Hope for the Hopeless
As I was pondering my thoughts for this article, I googled “hopeless” into the search engine and clicked. What popped up: over 700 million million results – astounding! Needless to say, there is an avalanche of negativity pervading planet earth currently in the new year of 2025.
It seems good news is on the proverbial outs these days. But isn’t good news one thing people need more than anything else? That good news – of course, is the gospel of Jesus!
Many people are rattled today as the earth shakes and stumbles in myriad ways. But for you and I as believers in Messiah Jesus, our understanding of reality through the prism of faith ought bring us comfort and hope.
Why?
Because the future is bright! In fact, it couldn’t be brighter for those of us who know Jesus as Lord and Savior!
We, as God’s people, are hopeful, hope-filled people. But our hope is not a worldly concept based on wishful thinking. Rather, our hope is alive and based on God’s promises and God’s provision.
As 1 Peter 1:3 declares,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…
Peter states that believers are given “a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” What precisely does Peter mean when he speaks of “a living hope?”
The apostle affirms that it is the “new birth” that provides our living hope, that salvation is a gift from God, according to “His abundant mercy.”
But there’s more! Our living hope derives from a living, resurrected Savior, Jesus. So our living hope is not only a promise from God. It’s also the person of Christ, our Lord!
As one bible commentator aptly noted: “Living hope is anchored in the past—Jesus rose from the dead (Matthew 28:6). It continues in the present—Jesus is alive—“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). And it endures throughout the future—Jesus promises eternal, resurrection life. For example, John 3:16 declares, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” While Jesus also stated in John 5:24, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”
Because of the resurrection of Jesus and the promise of our resurrection, we can stair death straight in the proverbial eye and agree with the Apostle Paul, who wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:54-57:
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Living hope also enables us to live without despair as we encounter suffering and trials in this present life. As Peter exclaimed in 1 Peter 1 about our inheritance as saints amidst present trouble:
“This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the 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 in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:4-9).
Additionally, our living hope is based on a historical fact — the tomb is empty! And our present abundant life in Christ (John 10:10) may be filled with love, joy, and peace despite whatever challenging circumstances befall us! Praise the Lord for the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). And our future is settled, because “He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).
Peter’s original audience in his first epistle were believers who were suffering persecution. His words were meant to encourage them amidst their trials and tribulations. Their future was secure because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today, whatever troubles we have faced or are facing, remember the future is bright, not bleak, because of our living hope.
As our world continues spiraling into chaos and pandemonium, we as God’s people have something a longing world needs, a living hope. For unsaved people, hopeless is a word many identify with amidst our present sad state of affairs. And there are many in your sphere of influence and mine walking in despair — without hope, without Christ.
As we enter the new year, may we who live in hope in Christ, our Living Hope , sharing our living hope with lost people who need hope, who need Jesus. Amen.