Our Living Hope

1 Peter 1:3-5

“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, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade—kept in heaven for (us), who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”   

We, as true brethren of Christ, are given a living hope.  What exactly is a living hope?  Through Jesus’ bodily resurrection, we have the guarantee we are to be raised as He was—that is, if we are not among the one’s counted during His return.  Even so, if we are living at that time, our bodies are to be resurrected anew into one identical to Christ.  Either way, the resurrection of our bodies into a glorious transformation, or glorification, is definite.  We are promised this in Scripture (1 Corinthians 15:1-58).  God did it for His Son and He has promised to do it for us, His adopted children.  Remember, we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17). 

Now, living hope is an enthusiastic belief that is alert, sustaining, conscious, growing, ready, alive and kicking.  It resides within the boundaries of our resurrection and our inheritance as the family of God.  Our endowment firmly resides in heaven.  We are to set expectations of favor within the parameters of Paradise.  There our rewards, our home, our lives will never “perish, fade, or spoil.”  Here, we are nothing but temporary tents housing the gift of life, our spirits.   All spirits are eternal, it’s just a matter of where we will spend eternity.  To place scope of vision on the here and now, brushing aside the hereafter, is foolish and juvenile.  Children do not consider tomorrow, they are only concerned with the immediate.  We as adults know better, yet when it comes to life after death, we emulate the shortsightedness of the immature.

Our earthly gains amount to nothing, no matter the amount accumulated, when death comes knocking.  Not one single item can be taken into eternity.  So, why is so much emphasis placed on material possessions rather than spiritual ones?  Why is the short span of eighty to one hundred years, at best, so dog-gone blind to hope?  The windows to our souls have blinds of apathy blocking the view of God’s ageless tomorrow.   If we are Christians, true Christians, our citizenship resides upward not outward.  Our hope is meant for eternity’s inheritance with Jesus, not the devil’s doghouse of denial. 

We know that hope’s gains are “kept in heaven,” but how?  Through faith in Jesus Christ.  Faith is complete trust or dependence on the absolute of Jesus being who He says He is (Hebrews 11:1).  We are assured of our inheritance’s reality and its safety.  It is “shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (1 Peter 1:5).  Notice verse five states, “the salvation that is ready to be revealed.”  Once Jesus died on the cross and defeated Satan and sin, He was resurrected in victory over death.  The three “evils”—Satan, sin, and death—were defeated by the One.  Satan stands opposite his Creator.  God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—defeated all three on Calvary.  Christ was the Suffering Servant, but do not miscount the role of the Father and Spirit in salvation.  The Father sacrificed His only begotten for the sake of His creation, the Son gave Himself up for the Father’s righteous love, and the Spirit raised Jesus from death and now works as our Counselor.  The one, true God won.

Since that glorious triumph, the Father has been preparing a family unto Himself through His Son, by placing His Spirit as a seal on the souls who accept His only means of salvation.  This salvation is ready to be revealed here in the last times.  Jesus spoke of the end times when He walked the earth, this verse refers to the last times.  There is a difference.  Think of the Olympics.  The end of the games is designated by a closing ceremony on the final day.  The days preceding the closing ceremony are generally referred to as "the end of the games."  Not until the last game is played is the closing ceremony set to start.  The same is of life as we know it.  The past has been the end of times, but now is the last time.  I cannot say how long the final game will last, only that we are in the final play of history.  Once the game clock ticks down to zero, the closing ceremony will begin.  The signs are all about.  Open your eyes, Christians, and read the times.  The end has become the last.  Jesus could literally come back at any moment.

All prophecy in Scripture leads to Jesus.  Old Testament prophecies tell of the coming Messiah, the Christ, Jesus.  New Testament prophecies foretell His return, one: to catch up His family, and two: to establish His kingdom by ending the present age.  His return is eminent—through His own words.  The times He spoke of exist in overwhelming abundance today.  To continue eyes set downward is to live as an ostrich with its head in the sand.  The end is coming whether or not we keep an eye out for it.  Our living hope should be on His powerful appearing.