Hope That Never Disappoints
1 Peter 1:1-5
On this day, nearly twenty-one years ago, this nation experienced, what I believe, was evil at work, determined to extinguish the light and hope of the world. For many of us in this room and watching online, we remember exactly where we were when thousands of people lost their lives those many years ago.
In one day, the entire nation was held captive by the horrors and continuous updates we saw, heard, and read about in the days to come. And, out of the ashes of despair, death, and destruction, people began to search for hope.
Some searched for hope in human efforts, and some began to search for hope in other places that would never disappoint. What I can only describe as a mighty hand of God at work throughout the nation, and through the revealing movement of the Holy Spirit, people began to flock to and fill local churches throughout the nation.
What they were looking for were not merely answers to the many unanswerable questions brought to the surface because of the events of 9/11, but something far deeper and of more eternal weight than they could have imagined.
What I believe many were seeking and looking for was Hope, but not just a wishful and fleeting hope that is there one day and gone tomorrow, but Hope that never disappoints. A Hope that could not be taken away, and a Hope that would never be extinguished, no matter what.
This Hope that never disappoints is not made or created by human efforts or human hands. This Hope is beyond anything we could ever imagine or create. This Hope is the anchor to our souls! This Hope is more than a wish something will happen; it is a Hope rooted and grounded in a confident expectation based on solid certainty. This Hope has a name and is entirely found in and completely fulfilled through the faithfulness and power of Jesus Christ.
You might be here this morning, and your hope has run dry. You may be in a season of wilderness, wandering without so much as a drop of water to bring refreshment to your soul.
Or, you may be here this morning, and when you look at the state of the world, you are left wondering if there is any Hope to be had.
Or, you may be here this morning, and the trials and testing of this life have left your soul grasping for answers beyond your reach.
Or, you may be here this morning, and your confident expectation rooted in the unshakable certainty of what Hope in Jesus Christ brings has a smile on your face and brings warmth to your soul. Wherever you are this morning…
Let’s pray and see why we know with absolute and confident certainty that Hope in Jesus Christ will never disappoint.
Now, as we get ready to read our primary passage together, I want us to wrestle with a few questions…
How would we explain what Hope is? Are there different ways to experience Hope? Can Hope be taken away? Is it something we can feel and see?
Okay, enough questions for now. Look with me at 1 Peter 1, verses 1-2.
1 Peter 1:1-2 (NLT)
1 This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.
Let’s stop for a moment and really grab hold of what the Holy Spirit is revealing through Peter as he wrote these first verses. First, what is completely mind-blowing here is that we see our relational God and Creator of everything showing off.
Yes, I said it…God is showing off. What I mean by this is that the eternal God, without any doubt, knew personally and intimately every single person Peter was writing to and every single person who would read and hear this letter past, present, and future.
And not only that, but God chose to reveal Himself to every single person He knew who would confess with their mouths that “Jesus is Lord” and would believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead and be saved.
And not just saved from sin and death, but because of the belief in their hearts would be made right before God.
And not just made right before God, but now able to experience a life of righteousness because of their confession from their mouth, which leads to eternal salvation.
And not just eternal salvation but the freedom and Hope that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will never be disappointed because of who God is, what He has declared, and the Hope of eternal life!
This is BIG!
This makes my mind move at a thousand miles per hour! I mean, seriously, what God is telling us this morning is that through this letter Peter wrote thousands of years ago and by the Holy Spirit’s active involvement in its writing then and now, not only does God know each of us intimately and personally, but we are no longer slaves to sin and enemies of God but His children who get to experience all of our Dad’s gifts and promises He has for us!
This means that for all of us in this room and listening online, God wants us to experience Him, the Author and Sustainer of Hope that never disappoints.
Yes, the God of all things, the One who spoke the world into existence, the same One who knows every thought you have and every decision you will make and every direction you will go, wants to have a relationship with you. Why?
What makes us worthy of such a relationship? Honestly, nothing.
We didn’t deserve such a gift. In fact, we deserved death. Yes, every single one of us deserved death.
I truly believe that what happened twenty-one years ago caused millions of people to wrestle with the extreme fragility of life. Many people have stories of how they were kept from going on the flights that crashed into the buildings that day.
