1st Peter 1:3-5
People today are searching for hope amid financial struggle, amid personal despair, and family tragedy. The world knows only of a dying hope. The Bible says, “Such are the paths of all who forget God; the hope of the godless shall perish” (Job 8:13 ESV).
In Contrast, believers in Christ have a living hope. We are reminded in (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV) “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
The Bible delivers that hope in the good news of Jesus Christ. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the reason for our Hope. It was the hope of a living redeemer that sustained Job in the midst of suffering. “As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth” Job 19:25 (NASB).
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation for all Christian hope. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.” John 11:25 (NKJV)
The Resurrection of Christ is a pledge to you that you will also be raised to new life. Because His resurrection is our resurrection. (Revelation 1:17-18 KJV) “… Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore…”
The Resurrection is the heart of the gospel message (1st Corinthians 15:1-3). Therefore our belief of the resurrection is essential to our salvation. (Romans 10:9 KJV) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Viktor Frankl, in Man’s Search for Meaning, tells of his days in a World War II death camp and prison. He said, “The person who lost his faith in the future-his future- was doomed” (p. 74). He mentions further that those who had hope increased their chances for survival, the hope of seeing a loved one again or the hope of a dream they possessed.
The hope of Christ will never let you down and will sustain you through the deepest valleys of your life. Romans 5:5 (NKJV) Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.