4.13.20 - A Living Hope
Do you remember the Super Bowl? Yeah! I know, it feels like forever ago but it was just two months ago! On February 2nd Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes brought the Chiefs back from behind to win football’s most elite title. What happened afterwards? After the confetti fell and post-game speeches wrapped up, you probably threw your buffalo wing-stained paper plate in the trash, texted your friends (you know, the 49’ers fans who you were trash talking the whole game), and went home and went to bed. You got up the next morning, ate breakfast, and went to school. A normal day for you…but not for the Chiefs organization. Their lives had been radically altered by the events that occurred that Sunday.
In a similar but much GREATER fashion, our lives have been radically altered by what happened on Sunday, Resurrection Day. The greatest victory ever to occur was celebrated by us yesterday as we rejoiced in what God has done in raising Jesus from the dead. It is not just an event that happened, and now our lives can go on as ‘normal’. For the believer in Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus changes everything! If Jesus were still dead, our sins would not be atoned for, and our hope would be gone. But instead, we have a sure and certain hope that our old selves of sin, guilt and shame were crucified with Jesus on the cross, and our new selves of righteousness, holiness, and peace are ours through the resurrection of Jesus.
Read I Peter 1:3-4. This passage reminds us of the great hope that we have because Jesus is alive. Peter refers to it as a “living hope”. It is a hope that we are born into. That means that after it’s born, it grows. Even though in these days of ‘stay-at-home’ life, every day can begin to feel the same. But it doesn’t have to be. The joy that fills our hearts of knowing that the grave is empty and that our lives are secure in Jesus is something we should dwell upon every day. Not just Easter Sunday. In fact, it will take the rest of your life to fully grasp what an awesome reality we live in as we know our Savior to be crucified, and raised. He now lives in heaven at the right hand of God and sent us His Spirit to help, comfort, and guide us. Therefore we can have hope because as it says in vs 4 of our passage, we have an inheritance awaiting us. The blessing of heaven where we will see our savior face to face.
Questions for Reflection
What is your favorite Easter tradition? How was it the same, and how was it different as you celebrated yesterday?
What things can you do this week to continue to remember the joy of the resurrection?
How does the resurrection of Jesus give you hope?