Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of his salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now, for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief and all kinds of trials.”
1 Peter 1:1-6 NIV
Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which has given every believer ‘new birth into a living hope’.
To the early disciples, this “living hope” Peter writes about, meant the assurance of a future eternal life with an inheritance kept in heaven. Truly in all this, we too can greatly rejoice. While we are not able to always control our external circumstances, Peter noted in his letter we may suffer adversity, but when we do, we do so knowing and believing that in this world facing trouble we are still of good cheer because Jesus has overcome the world through his death and resurrection.
As children of God, even in our inability to control external events, we can control our internal realm. Righteousness, peace and joy are ours to freely choose at all times. God has not given us a spirit of fear but one of power, love and a well ordered, disciplined mind. Choice is always ours. The resurrection is our proof and guarantee of life to the one who chooses to believe.
Jesus himself declared in John 10:10 the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy but I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly. The obvious tactic of the evil one is to remove every hope about the life Jesus’ resurrection gives, both now and eternally.
Jesus’ own testimony from John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
According to Hebrew 2:14, Jesus came to destroy the one who had the power of death and deliver mankind from the fear of death.
From Romans 1 we learn concerning Jesus, he was declared to be the son of God by this resurrected life. The amplified translation renders verse four ….
4and [as to His divine nature] according to the Spirit of holiness was openly designated to be the Son of God with power [in a triumphant and miraculous way] by His resurrection from the dead:
This life that Jesus displayed as the son of man and the life that is assured to every believer by his resurrection from the dead was seen when he presented himself alive to his disciples by many proofs, Acts 1:3. This gives the one who believes great hope not only in this life but the one we expectantly look for and wait on.
Romans 8:29 tell us because Jesus is the first born he has made the way for many brethren to share in this resurrected life.
And as Paul wrote to the church of God in Corinth from 1 Corinthians 15 ……
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. .
This living hope that we hold fast to, is a sure and steadfast anchor for our souls in the good and the troubling times of life.
So what does resurrection mean for us? A living hope for life now, and forever more. The confidence we place upon His resurrected life enables us to boldly declare “Death where is your sting? Grave where is your victory?’
Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ, and we confess He is Risen.
He is risen indeed.