Jesus’s Resurrection and Our Living Hope
By Kellye Carmack
For the past few months, I have felt like I am treading water with my head two feet under. Massive waves have hit us from every direction and the storm doesn’t seem to be letting up. I have found myself developing a defensive posture as I hold up my fists and wait for the next wave to hit. I know many people who are in a similar season. We all feel the “groaning pains” of our broken world (see Rom. 8) as we wait for Christ to return and make all things new. Until that time comes, where do we find hope to navigate these seasons of suffering?
1 Peter is one of my favorite books to go to when I am in the middle of difficult times. Often referred to as “the epistle of hope,” the book of 1 Peter reminds believers of where we find our hope. The original readers were suffering persecution for their faith, and Peter writes to encourage them with truth about their present and future hope in the gospel.
There are two things that I want to encourage you with from this passage:
Jesus’s resurrection gives us hope for our life on earth.
1 Peter 1:3 says that we “have been born again to a living hope.” Christians have already been raised spiritually, meaning that we have been awakened to the truth. We know the mysteries that angels long to know and that prophets tried to discern (1 Pet. 1:10-12). Our eyes have been open to truth that gives abundant life, both here on earth and in the life to come. We are not left to navigate seasons of suffering on our own but have been given everything we need in Christ and His Word. Such hope allows us to rejoice now with “joy that is inexpressible and full of glory,” even though we have yet to see Him face to face (1 Pet. 1:8). Jesus’s resurrection means our days on earth, though full of suffering, can also be full of hope and praise.
Jesus’s resurrection gives us hope for our eternal future.
Our inheritance as God’s children cannot be taken away or destroyed. This is different from any kind of inheritance that we have on earth. Our savings account and our retirement plans can be wiped away in a second, but we can be certain that we have a glorious home waiting for us—a home full of wonders that we can’t even imagine this side of Heaven. We have hope that we will persevere to the end and make it home because Christ is guarding both our inheritance and our salvation (1 Pet. 1:4-5). Those in Christ have an unshakeable hope: we will rise from the dead. Jesus’s resurrection gives us assurance of our own future resurrection.
If you are in the middle of a difficult season, let me encourage you to meditate on the resurrection of Jesus. Be encouraged and find joy in the victory that He won for you when He was raised from the dead. God has saved us. He will sustain our faith until the end, and He will save us in the end. Our hope in Christ is a full assurance that God is going to do good for us. He fills our earthly homes with hope and praise. He is filling our Heavenly home with a beautiful, everlasting inheritance. It’s an absolute guarantee.
To help you meditate on the message of 1 Peter, here is Living Hope from Phil Wickham. This song has been a source of great encouragement to me:
Kellye is the Women’s Ministry Director for Practical Shepherding Women’s Ministry. She has an undergraduate degree in Biblical Studies and a master’s degree in Biblical Counseling. She served as a missionary in Western Europe for two years helping to share the hope of Christ with women in difficult situations. While in seminary, she met her husband Craig who is an associate pastor at their church in Louisville, KY. She loves helping women discover the unique ways God has gifted them to serve the church.