Resurrection Hope

HOPE.

Isn’t it such a lovely word? An English dictionary definition tells me it’s a feeling of expectation, a desire for something to happen.

But, oh, how it is so much more.

As I’ve been thinking of hope recently, I’ve realized how much I use this word in conversation, but how different the meaning is in my everyday use of it compared to what the Bible teaches.

To the friend who is unwell, I hope she will feel better soon.

When making plans for the weekend ahead, I hope the weather will be good.                      

For my niece with a newborn baby boy, I hope he will sleep all night long.

All these things are genuine and my hope is sincere, but it basically is no more than ‘wishful thinking’. It is no more than merely just a ‘hope so’, not really knowing how things will turn out.         

Such contrast is found in real, biblical hope, rooted in the very character of who our God is – the God of all hope. It is anchored to the promises we find in His Word. Such hope does not disappoint; it is steadfast, sure and certain. All because of who it is we place our hope in.                                                                                                   

I love how the apostle Paul reminds us, in 1 Timothy 4:10, that “we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all.”      

This is the hope we all need.

Hope in:

• the One who loves us and gave Himself for us.
• the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present ruler over all, who is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine.
• the Promised One who went to the cross, bore our shame, was despised and rejected, endured the punishment, and paid the penalty for all our sin. The One who suffered, bled, and died so that we could know forgiveness and grace that we could not earn and did not deserve.               

Hope in our victorious, resurrected Savior, who did not stay dead but conquered sin and death and hell by rising again so we can have the assurance of eternal life.

Jesus Christ is our living hope.

1 Peter 1:3 tells us that God has given us “new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”                                                             

Without Christ’s resurrection we would have nothing to hope for. 

Perhaps, for some of us, the resurrection is something we think about around Easter-time. We celebrate our risen Savior and sing great, rousing hymns and songs about the grave being empty. Songs about the glory being given to the risen, conquering Son.

I love Easter Sunday services. As a teenager, I was part of a church that, every Easter Sunday morning, had a dawn worship gathering on a hillside at the edge of the city. As the sun rose, we read aloud from the Gospel accounts of that first Easter and we rejoiced together in Jesus’ victory. 

As followers of Christ, our hope hinges on His resurrection. It’s not only a truth to be considered and celebrated at Easter-time, nor is it an ‘insurance policy’ type of hope that is only fulfilled when we ourselves come to face death. 

The resurrection is fundamentally vital to our everyday faith. 

In our Scripture passage today, 1 Corinthians 15, Paul goes to great lengths to spell it out to the church at Corinth why Jesus’ resurrection really matters and the difference it makes in our lives. He writes that this message is of first importance. It is the gospel on which we stand, and it is as foundational to our entire faith. He tells us that if Christ had not been raised from the dead, our faith is useless and we would still be living in our sins.

In fact, if we only had hope for this life, we should be pitied more than anyone. 

What hope would we have if we believed in a god who was dead? If we weren’t sure about eternity and just had to try to live a good enough life now?                                                                                           

What hope would we have if we didn’t have the assurance that all our sin, past, present, and future, was paid for at the cross.

Dear friend, that is no hope at all. Sadly, it’s a hopeless reality for many in our world today. How they need to hear Good News we have to share. 

Resurrection hope is an everyday hope and a future hope. It’s a hope for the now and the not yet. 

We have hope for today. Hope for when things are hard, when we can find ourselves in despair about situations we have to deal with, when the diagnosis is what we dreaded, when we feel defeated because of the sin that so easily entangles us, when we doubt or wonder if God really hears our heart’s cry. Can He really bring good out of what seems so bad, so dark, so impossible?

Our hope is Jesus. 

Hope in the One who will never disappoint, who is worthy of our trust. Our hope is in the One who frees us from guilt and shame and power of sin, who is always good even when our circumstances are not. Who is able to do more than we ask or imagine. Who loves us so much that He gave His life for us. We hope in the One who will never leave us or forsake us.

We have hope for the future. The sure and certain knowing that death is not the end, we will live with Christ for all eternity, and that there will be no more sin or sorrow, sickness, separation or grief. All that has been wrong will be made right.

Our hope is Jesus.

Hope in the One who died and rose again, defeating sin and death and hell. Who lives to intercede for His people, and who calls us to hope and strengthens us to live for Him in resurrection power. We have hope in the One who is coming again to take us to be with Him forever. 

Our hope is Jesus.

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”   – 1 Corinthians 15:57

May His victorious resurrection hope strengthen and encourage our hearts today.