The Glorious Truth of Living Hope

Have you ever been through a season where a certain word or idea seem to continually jump off the pages of Scripture?  

“Hope” has been that word for me for nearly two years now. And a few weeks ago, I was reminded of the importance of living in a way that reveals my hope. 

I had pulled into a gas station after a wonderful gathering with the women of our church where we studied God’s word and celebrated two expectant mamas. I was full of hope and praising God as I backed up to the pump and saw a woman walking in front of my car, scowling at me as she passed by.

As I inserted my credit card, I noticed she was at the adjacent pump.

I greeted her, “Hello. How are you doing?”

Her sad and surprised response revealed a broken heart. 

She said, “Why would you ask that? Nobody cares anymore.” 

And then she asked, ”And why are you so happy?”

My response, ”Because God is good.”

At that moment, she broke. Her tired eyes filled up with tears. She told me that she was a Christian but that she was going through a hard time. She said she didn’t want to talk about it, but she continued long enough to give me a few details. I learned that her husband, who was resting in the passenger’s seat, had Alzheimer’s disease. His prognosis was not good and she had found herself in a hard and unexpected place. 

I offered to pray for her, gave her my phone number and we parted ways. As I drove away, The Lord reminded me of these words:

When she asked me why I was so happy, I think, at the root of her question, she was asking, “What is the reason for the hope that you have?”

A few weeks later, I heard from her. She filled me in about her story and we prayed together on the phone. She said she might visit our church. I can’t begin to know what the Lord is doing in this situation or in her life, but I know that the Lord used this encounter to show me two important things:

1. We never know what people are going through and this means our experience with hope matters - it enables us to be patient, loving, and kind,  able to offer the hope of Christ to those we meet. 

   
   

2. I realized that I want to live in a way that people notice hope in me and ask me about it. I’m honestly a little concerned that it doesn’t happen more often. And I want to be prepared to give, to anyone who asks, an answer for the hope that I have in the Lord Jesus. 

So, as we dive into the topic of hope, I think it’s important to begin by asking, what is hope?

We all know that there’s worldly hope - a sort of wishful thinking about the things we want, perhaps coupled in some cases with our commitment to work towards getting those things. But it is all based on our circumstances. 

But Biblical hope is different. It is fixed on something, really someone, who is eternal, faithful, secure, someone who transcends our human limits, someone who is all powerful, all knowing, all loving and all good. 

When I consider hope, there’s a passage that often comes to mind. It’s one of the most hope-filled passages in God’s Word. In fact, it’s found in 1 Peter, the Epistle of hope.

“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, 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. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though youhave not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” 1 Peter 1:3-9

What glorious words of hope! This is one of those passages that, if you are having one of “those” days, you can read these words and your spirit will be lifted!

Peter is writing this letter to a church suffering in trials as they live, in Christ,counter to the culture of their day.  They are struggling. But Peter doesn’t offer a band-aid, he doesn’t offer tactics to combat their adversaries or a self-help strategy to help them work through the difficulties they are facing. 

No…. He reminds them of the Gospel. He reminds them of God’s mercy that has caused them to be born again and he informs them that their second birth, made possible by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, gives them a LIVING HOPE.

And, this hope all begins with the mercy of God. The truth is that without His mercy, we would have no hope beyond the grave. 

I have seen non-believing friends and family members angrily overreact to the smallest of conflicts. Although I can often be shocked by their responses,  I am always reminded that they have no hope. If things don’t go their way in this life, they’ve got nothing. ALL of their hope is in this world. 

When I consider this, my heart begins to soften to them as I realize they are hopeless. 

But, that’s not us! We have hope. Living Hope! 

Because God has shown us mercy. 

Because our Lord died and rose again. 

Because our sins are pardoned. 

Because we have been made alive in Christ through the gift of faith.  

And because we know that, one day, our faith (and our hope!) will be sight. And,on that day, we will see our Lord face to face. We will be restored and made new and, one day, we will dwell with Him in the new earth. At that time, we will fully receive the inheritance that Peter speaks of, this inheritance that is the promised reward, the fulfillment of our hope in Christ Jesus!

We can know that we are safe and secure in Christ

I remember the first time I studied this passage, I was struck by the recognition that our salvation is doubly secure. First, Peter tells us that the ultimate outcome of our salvation, our inheritance in Christ is one that cannot be tainted by sin, by evil, by decay. It will never lose its value, its beauty, its perfection, its glory and it is being KEPT in heaven for us. 

And, then he tells us that we are being GUARDED by God’s power. I don’t know about you but this gives me great assurance. This gives me great hope, in my failures, in my doubts, in my temptations, in my regrets. I cannot mess this up!

Yes, I am called to work out my salvation. Yes, I continue to seek the Lord, to know Him, to grow in obedience to Him but in my failures, in my weakness, His grace is sufficient and He will hold me fast. Praise the Lord that He is faithful!

We will have trials and we will have joy and because of hope, the two will intermingle.

None of us escape trials and sorrow in this world, but in Christ, our response to them is changed. We will experience grief, but we are never left hopeless. And, the emotions of joy and sadness are not separated for us; we have joy in our sorrows AND, we often have sorrow in our joy. 

I recall that a time when our family walked through a very dark trial. I was scared, I was sad, I cried, but the presence of the living hope of Jesus sustained me. The sadness did not consume me. I can clearly recall a long car drive, alone, worshiping the Lord, through tears, overwhelmed with sadness but believing, in a way that I never had before, that the Lord would carry our family, that He would sustain us and that He would ultimately bring good out of this painful hardship. 

And, in those moments, really in that trial, and even as it continued, I had and I have joy.

2 Corinthians 6:10 speaks of this joy….of grieving, yet always rejoicing. This joy is not a cheerful happiness, but a mix of quiet confidence, peace, praise and awe that results from knowing and abiding in Christ. 

We will walk by faith and grow in love.

We have not seen the Lord in human form. But, we know Him, by faith, through His word and we love Him.  And our faith results in radical changes in our lives. As we grow to know Him and His ways, we see more and more of His infinite value and we begin to treasure Him more and more above the things in this world. 

It’s been said that we become what we behold.  We know that’s true. We emulate those we admire. We study them. They influence us in small and big ways. Even the Bible tells us that those who walk with the wise will become wise. How much more is this true with the Lord and with the help of the Holy Spirit working in us, conforming us more and more into the image of Christ?  

And so… as we behold him more and more we become more and more like him.

And, this brings us full circle, back to 1 Peter 3:15.....

As we become people who look like Christ, we love well and we become people who are asked about the hope that we have in Christ. 

And, we become people who are prepared to answer those who ask about the hope that we have….

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”

1 Peter 3:15 

To Ponder:

Do you have assurance of your salvation? How do the words of 1 Peter comfort you in this? 

Reflect on an experience where you or someone you loved walked through great sorrow with hope and joy. What did you learn from experiencing or watching that?

Consider how the Lord has grown you in faith and in love and share one area where you sense He is growing you now.