A greater Hope! A living Hope!

 

A greater Hope! A living Hope!

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."

The Lord Jesus is true, and He is life.  His patience, tender mercy, and kindness are amazing — never surprising, but truly amazing.  In this text, we are reminded that God has begotten us who have received Jesus as our Lord, to a living hope through his resurrection from the dead.  That is, God has united us with Jesus in His death and in his life (Romans 6:5).  Jesus came down to this earth in the likeness of man and, under the law, he died to the law by offering himself; He was raised from the dead that He may live to God.  This was according to the goodwill of God (1 Peter 1:20); who, according to his great mercy, has given us such a great High Priest that is sufficient to us in all ways (Hebrews 2:10-11).

Therefore, having been united with Christ in death and in life, we have died the law that we may belong to another (Romans 7:4), to him who was raised.  We who have received Jesus are new creations in Christ and we are called to live holy as he who called us is holy.  The calling is in accordance with the nature of the one to whom I belong.

Christ is our life, and therefore the aim of our life is Christ-ward and there is no other way more fitting for me to live than to live for Jesus.  The most hypocritical life that someone who belongs to Jesus can live is a life contrary to what is true of us as new creations in Christ.

In this text, Peter as instructed by the Holy Spirit, tells us to rest our hope fully upon the grace that is to be Brough to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  This is the better hope to which we are to set our aim.  In that our nature has been changed, we are a new creation in Christ, so too has our calling.  The temptations of this world are ever-present, but we have been given the Holy Spirit to abide with us and in us.

It is absolutely essential for us as believers set our hope fully upon a better hope, that is, the return of Jesus Christ and the grace that will be ours when He comes.  There is a lie that the world, our flesh, and the devil want us to believe, and that is — He [Jesus] is not enough, and that this hope will ultimately disappoint; we must live for pleasure now.  This is a lie that we must combat with the truth! 

This lie is similar to the lie told by Satan in the Garden, which lead both Adam and Eve to sin.  The belief that God is holding out is an inlet to temptation and gives the opportunity to sin (James 1:14-15).

God has given us a greater hope and this hope is enough, we will not be disappointed!  So we must turn our hearts and our minds to Christ and live for the coming kingdom.  We must embrace all that he is to us, now and all that He will be on that day when He returns.  We can neither forget nor lose sight of this hope and promise!  This hope is foundational to our faith, and we must daily live our lives rooted in this truth.

We are not called, merely, to turn from the world and from sin; rather, we are called to turn from the world and sin to Jesus.  To omit the latter part that instructs us to whom we are to turn is incomplete and not true.  God's love toward us in Christ is perfect and He calls us away from sin and idols that grip our hearts, toward His Son, Jesus.  And this we will do by the grace of God!

To him be glory forever and ever, Amen!