Our hope is alive!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a lively 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. – 1 Peter 1.3-5

The opening of 1 Peter is one of those great passages that grabs you from the very start and doesn’t let you go. It almost seems like Peter wanted to squeeze in as much as he could before those reading his letter had a chance to put it down. 

Right after a few introductory words he writes ‘blessed the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ He doesn’t waste any time and he doesn’t mince any words. He goes right at it. 

He says a few things in this first section. The first that jumps out to me is ‘our living hope’ because of the reason for our living hope – ‘through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.’ 

Hope is vital for everyone. We all hope in something. Some hope that when it all comes to and end we die and they just dump us in the ground. That way there is nothing to worry about because we are accountable for nothing. 

Some hope in good works or religious practices. They hope that at the end of the day their good works are going to outweigh their bad and God (or whoever) is going to be happy. Their hope, in reality, is in them. 

But our hope is in the Lord – and He is our living hope. Our hope in Him is not in some vain emptiness – but in the One who conquered death. And in what more could we put our hope? Our hope is alive because Jesus is alive! Our hope will never die because He cannot die!

Praise God for a hope which is alive!