A Living Hope

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0:00Our Savior's alive, church. He's alive. Glory to the Lord. It is wonderful to worship with you all on Easter Sunday. I hope you all are enjoying the extra songs we're putting into today's service that we can sing to the Lord. It ties in with what I'm about to preach from, actually. Because today's a celebration. I hope you know that. But I want you to know it's not a celebration of spring. It's not a celebration of warm weather. It's not a celebration of flowers or bunnies.

0:40It might be a celebration of this suit. Because I just laid eyes on this. Jackson, you must hit this. That is awesome. Woo! Got to get me one of those. That's awesome. All right. So as awesome as that suit is, and amazing, it's not even a celebration of that, of wearing nice clothes. It's a celebration of a victory. We've already been talking about it. It was all in Jacob's prayer for us today. It's in the songs that we've been singing. It's a celebration of a victory.

1:18Over in Europe, they celebrate a victory every year, all across Europe, on May 8th. That's VE Day, Victory in Europe Day. That was the day the Allies accepted Germany's unconditional surrender of World War II, and they still celebrate it. Because they had been liberated. I mean, they were literally liberated from an occupying force. War was over. New life could begin. The victory that we celebrate today is also historic. It's just as historic as VE Day.

1:50May 8th, 1945. It's just as historic. But it is infinitely more important. Jesus of Nazareth, who died on a cross, got up out of that tomb three days later. It really happened. This is not a story. This is not a fable. It's real. It really happened. And we celebrate. Why would we celebrate? Because somebody else came to life. Well, because that life was the resurrection of the defeat of sin and death. That was the victory. That's what we celebrate today.

2:28The victory over sin and death. And through Him, through faith in Him, we're liberated. Just like Europe was liberated. On May 8th, 1945, we are liberated. From a far greater enemy. Liberated from the bondage to sin. From the fear of death. And new life has really begun. So what I have to share for you today, this is true every week, but I feel compelled to highlight it today. This is not just an inspiring idea or a motivational message, okay? There are some who would try to tell you that that's what all Easter is.

3:07It's an idea. A motivation. To try to get you to seize new life out there somewhere. No, it's not that. This is the real story of a real resurrected Savior. The real power of the risen Christ to save lives and to change lives. Anybody in here excited about a good news like that? A real power of the resurrection. To save lives and to change lives. It's only found through Christ. So today we're going to hear from Peter. We're going to hear from Peter who was there on that day.

3:44He ran to the tomb. When he heard the news, he ran and he found it empty. He tells us about the change, the newness of life, and all of the hope that happens through the risen Christ. So let's turn now to 1 Peter chapter 1 and hear the word of the Lord for us. Through his servant Peter, but still very much the living and active word of God. Trustworthy in every way. Let's come before it with humble hearts, but also eager hearts. Eager to learn and to be changed by him.

4:22His power going forth. Here it comes. God's word for you today. 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.

4:59In 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 you have 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, salvation of your souls.

5:41Pray with me. Lord God, help us to take hold of and live into the truths that are in this word. About the living hope that we have in you, Jesus, our living Savior. Do that work for our good and for your glory. Magnify your name. Lord, you are alive. And so we can be alive. Now and eternally. Jesus, we pray this in your name.

6:20Peter says that we have a living hope. Our resurrected Savior gives us real promises to hold onto and live into. My goal today is to get you to see that this matters for your life today. That this is the most relevant truth. Not just the most important truth, but it's the most relevant truth for your life today. Because when we use the word hope, we want something to happen, but we're not really sure. That's how we use the word hope. I hope it doesn't rain.

6:56I hope I pass that test. Kids, anybody ever say that? I hope I get that job, adults. I hope she says yes. When we say hope, what we oftentimes mean is wish. But the hope that God gives us is different. It's different because he always keeps his word. Our hope is a certainty because it's grounded in God's promise. In God's character. Which does not change. When God says we have hope, it does not mean a wish. It means a promise. It's not a wish. It's a promise.

7:36You have to almost rethink how you hear that word. Because of how often we use it as just the word wish. Because it's founded in a promise. Because it is real. It's good news to read this. According to his great mercy, God has caused us to be born again to a living hope. Now, your first birth defines a lot about you. It defines your eye color. Your skin color. Your hometown. Your nationality. Even your abilities and your disabilities. All of those things are defined by your first birth.

