Living Hope

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.
1 Peter 1:3

Today, fears of terrorism, incurable diseases, and economic collapse rank high on lists of people’s fears. But behind modern fears looms the fear to which terrorism, disease, and destitution lead: the fear of death. The writer to the Hebrews talked about people “who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:15).

We have no certain hope against terrorism and the like. But we have great hope against death! And that hope is called the Resurrection. The apostle Peter said that Christ’s resurrection is the basis for our “living hope”—a hope that characterizes our life daily. Why does Christ’s resurrection give us hope? Because His resurrection was only the first fruits. Because Christ was resurrected from the dead, all who believe in Him will be resurrected too. The apostle Paul wrote that our faith is hopeless if Christ wasn’t raised from the dead. But because He was resurrected, we have a living hope!

If we have hope in the face of death, we can have hope in the face of anything and everything else.

Christianity is essentially a religion of resurrection.
James S. Stewart