There are countless stories of men and women who were supposed to be in the towers that day but somehow never actually made it. Many people have stories of how they were delayed or felt something telling them not to go to work that day or to call their loved one just to check in.
And as stories continued to surface, there seemed to be a common thread connecting them all together; life is never guaranteed, and we never really know when it is our time to die. So then, how are we to find hope in the midst of all the current pain, hurt, death, and destruction?
John 3, verses 16-17, say this.
John 3:16-17 ((NLT)
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”
Many people were drawn to the Bible, local churches, and God’s movements in their lives as a result of what happened twenty-one years ago. And many people came face-to-face with the God who is real and intimate and the Author of Salvation.
Many people experienced spiritual newness and were made alive in Christ because of the message of Hope found in Jesus Christ. They heard that God gave His only Son so that they might be brought from death to life. They saw first-hand why Hope in who Jesus Christ is and what He did on the Cross and the promise of eternal life with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, could never disappoint.
But Hope is never alone. Where there is Hope there must also be Faith. You may have been wondering this whole time, “I thought Faith comes before Hope?” Or maybe you were thinking, “Why is he driving home Hope that never disappoints, but what about Faith?” “Don’t Faith and Hope go hand in hand?”
And the simple answer is, of course! Where there is Hope, the confident expectation rooted in solid certainty, there must always be Faith, the promise and guarantee of things we Hope for, the conviction of things not yet seen.
Faith and Hope are intertwined. Without Faith, there is no Hope, and without Hope, there is no true Faith. Christians are people of Faith and Hope.
Titus 1, verse 2, says this.
Titus 1:1-2 (NLT)
1 …“I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives.
2 This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began.”
Just to be clear here, Faith does not only apply to salvation. Faith is an ongoing act for the rest of our lives as Christ-followers. We are to believe what the Bible says, and we are to obey it. We are to believe the promises of God, and we are to live and walk in them. We are to agree with the truth of God’s Word, and we are to be transformed by it daily.
Sadly, much has changed in the last twenty-one years since 9/11, and unfortunately, we no longer live in a culture and society that makes God a priority or believes in the Bible as the fundamental truth for living lives of righteousness and godliness.
Many of you students in this room are experiencing moments in your classrooms where to speak up against the ridiculous thoughts, practices, and agendas being forced upon you results in you being made the outcasts and accused of being intolerant.
I know for many of you, there is a burning fire to push back and stand up for Jesus. But it can be scary, and sometimes we just don’t know what will happen.
Many of you have tasted and seen that Jesus is good. You know exactly why Faith in Jesus Christ gives you a Hope that never disappoints. So, my encouragement to you is this:
Take a stand!
Be brave and bold for Jesus but remain meek and humble!
You are the generations I believe God will use to stir the waters of a great revival!
I see God’s Mighty Spirit upon you. So, walk courageously and let the light of Jesus boldly shine out of you!
Pray for your peers and your teachers, and your school staff!
Let the callouses on your knees be the evidence of your love for the lost!
Let love win the day! Jesus isn’t dead; he is alive and wants to use every single one of you for His name.
Make a choice and watch what happens.
Now, the buck falls back on us adults. How are we as a unified Body supposed to remain lights in our current time and in this hostile world?
Look to our priceless inheritance! Yes, let me say that again, look with longing eyes and hopeful hearts to our inheritance that can not be taken away or changed by anyone or anything. This Jesus is our Hope that never disappoints!
Look with me at 1 Peter 1, verses 3-5, and let’s unpack that last statement together.
1 Peter 1:3-5 (NLT)
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,
4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
This is such a powerful reminder! We have an amazing God who we should praise and worship! The Apostle Peter begins by praising God. He begins by reminding us that we should praise and give honor to God the Father because He has given us new life and a new birth. This new birth is because of God’s great mercy.
Remember, mercy shown to us by God resulted in Christ being crucified. God withheld the judgment which we deserved and sacrificed His sinless and precious Son as a ransom for our sinfulness.
This means our new birth, given to us because of God’s mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice, has changed our status before God. We are new creations because of what Jesus Christ did on the Cross and because of Jesus’ resurrection.
Our new birth means we come boldly before the throne room of Grace, knowing that God sees us as righteous. God sees us through His Son, Jesus. And remember, because we have been sealed by and have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we have become a set apart people of God. We are a people of Hope and Faith.
