Our Living Hope (Part 1)

Andrew Slay

Hope As Exiles: 1 Peter Series • Sermon • Submitted a year ago

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Because of God's mercy and Jesus' resurrection, we have been born again to a living hope. This hope will sustain us and cause us to rejoice, even in the midst of trials, until Jesus returns.

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Introduction

Everyone needs hope...

A Russian Novelist Fyow-dor-daa-stoy-ev-skee once said: “Without hope, one cannot live. To live without hope is to cease to exist.”

Hope what you please; but remember, that hope without truth at the bottom of it, is an anchor without a holdfast. A groundless hope is a mere delusion.

Charles Spurgeon

So the question is not if someone has hope…but what are they placing their hope in?

That’s the question I want you to ask yourself tonight…what are you currently hooking your hope to? What are you placing your hope in?

Have you ever had hope in something that did not come to pass? How did you feel?

Why do we put our hope in things that are temporary and will not last?

After reminding the church of their identity in Christ of being God’s chosen people who are called to walk in obedience, Peter now expounds upon their identity as God’s chosen people...specifically the living hope they have based on God’s mercy and Jesus’ resurrection.

There are three key sections in verses 3-12 that describe our living hope as Christians.

Verses 3-5 describe the basis and content of our living hope.

Verses 6-9 describe how our living hope will strengthen our faith and even cause us to rejoice in trials.

Verses 10-12 describe the glory and uniqueness of our living hope…something that even angels long to look at.

Tonight, we will focus on verses 3-5 and cover the other two sections next week.

So in verses 3-5, here is the Key Point Peter is seeking to convey to us: Because of God’s mercy and Jesus’ resurrection, we have been born again to a living and eternal hope.

A. The Basis of our Living Hope: The Work of God (vs. 3)

1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...”

Our living hope is based upon the mercy of God

According to God’s great mercy, he has caused us to be been born again...

“Born again,” “born from above,” “regeneration”

Titus 3:5; James 1:18.

God has done this work-foreknowledge from verse 2-Salvation is of the Lord.

It is only by God’s mercy that we are born again…we did not do anything to earn our salvation.

Titus 3:3-5 “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,”

It is according to God’s GREAT mercy.

It is only the extreme greatness of God’s mercy that could have compassion and pity on the greatness of our sin and not give us what we do deserve…which is judgement.

To a living hope...

“Hope is a desire + an object + an expectation” -Paul Tripp

I desire to be liked + I want my friends to like me + I will be happy once my friends like me.

I hope to make the basketball team + basketball + I will be popular be being on the basketball team and have lots of friends.

Our hopes normally let us down because we place them on the wrong object, we have the wrong desire, or we have unmet or unrealistic expectations.

How do we know what the object of our hope is....

“If I only had ____________ I would be happy”

“If I only had _____________ I would have everything I ever wanted”

If I only had ______________ I would not complain or be depressed or stressed

Greatest human desires: Identity, Belonging, and Purpose

When we place these desires on the object of Jesus Christ we can expect that we his chosen people, who belong to him, and have been written into his story to glorify and enjoy him

These are expectations we can take to the bank…because they are not based on temporary circumstances or our efforts…but on His faithful character!

“Christian Hope is full assurance, not uncertain desire. It is an unshakable confidence that what God has said he will do, he will do.” -Sam Storms

We have a hope that is ALIVE! It is living and vibrant.

In contrast, the world’s hope is dead for they truly have no hope (Ephesians 2:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:13).

Our living hope is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ

If Jesus did not rise from the dead…we would have no hope and Paul says we would still be in our sins.

Yet, because Jesus rose from the dead, we have hope that our sins have been forgiven and we will one day rise again from the dead.

We know that the Father accepted Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins through his death BECAUSE he rose him from the dead.

Jesus’ resurrection confirms our forgiveness and salvation!

Our hope is living, ultimately, because we worship a living savior who conquered death!

