To a living hope

A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing--we're behind." 

"Boy," said the spectator, "I'll bet you're discouraged." 

"Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven't even gotten up to bat yet!"

Source Unknown.

1 Peter 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 

“To a living hope”

Apostle Paul also understood we needed this supernatural awakening of our inner eyes and ears. He prayed for it -- see Ephesians 1:17-18 -- for the Christians in Ephesus. 

So this hope that we have is a LIVING hope.

Hope can be tangible but also intangible.

Tangible hope: finances, good educational credentials, a good family name, property, influential social network; good reputation

Intangible hope: everything that the Bible encourages us to focus on: faith, love, peace, good conscience

Hope is future-orientated. Paul gives us a hint about this hope, and in I Thessalonians 5:8, he uses the phrase, our hope, the “helmet ”. The helmet protects the HEAD.

So here is the application: What’s in my head? 

Whose thoughts are ALIVE in my head?

Thoughts of work -- the stresses of your day to day job. 

Thoughts of bitterness -- the hurts we received from the boss, from friends, co-workers,

Thoughts about tomorrow -- how to save more money?

What we think about is what we hope for -- But are these things LIVING hope?

Let me invite us to really ask God for changing our  mental patterns -- See, like air pollution, our inner living is also messed up. We focus on the wrong things, the things that discourage us

We focus on all kinds of hopeless news, all kinds of hopeless trends in the media. And we ignore the power of the HOPE we have.  

Note :- From the Sermon notes - series on 1 Peter 1 by Dr. Anil Jacob for Crossway. 

Stanley Thomas Isac

Stanley is serving as the Pastor of Crossway Church in New Delhi, he can be reached at stanleytisac@gmail.com