“How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven
And spoke your name into the night
Then through the darkness
Your loving kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written
Jesus Christ, my living hope”
Living Hope, Phil Wickham
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
1 Peter 1:3-5, NKJV
We are born again through the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead – His resurrection power at work in us – begotten again to a living hope, an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away.
Peter talks about the ‘living hope’ we have in Jesus. “Living’ refers to the fact that it can be experienced – felt, seen, heard – understood by our senses and fathomed by our faculties.
In a lot of contexts ‘hope’ can be a very vague sort of word, implying something that ‘might or might not’ materialize – but that we long for nonetheless. In a lot of cases our definition of ‘hope’ has more to do with desire and wishful thinking.
The word used for ‘hope’ here, in 1 Peter 1:3: is the Greek ‘elpis’ which properly refers to the anticipation or welcoming of something that is sure.
In our culture broken promises seem to be the norm – even in the church. The only thing we seem to be sure of is the fact that we can’t be sure of anything. Our modern culture encourages us to ‘trust no-one’, not even yourself.
But God is not a man that He would lie – every word He speaks can be seen as trustworthy and true.
When we speak about ‘hope’ as believers we are not referring to things clouded by uncertainty – our hope in God, the expectation of our salvation, safety and security in Him – is certain.
We have in Jesus Christ the means to a welcome and joyously expected end and the end in itself. He is the author and the finisher of our faith.
We do not hope for something that might or might not materialize – our hope is not rooted in something we want or need to happen – but rather in what has already taken place, and therefore our hope is sure. Our expectation of His presence, power and providence in our lives will be rewarded, not when it materializes – for it is already done and has been done for at least 2000 years – but when we come to the realization that it is already there for us to experience and enjoy, paid for in full upon the Cross.
We can feel the certitude of His presence through our communion with His Holy Spirit. We can hear the certitude of His providence through the testimonies we share with one another – the record of which spans decades, centuries and millennia. We can see, with absolute certainty, His power at work in our lives and the lives of those around us – and when we do not experience Him through one we will certainly experience Him through another.
Our ‘hope’ – this certainty that Peter talks about – is a living thing. Living things tend to grow, and so it is that our relationship with and experience of God is also a thing that grows towards maturity. As we grow in our relationship with God, so does the ‘hope’ – or certainty – we have in Him. As we grow in our walk with the Lord, so also we grow in feeling, seeing, hearing and knowing – moving from a place in our faith where our hope is sometimes clouded by our thinking and circumstances towards a more mature faith and the certainty that Peter encourages us to have, this ‘elpis’ that he talks about, the anticipation and welcoming of the fulfillment of the promise of His presence, power and providence in our lives.
Prayer: Lord, let me see You more clearly. Let me feel You, closer than ever before. Let me be more mindful of the testimonies You are writing in my life. Let me be more aware of Your presence, power and providence so that I might grow in ‘hope’ – anticipating and welcoming the everyday fulfillment of Your promises in Jesus Name. Amen.