by Dane Massey
(Dane Massey is the former Pastor of Mulvane Christian Church. He is now in ministry in Houston, Texas.)
I’ve been thinking on the Hope that is ours in Christ. The return of Christ, the bodily resurrection and ultimately a transformed creation are key elements to this “blessed hope.”
These are uniquely Christian truths that have historically fueled the perseverance of the saints. These doctrines have drawn a lot of dust in much of American Christianity today. (Unless it’s some mystical conspiracy theory concerning Christs return, modern political intrigue, and a few verses thrown in for the sensational effect).
For Paul and the other New Testament writers however, this hope was foundational to their everyday lives, especially in their response to the difficult, the suffering, and the battle with sin.
The teaching of a resurrected body, unthreatened by death, uncorrupted by sin, and unlimited by the flesh was to the saints of old a glorious thought. To live in that resurrected body in a creation no longer groaning under the curse was a hope that nothing could extinguish!
These are central thoughts in rich passages such as I Cor. 15, II Cor. 4:7-5:10, Romans 8, the entire book of I Thessalonians, I Peter I, and of course Revelation. You will find the undercurrent of these thoughts entwined and underlaying almost every central doctrine in the New Testament epistles.
Of course, to appreciate this rich teaching one needs to be saturated with such biblical doctrines as holiness, the pursuit of daily dying to sin and the flesh, mortifying the deeds of the flesh, loving not the world nor things of the world along with living long enough to see the consequences and destruction of sin in one’s own life and others.
When you have a Christian culture more interested in motivational speeches on how to have your best life now, these “antiquated” doctrines are quickly passed over.
Anyone who studies the biblical doctrine of hope and is pursuing their “best life now” obviously is going in the wrong direction for eternity. Watch as Peter encourages his readers with the biblical concept of a “living/lively hope:”
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
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,
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (I Peter 1:2-9)
Peter ties our salvation to an eternal work of the triune Godhead, chosen in eternity past by God the Father, redeemed in the historical past by the work of Christ the Son on the Cross, set apart and brought to this redemption and obedience to it by the Holy Spirit in the historical present. (Vs 2).
Living this great salvation out in the present however requires endurance under manifold trials, an endurance that only a “lively hope” can produce. This word translated “lively/living” implies more than just being alive. It pictures an invigorating inward strength.
What’s the springboard for this strength? The resurrection of Christ! What’s it rooted in? The mercy of God the Father who gave His Son! What’s the source? The birthing unto new life by the Spirit! (Vs 3).
This life has a future! An inheritance! If you live long enough you grow old. With age comes an accumulative effect. You accumulate memories, things, etc., but we also accumulate disappointment and a deep awareness that nothing ever completely satisfies. Even victories leave behind a certain emptiness and sense of dissatisfaction.
This shouldn’t make us cynical or disillusioned but instead should turn our eyes to eternity.
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17).
What is the end game, the result of such a Lively Hope?
We can stand through manifold trials with a rejoicing heart knowing they merely equip us, mold us, and create in us a hunger for an eternal inheritance!
Live boldly, for we only live once, but it’s for eternity!
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