8:16But through faith in Christ, we've been born again. We have to think of ourselves as sitting in a new place now. We are submerged into a new reality. And that reality is a living hope. Don't think of yourself as merely defined by your first birth. Brothers and sisters in Christ. Brothers, if you've been born again, you are sitting in a new place now. New things define you. New realities are true about you. You have a living hope. This is the only place in the Bible that we see this phrase, living hope.

8:52A living hope, it's full of vigor and vitality. It's strong and it's durable. It's all of these things because it's connected to and it comes from a living Savior. Now here Peter tells us that a living hope makes a difference in three places, three areas of our life, three big concerns that we have. Our future, our trials, and our heart. Let's see how this living hope changes these things. It's living hope for our future. Everyone thinks about the future from time to time.

9:32I would think, no matter how old you are in here, every now and then you start thinking about the future. The core of the question is, will I be okay? What if my future doesn't pan out the way I thought? What if I lose my job? What if something catastrophic happens and we can't pay our bills? What if these relationships in my life don't endure? What if the relationships in my life that I want to be reconciled never are?

10:14What if I never find that thing that I'm passionate for? Will I be okay? God has a plan. And when we come into His family, we become heirs to a fortune. We are heirs now. We haven't done a thing to earn it. Not a thing. He simply gives it to us. It's ours because He's caused us to be born again. We belong to Him now. Our inheritance is one that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. There is no way it will ever lose value. You know, people chase valuable things all the time.

10:53Every, they chase valuable things and they're always disappointed. Have you ever been to a yard sale or a flea market or an estate sale? You find things there that people have kept for years. Maybe you have some of these things in your home. Things that you've kept for years, believing them to be valuable.

11:16Sometimes you can look at those things and you can see how the progression of time has gone during that Saturday of the yard sale. It starts off $10 and then there's a cross out $5 and then it's crossed out $2, crossed out and finally the only thing left says 50 cents. This thing that they've held on to for a long time, maybe their whole lives, maybe their parents gave it to them. They thought it was valuable. They thought it was precious. Now it's sitting on a table and people walk right by and nobody wants it.

11:52And I had a friend who, he's a little bit older than me and he came to me one day and he had this big tub and he's like, hey, why don't you see if any of the kids in the church want any of these? And I was like, well, what is this? And I opened it and it's a tub full of Beanie Babies. Y'all may not know this, but at one point Beanie Babies had some, they were the thing. People drove all over buying rare ones, right? I was staring at a Beanie Baby collection, all of these rare Beanie Babies.

12:26At some time it had some value to somebody, but now I had to talk kids in the church into taking one home. Value does not last. Nothing in this world holds its value. Not real estate, not Amazon stock, not Bitcoin, not printed money, not even precious metals. Nothing. But God has something for you, something to give you today that will always endure in value. It will never go down. I remember being a kid and watching TV and there would be these Elvis plates that would come on, these collectible Elvis plates.

13:15And at the end they were like, not all plates will go up in value. Because they wanted to tell you, they wanted to let you know, hey, we're selling this as a collectible, it may not go up in value very much. I wonder how many people listened to that, but instead picked up the phone. I'd like five, please. Kids, guess what? I made a great investment today. Your college is, we got it paid for. These Elvis plates, they're going to make it happen for you.

13:44How foolish are we to be chasing things of the world when God is sitting here ready to give us something that is of eternal value, or maybe you've already received it and you're still chasing things. There is something of eternal and enduring value and it's kept in heaven for you for safe keeping. When I was a kid at Christmas, sometimes a grandparent would give my brother and I each a $20 bill. And boy, that's big money when you're a kid. And I remember right after we opened it up, my dad or mom would say, why don't I hold on to that for you?

14:30They put it in an envelope until we got home. Because they knew that in a kid's hands it might get lost in all of the wrapping. They had it in safe keeping until we got home and they put it in the piggy bank or in the bank. God has the inheritance for you. He's holding on to it for safe keeping. He's keeping it for you. Safe. So what is this inheritance anyway? Well, it's a home. It's a home where we're safe. It's a new body full of everlasting health.

