Today, we are going into the Heart of God as we discuss, Jesus, Our Living Hope, from I Peter Chapter 1.
My name is Apostle Charles and along with Stephanie, we invite you to join us on our journey into the Heart of God.
Hello everyone, this is Stephanie thank you for joining us. About 2 weeks ago, before Easter, I started reading in I Peter, Chapter 1, and my heart was touched when I read verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
We recently celebrated Easter or Resurrection Sunday. We want to remember the power of Jesus’ resurrection every day not only one day in the year. Every day, He gives us living hope through His resurrection. Looking closer at verse 3, we read that this “lively hope” is because of God’s abundant mercy, not a little bit of mercy, but much mercy, large mercy, many mercies – that’s how the word abundant is defined in that verse, His abundant mercy that gives us this lively hope. I am so grateful that God is so merciful.
Let me back up here and say, when Peter wrote this Book of 1st Peter, he was writing to Believers who were being persecuted, who were suffering for being believers in Jesus. No doubt that suffering included being put to death. Now, in America, and most parts of the world, Believers don’t face death, but there are some places in the world where we do and we should pray diligently for those Christians.
But suffering and persecution is expected. In fact, Peter reminded us to not think it strange concerning the fiery trials which we will try us. I Peter 4:12-19, but instead, we are to rejoice because we have hope, that is a living hope, that is alive, not dead. This is because God raised Jesus up and Jesus walked out of the tomb alive. That is the kind of hope we have for every situation we face in this life.
But we have to constantly remember we have this hope not just one day of the year, as I said, but every day. Jesus lives and He lives in us through the Holy Spirit. Verse 4 in 1st Peter goes on to say that because of Jesus’ resurrection to life everlasting we have an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us. . . “an inheritance that is incorruptible. In other words, it cannot decay, our inheritance cannot die. I know when we are going through hurt, pain, and suffering, it is difficult to extract our minds from this earthly realm and focus on the heavenly, eternal realm. But the reality for Believers is that this life will be over one day, and this body is going to die (in fact some of us are already experiencing these bodies going downhill – we can’t do what we did 10 or 20 years ago). But this body is temporary! We have an incorruptible body that will never die waiting for us. Because of Jesus’ resurrection and the living hope we have treasures in heaven that cannot be corrupted. Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Our earth
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