every day, bringing a foundation to our faith. Jesus defeated the death of sin so that we would have this hope. In our sinful and broken world, I find my ONLY peace and solitude comes from the hope in the one who saved me from death. The phrase I often remind myself with, for hope, is “I can go back to God ”. I don’t use this phrase for a “free pass” to not turn from my sin, but instead use it because it is true. My only hope from the sin I live in is Jesus Christ, along with the victory He accomplished that I could not. That is a living, undying, freeing hope.

Prayer:  Father God, great are You to bring us hope in our world. Thank You for being so steadfast that we can have peace, freedom, and rest within Your presence. My confidence and prayer is that we can always look to You for hope, and that we will continue to wait on You. We pray not only for the continuance of waiting, but also to grow in our assurance in what we hope and know You’ve promised. Thank you, God. Lord, I pray that we would be able to live within this living hope, so that not only those close to us would see and experience hope but those not close, and not only those who are not close but those who are enemies to us or who have set themselves apart from You so passionately. Thank you, Jesus, for saving us and for giving us the opportunity to know You, Lord. All this in Jesus’ name it will be so. Amen.