15:06It's good food. It's feasting. It's comfort and it's peace. It's joy and it's rest. It's community and it's fellowship. It's eternal life, friends. It's eternal life. And it's all of those things in the complete absence of any sin. In you or around you. No sin and no effects of sin. Eternally. But the best part of the inheritance is God himself.

15:43The apostle John saw a vision of the future and he heard this. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. You've never known an experience like this. It's not possible here on earth. What he has for us is even better than the most tippy top mountaintop experience you've ever had of closeness with God. It's better than any of that. We will know and live with the one who made us and saved us immediately with no hindrance of sin coming between us.

16:28This is the life we were made for. This is the inheritance that is kept safe for us. But listen, the inheritance won't do us much good if we aren't kept safe to receive it, right? But God's got that covered too. The same person in power that keeps our inheritance also keeps us. By God's power, you're being guarded through faith. You will receive the inheritance. God will see to it. Imagine an eight-year-old boy or an eight-year-old girl was told that they would inherit a fortune in 10 years.

17:11When you turn 18, this vast fortune is going to be yours. And until then, they're going to be given bodyguards, a private chef, a team of doctors and a personal trainer, how confident is that eight-year-old that he or she will make it to 18 and receive that inheritance? Very confident, right? Everything between now and then has been taken care of. They've got every facet of their life looked after, tended to. How is that little boy or little girl going to live?

17:47That's the question. Because how are you going to live? Because you should be even more confident than that eight-year-old in that story. You have a spiritual bodyguard. Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world, right? Anybody ever heard that verse? You have got the word of God to nourish you and strengthen you. That's better than a personal chef. You've got the physician of the soul to forgive you and heal you. That's better than a team of doctors.

18:21And you even have a personal trainer, the Holy Spirit, which comes at you, sometimes like a PT does and says, I've got a workout for you. It's going to hurt, but you're going to be better for it. You are surrounded by this. You have been helped. You have been kept so that you can get to that inheritance. How confident are you? You should be very confident, all of us. And so then, how are we going to live? The risen Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, and he will return to bring us to him.

19:03Until then, no one will snatch us out of his hand. That assurance, it addresses our anxiety, but even more, it gives us the freedom to drop our self-protection, right? To really do what the Bible says and consider others more highly than ourselves. To be generous, to be merciful, because we have a living hope for our future.

19:32Here's the second thing. We have living hope for our trials. The people receiving this letter are suffering. Persecution is on the rise. And probably, based on when most scholars think this letter was written, about a year after this letter, there's going to be a fire in Rome. And who gets blamed for that fire? But the Christians, the church. Persecution goes from an 8 to a 12. It's all at war against Christianity and against the Christians. The really intense persecution is coming.

20:09We aren't in the same situation, but there are plenty of hardships in our time. The cost of living is rising quickly. We know that. And along with it, mental illness, loneliness is on the rise. Everyone is confused about how to use technology without it controlling us. Both raising kids and being a kid seems to be harder than ever before. And then there's hardships that happen in any age. Sickness and tragedy and conflict. Believing God's word is out of step with our culture.

20:53Living as a Christian in the present age, it's to be both blessed and afflicted at the same time. We are guarded through faith and also, verse 6, for a little while, grieved by various trials. And we so often wonder, why is this happening to me? Why is this happening to me, God? We're looking for some meaning in our trials. And that's where the living hope comes in. Because of the resurrection power of Christ, these trials will bear fruit in your life.

21:32They're used by God to strengthen and purify us. Ephesians 2.8 says faith is a gift from God. He gave it to us, but we still have other places of trust in there somewhere. Faith in our ability and our strength. Faith in our willpower, in our resources, in our intelligence. You know it's there. All of those things are weak. They're unstable. And for our good, they have got to be identified and removed. So that our faith becomes more and more pure.

22:12Resting on God alone. And that's where the testing comes in. Kids, think of the science project, where I think everybody does this. People 200 years ago were probably doing it. You build a bridge out of popsicles and glue, right? Anybody ever done that?

