I Peter 1:3-9: Living Hope

Despite current signs to the contrary, despite suffering, despite challenges, despite whatever we may face, if our hope is founded in Christ and our faith is strong, then our hopes will be strong. This should at least be true for our hopes in the most central and integral things of life, those things that stem out of our very identity as a Christian. 
 

Introduction

(Read once to be introduced to the series. After that skip this to go right to the good stuff!) 

Welcome to my Devotions Series. This series features devotions based on the Scriptures of the Common Lectionary. The series is being prepared for eventual and hopeful print publication.

By going to my Main Article List you can also find the complete collection posted on Gather, including the additional readings not posted to any groups. New Scriptures selections will be posted every Monday through Thursday to my main page and to my groups.

The series is also posted and regularly updated on my official blog every Monday, with the entire selections for the following Sunday: http://www.cedwardsellner.blogspot.com/

You can find a host of additional information, online resources and links to my other work there. This includes a cross-referenced Archive that lists the various Sundays, but then also lists all currently published Devotions by their sequence in Scripture as well as a Topical Index.

You can go directly to the Devotions: Archive by clicking here.

Each Scripture is also hyperlinked to the online Bible at Bible Gateway in the NIV version I used in preparing the series.

As I mentioned this series is being prepared for print publication, so I of course would welcome any and all feedback, either through Gather, or directly to cedwardsellner@aol.com

Lectionary Series Year A: Easter Sunday
I Peter 1:3-9 (Read it on Bible Gateway)
Living Hope
In this passage from Peter, we get a message from the Apostle that speaks to a great deal concerning our faith. Peter speaks of the basis of our faith, the resurrection of Christ, and our inheritance of faith, which is eternal and kept in Heaven. He speaks of the protection we are given by God: that even in the midst of suffering, which is only temporary, we can find assurance that it is merely so that we might purify and show our faith to be genuine by its perseverance. All of this stems from our belief and faith in Christ.

Peter emphasizes this promise with the phrase 'living hope' early in the passage, and its here I would like to focus.

Hope is a powerful theme that runs all through Scripture, especially in the Christian Testament. Its presence is obvious in the sheer number of time it is mentioned throughout Scripture. This becomes even more true when considering the many times and places it is part of the implied message of any given passage.

What is hope to a Christian?

First, maybe we need to ask what hope is period. In general, most people define hope as the belief in a positive future. It's the philosophy, belief, principle or general holding on to a belief that things will go well, that all will end well, that everything will work out in the end, etc.

In this mindset, hope varies along a number of spectrums. Our hopes can be high or low, meaning, we believe in great things to come, or perhaps, at least believe we won't end up worse off. Hopes can be a sure thing, or a long shot, meaning the odds are either very much with us or against us. Hopes can be reasonable, or pipe dreams, meaning that they can either be supported and based in reality, or seem to have very little in common with the reality most of us share. Hopes can be profound and life-changing, or the stuff of whims, meaning they can range from lofty ideals to petty desires.

Hope in the broadest sense has many facets, many levels and layers which can be dissected in almost endless combination.

So what is hope to a Christian?

When we speak of hope in the context of our faith, we're not talking about hopes in mundane whims, everyday occurrences or even lofty but human centered outcomes.

The meaning in scripture seems inevitably tied to the same issues and measures as faith. We have hope in the resurrection and its forgiving grace. We have hope in the promises of Heaven and eternal life. We have hope in the promises of God. We have hope in salvation through Christ. This makes a good bit of sense if we remember that at its root hope is belief. So is faith, the two are interwoven in a very fundamental way.

Which means then that for the Christian, our hopes are about as secure as our faith is strong. In other words, we should look critically at our hope for the future and ask ourselves what it says about us. The stronger our faith in God and Christ, then naturally, the more assured our hopes are for the future. We should not be a people of vain or flimsy hope, because our hopes are not founded in human capacity, random chance or our own efforts, but instead upon the promises of God.

That is part of the point Peter is making here. Despite current signs to the contrary, despite suffering, despite challenges, despite whatever we may face, if our hope is founded in Christ and our faith is strong, then our hopes will be strong. This should at least be true for our hopes in the most central and integral things of life, those things that stem out of our very identity as a Christian.

The hopes for your favorite team to win any given game and you the betting pool at the office, or for that certain someone to say yes when you ask them out...well, that's another story.

For the complete listing of our Devotions, see our Devotions Archive