We live, or rather should daily live, as people who have a Living Hope, a firm foundation, an inheritance that never decays. When was the last time we reminded ourselves of this Living Hope? When was the last time we firmly grasped this reality and boldly lived a day in light of this Hope that never disappoints?
I really like how the NIV says 1 Peter 1, verses 3-5.
1 Peter 1:3-5 (NIV)
3 “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,
4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
5 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.”
Do you see God’s merciful hand? It amazes me that God allowed his Son to become the sacrifice for our sins. He shows us mercy and withheld the judgment we deserved. And because of Him, we experience a wonderful chain reaction.
Because of the new birth given to us, we experience a living hope. This hope, this living hope, is focused on the future coming of Jesus. We have a fixed hope, and a clear vision of what God will do for us in the future.
And notice what happens next in this chain reaction. Because God has extended mercy to us and given us a new birth and a living hope, we also are given an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.
Because we have been given an inheritance, we are now children of God. Because we are children of God who have received a new birth and an inheritance, we have received eternal salvation.
And not just salvation, but eternal life. And not just eternal life but the reality of spending eternity with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, praising him and worshiping him forever.
We do this in a place that can never be destroyed. We do this in a place that can never be corrupted. We do this in a place that can never be taken away. Heaven is a real place.
Right now, there are a host of angels and Saints worshipping and praising our King and declaring Him “Holy, Holy, Holy,” the Righteous and Forever King. Romans 8:34 tells us right now, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the father, making intercessions for us. But one day, he will come back.
Matthew 24, verses 29-31, say this.
Matthew 24:29-31 (ESV)
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Our hope that never disappoints is rooted and founded upon Jesus Christ. We have been given a new birth and new life because of what God has done. We have been given a hope eternal. We have been given the gift of a relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords. We have been given an inheritance that is guarded by God, Himself.
But remember, hope is never alone. Where there is hope, there must also be faith, and where there is faith, there must also be hope. Remember, without faith, it is impossible to please God, and without faith, it is not possible to believe that he is who he says he is. Salvation is not possible apart from faith.
I truly believe that twenty-one years ago, millions of people were being drawn to God in order that they might place their faith in Jesus Christ and be able to experience a living hope. A living hope that could not be taken away or destroyed or shaken. A hope that would never disappoint.
I believe this nation was being reminded that God is the author of eternal life and wanted to give them an inheritance that would be guarded by the King of kings and Lord of lords.
This hasn’t changed. God still wants people to experience a living hope, a hope that never disappoints because it is rooted in confident expectation based on solid certainty. This solid certainty has a name, and that name is Jesus Christ!
For us as Christ followers, faith and hope go hand in hand. We hope beyond hope because we believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected and will come again. We believe faith in Jesus Christ results in experiencing a living hope that one day we will be with God forever. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation pillar of why we have hope that never disappoints.
I want to close with a word of encouragement for us this morning. Since we have been given a new birth and a living hope, and because we have been given an inheritance never to be destroyed, changed, or taken away…
And because we have confident expectation rooted in solid certainty because of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we must keep our eyes fixed toward a future where we will not experience pain and hurt, sorrow, destruction, or fear. We should long for this day.
But for us who have a living hope, a hope that never disappoints, this means we must live every single day in light of our future hope. Because of this living hope, we get to live out the fruits of the Spirit.
We get to love others the way God has called us to love. We get to be lights in the world. We get to be salt in the world. We get to be Christ imitators and Christ ambassadors. We do this because we know intimately the Author of Hope. We have a relationship with the King who never disappoints.
There are countless people who live their lives without hope. Countless people do not have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. They do not know the God of the universe. They do not have a future hope that cannot be taken away.
These people are our neighbors. These people are your high school friends and peers. These people are our family members. These people are our enemies. These people need Jesus!
What this means for us this morning is simple. We must daily ask the Holy Spirit to help us live a life that reflects a hope that never disappoints because it is rooted in the life and death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Ask the Holy Spirit to give you opportunities to share about this wonderful hope that never disappoints. The closer we walk with Jesus, the better we are able to recognize these opportunities and act obediently to God’s prompting.
