Our Living Hope

There are many people in our world today that feel totally hopeless.   They may feel like there is a definite void in their lives, but they just can't seem to figure our what is missing.  They need a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Instead of reaching out to the Lord however they end up reaching for drugs, alcohol, or engage in sexual sin to try to fill the void and emptiness that they feel in their hearts.

Those things won't fill their need.  It will actually make them thirst more.  Then they will feel even more empty and hopeless as they try to satisfy that desire to try to fill that void. 

What they truly need is hope.  We believers in Jesus Christ know that there is true hope and that is only available through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the One who died for our sins.  We have all sinned and have fallen short of God's standards.  God loved us s much that He sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to earth to live a perfect sinless life and died on a cruel cross for our sins.  Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and He is at the Father's right hand in Heaven and one day He will return.  He is indeed our hope.  He is the only hope that the world has.  He is the living hope.

I Peter 1:3-9 says,

"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,

References for 1 Peter 1:3

• Cross References

• 13 1:3 - 2Co 1:3 ; Eph 1:3
• 14 1:3 - Tit 3:5 ; Jas 1:18
• 15 1:3 - ver 23; S Jn 1:13
• 16 1:3 - ver 13,21; S Heb 3:6
• 17 1:3 - 1Co 15:20 ; 1Pe 3:21

4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,

References for 1 Peter 1:4

• Cross References

• 18 1:4 - S Ac 20:32 ; S Ro 8:17
• 19 1:4 - 1Pe 5:4
• 20 1:4 - Col 1:5 ; 2Ti 4:8

5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

References for 1 Peter 1:5

• Cross References

• 21 1:5 - 1Sa 2:9 ; Jn 10:28
• 22 1:5 - S Ro 11:14
• 23 1:5 - S Ro 8:18

6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

References for 1 Peter 1:6

• Cross References

• 24 1:6 - Ro 5:2
• 25 1:6 - 1Pe 5:10
• 26 1:6 - Jas 1:2 ; 1Pe 4:12

7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

References for 1 Peter 1:7

• Cross References

• 27 1:7 - Job 23:10 ; Ps 66:10 ; Pr 17:3 ; Isa 48:10
• 28 1:7 - Jas 1:3
• 29 1:7 - 2Co 4:17
• 30 1:7 - ver 13; S 1Th 2:19 ; 1Pe 4:13 ; Ro 2:7

8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

References for 1 Peter 1:8

• Cross References

• 31 1:8 - Jn 20:29

9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Let us cling to the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.  We love Him and He loves us.  Continue to have faith in our Lord no matter what trials we might face.  He is faithful and true.  We can trust Him.  

Lord,

We love You.  Thank You for being our living hope.

We trust in You.

Come soon O Lord.

In Jesus name,

Amen.