22:32Now, you know that anyone can make a bridge look good. But the test comes at the end of the project, when they're all up on a table, and you put weights on them one by one, right? As those weights go on, you can tell real quick where the weak parts are, where it's flexing, where it's giving, and where the strong parts are. You're looking at your partner and you're saying, well, I thought you did that side of your bridge better. As the weights go on, it gets revealed what's strong and what's weak.

23:07Trials, they test our faith. They reveal the weak places in us so that we can address them with God. Because all these other things that we trust in, our ability, our money, our reputation, all of those things, they are revealed, and they will be eventually to be too weak to stand on. You can't rest there. But also, the tests show just how strong and genuine and real the faith in God really is. Just as surely as those false places of faith are shown to be weak, faith in God is shown to be strong in our trials.

23:55When Nikki was pregnant with one of our girls, you start going to get ultrasounds and get tests done. And there was one time we went, and they do all these tests, they measure these things. It's kind of complicated. You can't really tell what they are doing. But I could tell when the ultrasound technician got really quiet at one point. She went to get the doctor and came in, and there was something or other that they had measured that gave them concern.

24:28They were like, we don't know what this means, but it could mean this or this or this or this, or it could be nothing. And that's all that they can really say.

24:39We immediately became a high-risk pregnancy. And it immediately became a trial. From that point until she was born, of what does this mean? And I immediately had a trial going on in me, a trial of faith where God was saying, Joel, what really are you putting your faith in?

25:11When you think about a secure future, what are you thinking of? Do you trust me no matter what or not? There was nothing to do for the next six, seven months, but just to sit with that, with God, and allow Him to test me, eventually coming to the point of realizing, you're right, Lord. I just thought that this would all look a certain way.

25:47I'm not all that open to other paths, to other outcomes. I'm not open to the outcome of suffering. I want everything to be fine. My faith was in a certain kind of life, and God was testing me and saying, you've got to set that aside. That is not a place to rest your faith. You've got to rest it in me alone.

26:19And I could tell you stories about getting laid off and the trial of faith that that was. I could tell you a story about getting laid off again. And I know that you could tell me stories too about trials that you've been through that test your faith, that expose immediately, this is what you're trusting in along with me, and this has got to go.

26:51He's purifying us. That's what He's doing. That's the meaning of our trials. For a little while, we've been grieved by various trials, but my friends, the living hope is that it's not random. You're not subject to a random world that God can't control. He is in control of your world and your life. He is writing your story. And He has a good story for you and a good ending to your story.

27:24Sometimes it takes a while to believe that to see it. But He is helping us. Your trials have a purpose and a meaning. Even right now, the promise of the gospel is not that your circumstances will improve, but that God will use your circumstances to improve you. Don't believe those people that tell you, oh, faith in God leads to an abundant and a blessed life, cars, jobs, everything you want is going to happen in your life right now. For a little while, we've been grieved by various trials.

28:11Believe this. The promise is not that your circumstances will improve, but that God will use, sovereignly use your circumstances to improve you. You and I are grieved, but He has a purpose. He has a promise. Because He will reveal in the end the tested genuineness of your faith. More precious than gold. Don't you want that to be revealed at the end? For that to be the outcome of this life?

28:47God is doing a great work. All of our confidence in ourselves is being removed. And it's going to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. When He appears, we will be made like Him. For we will be with Him. That is living hope. No matter what you're going through today.

29:15Now here's the last thing. This is a living hope for our heart. Peter ends the passage writing about our emotions. Real faith means real love. Okay? Salvation is not a service we receive from a stranger. It's a relationship with a person that we're called to love. A painter, a mechanic, a doctor, those are service providers.

29:46You can receive their service and you don't have to spend any time with them or feel any affection towards them. In fact, they probably would rather you not.

29:58They're not looking for a relationship. They're just trying to give you a service. Salvation in Christ is not like this. Don't treat Jesus like a service provider. You can't say, I'll take that inheritance. Thank you. But I don't really care for you, Jesus. I don't want to spend any time with you, Jesus. Why are you bothering me, Jesus?

30:27True faith includes trust and love. Now this talk of love makes some of us suspicious and skeptical. We've dared to love before and we've gotten hurt. Or in other situations, our love has run short and we've hurt people.

