WHAT IS THIS LIVING HOPE?
The apostle Peter wrote of the “living hope” that we have by faith in the Resurrected One, Jesus Christ. But what is it? The word “hope” we understand. It is the expectation and desire for a certain thing to come to pass. Yet why call it “living?”
The first clue is in the phrase, “He has given us a new birth.” God the Father has made us born again. We were once dead in our sins, but He has made us alive with Christ (See Col. 2:13). So our hope is living because we are now “living,” having been made spiritually alive in Christ.
The second clue to understanding our “living hope” is the phrase, “through the resurrection.” Our hope is built on the foundation of Christ’s resurrection from the dead. Our hope is in the Living One, Jesus Christ. He is alive. Our hope of eternal life is made more sure by the fact that Jesus was raised. So our hope is a living, vibrant thing. Our hope is like a rope, anchored on one end to Christ’s resurrection and on the other to His soon return.
Our hope is a living hope because not only have we been born again by faith in the resurrected Christ, but also because He abides in us by His Spirit. Hope lives in us because Christ lives in us.
PRAYER: Dear Father, we join Peter in blessing You for your mercy and grace towards us. That You would make us born again, so that we might call You, Father. And You call us Your children. Our hope is alive, because You have made us spiritually alive in You. Blessed be Your name, O God. Now, strengthen us by Your Spirit that we might declare Your praise to the nations. In Jesus’ name, amen.