B. The Content of our Living Hope: An Indestructible Inheritance and an Eternal Salvation (vs. 4-5)

1 Peter 1:4-5 “to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

An Indestructible Inheritance

Peter uses inheritance as another word to describe our living hope in Jesus.

The living hope we have in Christ describes the inheritance that has been given to us by God, who is now our Father, and we are his children.

By describing our living hope as an inheritance, it implies that we are now God’s children.

Our living hope can be seen as an inheritance in that we have received a glorious salvation through being adopted into God’s family through Jesus and receive all the benefits of being his children.

Peter describes our inheritance in three ways...

Imperishable, Undefiled, Unfading

Our inheritance is eternal cannot be destroyed by death.

It cannot be stained by evil.

It cannot be affected or changed by the passing of time.

Kept in Heaven

“Kept” communicates the secure nature of our inheritance…and it is a passive verb which means that it is God who is keeping our inheritance in heaven.

The fact that it is in heaven further emphasizes its eternal and imperishable nature. Things in this world will pass away and be destroyed…but our inheritance lies not on earth but in heaven where things will never pass away

“Opponents may ridicule and slander believers, but they cannot deprive us of our inheritance because it is kept in heaven by God for our benefit.”

Guarded by God through faith

“guarded”

First, notice that believers are under divine protection by God. The verb is in the passive, showing God is the one who guards and protects us.

Second, this protection is only appropriated through faith in him, but remember that faith itself is a gift that is given to us by God.

It is God himself who guards, sustains, and strengthens our faith by His power.

God is omnipotent...his power is limitless.

This means he can and promises to surely keep us from stumbling and walking in unbelief when we go through trials (Jude 1:24).

“Hope is never ill when faith is well.” -John Bunyan

Our salvation is secure because God himself guards it and guards us.

It is our faith that sustains our hope and it is our living hope in Jesus that we place our faith in...both of these things are imperishable, kept in heaven for us, and guarded by God’s power...this means that no matter what we face, “God’s got our backs” he will not leave us nor forsake us but strengthen and guard us as we await when our salvation will finally be revealed at the return of Jesus!

So the content of our living hope is an indestructible inheritance but also we an eternal salvation

Salvation

Salvation is another word Peter uses to describe our living hope.

Just like our inheritance, our salvation is eternal, is applied through faith, and guarded by God’s power being kept in heaven for us.

Peter is specifically speaking about our final salvation…our glorification…when we will receive our resurrected bodies and be made perfect just like Jesus is perfect.

This will happen “in the last time”-which refers to the time when Jesus will return.

So to summarize verses 3-5...By the mercy of God and the resurrection of Jesus believers have been born again to a living and eternal hope that is kept and guarded by God through faith and will be fully experienced when Jesus returns.

This is the hope Peter wanted the church that was dispersed abroad to know and remember…this is the hope that is grounded in their identity as God’s chosen people…and if we are in Christ, this is the same living and eternal hope we have today.

Response

We must rest in the gospel, knowing that our living hope is based on what Christ has done, not what we try to do.

We must rejoice in the indestructible quality of our inheritance and salvation that will never fade away.

What are you hooking your hope to? What is it based on?

The world is hopeless, but we have been born again, we should not hope what the world hopes in.

Our hope is eternal, kept in heaven, nothing on earth will cause it to rust and destroy.

It is not based upon what we do, but on what God has done in Christ!

Nothing, no one, no circumstance can ever take our hope, salvation, inheritance away…because it is kept in heaven and guarded by God.

Do you want security? Do want peace? Put your hope in Christ…for your salvation will be guarded and protected by God’s almighty power.

What should give you hope in your school work? Not your knowledge, but your savior.

What should give you hope in your relationships? Not your friends or your family, but your savior.

What should give you hope in your struggle against sin? Not your strength or your righteousness but your savior.

And this hope in christ, who will never fail you, should lead you to be filled with inexpressible joy that words cannot describe!