30:51This fumbling with love has left us ambivalent at best or apathetic at worst. There's a callous on so many hearts. Now Peter knows something about this. Remember, he boasted about his affection with Jesus. How much he loved them. I love you more. You see all these other guys, Jesus? I love you more than any of them. Probably more than all of them put together. And yes, I will go with you to death. Absolutely. Sign me up. But then under pressure, what happened?

31:31He denied ever knowing Jesus. His great love that he boasted in turned out to be paper thin. And Jesus saw it. Jesus looked at him. For a few days, Peter thought Jesus was gone. That that was it. That the last moment he had with Jesus was Jesus looking over at him when he was denying him.

32:00But you know the rest of the story, right? He rose again. That's the big good news. And the smaller good news for Peter is that before he ascended back to the Father, Jesus took the time to move close to Peter in a particular way. To restore him. To forgive him.

32:28Peter learned that although his love for Jesus was shallow, Jesus' love for him was deep. And as a result of Jesus' love, Peter's love deepened. That's what Peter learned. The new affections and the heart change that we need, it comes from receiving the love of Christ. Not in pumping up our own, but in receiving his love. As John 4.19 says, 1 John 4.19, we love because he first loved us.

33:06He proved it by dying for us, by seeking after us, and by caring for us in our weaknesses. That's exactly what Peter experienced. And here's the living hope that he says we now have. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy. As you look at that scripture up on the screen, friends, listen to Jesus speak to your wounded heart. wherever it is stony and hard and calloused, where you are hesitant to love him because you're afraid of what might happen.

33:53He loved you first and he loved you best. He knows your issues. He knows your failings. He knows the things that you're ashamed of. And he still loves you. He still loves you. Even now, as the Spirit works in us, he strengthens us to know how deep and how high and how wide and how long the love of God for us is in Christ Jesus.

34:25So as he does that, don't be afraid to love him back. I mean, really love him back. And telling him about it, even if it makes you feel ridiculous and looks silly. Love him back.

34:46Long ago, when Nikki and I were dating, I've told this story before, but we were riding in my car together and a song came on. I was playing it from a CD or something. And kids, that's something that you put it as flat and you put it. Anyway, a song came on and suddenly I just felt like this song conveyed everything that I felt about her. Everything. And I really, really wanted her to know right then, even though I was driving. So I pulled over the car right on the side of the road.

35:27I restarted the song. I took her hand in mine and I looked in her eyes and I sang it to her. And I know that sounds kind of awkward. And it was. I felt kind of silly about it.

35:56But I was glad that I expressed how I felt. Even though she looked at me with this very kind bemusement on her face. I was glad that I had expressed how I really felt to her in my clumsy, impulsive way.

36:21I appreciate that, Ms. Phyllis. I was glad brothers and sisters in Christ, are you, can you be so bold to do that to Jesus? To look Him in the eyes? To tell Him how much you love Him? To sing to Him? Or maybe singing is not your thing, but just to talk to Him? To express your love for Him? Can you do that over and over and over? Don't be content with a lukewarm love. Don't be content with just liking Jesus.

37:01Young men, I want to personally challenge you, don't just be content with being like, yeah, Jesus, He's cool. Love Him. Tell Him that you love Him. He's loved you first. And He's loved you best. We love because He first loved us. Don't settle for a little bit of joy about Him. He rose again to give you a living hope. If that isn't worth getting emotional about and embarrassing yourself because you want to express it, then what is? What is? That's worthy of big, extravagant expressions of love.

37:57God certainly thinks so. Look at the duet that He wants to sing with you. This is Zephaniah 3.14. Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O Israel. Rejoice and exult with all your heart.

38:20Why? Because the Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by His love. He will exult over you with loud singing.

38:38It's a duet. And God wants you to sing your part. This love song, it's the fruit of a living hope. He gets the first verse because He saved us and then He stirs up our affections and He directs them towards Him. And we sing in response. And all of this happens. This living hope for our future, for our trials, and for our heart it happens through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. When you repent and you put your faith in Him, you're born again into this living hope as surely as He got up out of that tomb.

39:17And He gives us real promises, these promises to hold on to and to live into. He is risen.