Our Living Hope

SERMON # 1116-CHURCH IN THE HOUSES DATE: AUGUST 2, 2020

TOPIC: “Our Living Hope” 1 Peter 1:3-5 These verses admirably describe to us the riches of the inheritance that God our Father has prepared for those who love him. Peter begins in Vs. 1 with a vibrant PRAISE: "BLESSED IS THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST..."

I. This title presents God in a double relationship with the Lord Jesus.

A. The name of God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ emphasizes the humanity of our Savior; Jesus became man to justly pay with his death the terrible price of our salvation.

1. Who better than Peter to know and understand it! Peter was there as a witness!

2. The name Father emphasizes the deity of the Son of God.

3. Here Peter mentions the full and complete name of the Son:

a. Lord - He who has the exclusive right to reign in hearts and lives!

b. Jesus - The One who saves His people from their sins!

c. Christ - God's Anointed One who has been exalted to the highest place in heaven!

4. It says in Vs. 3 “…in His great mercy HE HAS GIVEN US NEW BIRTH INTO A LIVING HOPE THROUGH THE RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ from the dead. "

5. GOD is the source of this salvation!

6. HIS GREAT MERCY is the cause of this salvation!

7. Be reborn, THE NEW BIRTH is His nature! This is the way we have salvation!

8. (Vs. 3) A LIVING HOPE is His present reward for those who believes!

9. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the just cause of our salvation. The Lord died and washed away our sins with His blood. Death could not overcome Him since no sin was found in Him (because the payment of sin is death), so he was brought back to life by being resurrected. Then, His death became payment for our sins. That is the foundation of our living hope!

10. As sinners, we had no hope beyond the grave.

11. There was nothing else beyond us except the certainty of judgment and fiery indignation.

12. As members of the first creation, we were under a sentence of death.

13. But, in the work of redemption (in the work of redeeming, of rescuing the sentenced) God found a just basis in Christ IN WHICH HE CAN SAVE THE WICKED AND REMAIN JUST!

14. Christ died, but had nothing to pay for Himself, He had no sin, so He credited His death to pay for ours. Christ has successfully paid all the penalty for our sins!

15. For sin it has been given as full satisfaction the death of the Son, the death of God incarnated!

16. The demands of justice have been covered and now, from Christ, mercy can flow to those who believe and obey the gospel. That was God's plan for the salvation of sinners!

17. At the resurrection of Christ, God indicated His complete satisfaction with the sacrificial work of His Son.

18. The resurrection is the “Amen” of the Father to the cry of the Son: “It is accomplished (finished)!” (John 19:30) “When He had received the drink, Jesus said: It is finished. With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit."

19. Likewise, THAT RESURRECTION IS A GARMENT FOR ALL THOSE WHO DIE IN CHRIST TO BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD! We will resurrect!

20. THIS IS OUR LIVING HOPE! The expectation of being taken home to heaven to be with Christ and be like Him forever!

21. Commentator Meyer calls “living hope” the link between our present and our future!

22. (Vs .4) When we are born again, we have the certain hope of an inheritance…reserved in heaven.

23. The inheritance includes all that the believer will enjoy in heaven for all eternity, and all that will be his through Christ. (Psalm 16:5) "Jehovah is the portion of my inheritance..."

24. The inheritance is incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading:

(1) INCORRUPTIBLE means that it can never be corroded, cracked, or deteriorated. It is death proof!

(2) UNCONTAMINATED means that the inheritance itself is in perfect condition. No stain or fogging can diminish its purity It is sin-proof!

(3) UNMARKABLE that it can never undergo variations in value, glory or beauty. It never fades. It is time-tested! This divine inheritance is not subject to any of the changes of time, it is kept in the "safe of heaven."

25. (Vs. 5) Not only is the inheritance kept for Christians, but that THEY ARE ALSO GUARDED for it.

26. The same grace that preserves the heavenly inheritance preserves the heirs for us to enjoy it.

27. GOD'S CHOICE OF HIS PEOPLE CAN NEVER BE FRUSTRATED!

28. Those who were chosen in the "past eternity" are now saved in time AND ARE SAVED FOR THE ETERNITY TO COME!

29. The believer in Christ is eternally secure!

30. The Word says that we are guarded by the power of God, this being the divine side. But there is a human side as well as the divine as far as eternal security is concerned

31. The human side is THE FAITH THAT SHOULD NOT BE MISSING. Well, when there is true faith, there will be continuity!

32. THE FAITH THAT SAVES ALWAYS HAS PERMANENCE AS A CHARACTERISTIC!

33. A believer is guarded “…BY THE POWER OF GOD THROUGH FAITH…” to attain the salvation that is prepared to be revealed in the last time.

34. His glories will not be manifested until our lives have ended and we have passed the time of trial, HAVING MAINTAINED THE FAITH AND A GOOD CONSCIENCE! Amen.