No One Told Me About Living 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” (1 Peter 1:3).

We learn about the idea of hope from an early age. We hope to get everything on our Christmas list. We hope that the car doesn’t run out of gas on the way to the gas station (I always push my Camry to its limit). As we get older, we learn about spiritual hope. We begin to hope in eternal things: heaven, seeing lost loved ones again, and no more sickness.

I read this verse recently and it challenged me on my understanding of hope. Isn’t it interesting that Peter included a description to the familiar word, “hope?” He is not describing a passive hope. It’s not hoping in an idea that sits on a bookshelf and collects dust. It is not a constitutional hope that cannot be amended to fit your specific need. It is living.

Every part of God’s kingdom is living. His Word is living. His Son is living. His Spirit is living. Hope that we have in Him is living. This is why it is impossible for living hope to put us to shame. This is because it is a hope that is constantly adapting to the needs of God’s people. It is a hope that is actively pursuing Christians who have been burdened. Let’s view this “living hope” as a runner. This living hope does not have a side agenda. Its only agenda is to move people to Christ: either by running ahead as a prize that we run toward or a hope that sees we are struggling and gets behind us to push us forward toward Jesus. This “living hope” isn’t sitting idly by in the crowd. It is running with us as we burn off the calories of cultural Christianity. “Living Hope” has the awareness to see every one of God’s children and come alongside them and whisper that the race is going to finish soon.

-Pastor Wes Lutes

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