Because, after all, we have been given a new birth. We have been given an inheritance that can never be taken away. We look forward to a day when we will spend eternity with Jesus and see God face to face.
Why wouldn’t we want others to experience the same? Life is short; we never really know when it is our time to die.
In one day, the entire nation was held captive by the horrors and continuous updates we saw, heard, and read about in the days to come. And, out of the ashes of despair, death, and destruction, people began to search for hope.
Some searched for hope in human efforts, and some began to search for hope in other places that would never disappoint. What I can only describe as a mighty hand of God at work throughout the nation, and through the revealing movement of the Holy Spirit, people began to flock to and fill local churches throughout the nation.
What they were looking for were not merely answers to the many unanswerable questions brought to the surface because of the events of 9/11, but something far deeper and of more eternal weight than they could have imagined.
What I believe many were seeking and looking for was Hope, but not just a wishful and fleeting hope that is there one day and gone tomorrow, but Hope that never disappoints. A Hope that could not be taken away, and a Hope that would never be extinguished, no matter what.
This Hope that never disappoints is not made or created by human efforts or human hands. This Hope is beyond anything we could ever imagine or create. This Hope is the anchor to our souls! This Hope is more than a wish something will happen; it is a Hope rooted and grounded in a confident expectation based on solid certainty. This Hope has a name and is entirely found in and completely fulfilled through the faithfulness and power of Jesus Christ.
You might be here this morning, and your hope has run dry. You may be in a season of wilderness, wandering without so much as a drop of water to bring refreshment to your soul.
Or, you may be here this morning, and when you look at the state of the world, you are left wondering if there is any Hope to be had.
Or, you may be here this morning, and the trials and testing of this life have left your soul grasping for answers beyond your reach.
Or, you may be here this morning, and your confident expectation rooted in the unshakable certainty of what Hope in Jesus Christ brings has a smile on your face and brings warmth to your soul. Wherever you are this morning…
Let’s pray and see why we know with absolute and confident certainty that Hope in Jesus Christ will never disappoint.
Now, as we get ready to read our primary passage together, I want us to wrestle with a few questions…
How would we explain what Hope is? Are there different ways to experience Hope? Can Hope be taken away? Is it something we can feel and see?
Okay, enough questions for now. Look with me at 1 Peter 1, verses 1-2.
1 Peter 1:1-2 (NLT)
1 This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace.
Let’s stop for a moment and really grab hold of what the Holy Spirit is revealing through Peter as he wrote these first verses. First, what is completely mind-blowing here is that we see our relational God and Creator of everything showing off.
Yes, I said it…God is showing off. What I mean by this is that the eternal God, without any doubt, knew personally and intimately every single person Peter was writing to and every single person who would read and hear this letter past, present, and future.
And not only that, but God chose to reveal Himself to every single person He knew who would confess with their mouths that “Jesus is Lord” and would believe in their hearts that God raised Him from the dead and be saved.
And not just saved from sin and death, but because of the belief in their hearts would be made right before God.
And not just made right before God, but now able to experience a life of righteousness because of their confession from their mouth, which leads to eternal salvation.
And not just eternal salvation but the freedom and Hope that anyone who believes in Jesus Christ will never be disappointed because of who God is, what He has declared, and the Hope of eternal life!
This is BIG!
This makes my mind move at a thousand miles per hour! I mean, seriously, what God is telling us this morning is that through this letter Peter wrote thousands of years ago and by the Holy Spirit’s active involvement in its writing then and now, not only does God know each of us intimately and personally, but we are no longer slaves to sin and enemies of God but His children who get to experience all of our Dad’s gifts and promises He has for us!
This means that for all of us in this room and listening online, God wants us to experience Him, the Author and Sustainer of Hope that never disappoints.
Yes, the God of all things, the One who spoke the world into existence, the same One who knows every thought you have and every decision you will make and every direction you will go, wants to have a relationship with you. Why?
What makes us worthy of such a relationship? Honestly, nothing.
We didn’t deserve such a gift. In fact, we deserved death. Yes, every single one of us deserved death.
I truly believe that what happened twenty-one years ago caused millions of people to wrestle with the extreme fragility of life. Many people have stories of how they were kept from going on the flights that crashed into the buildings that day.
There are countless stories of men and women who were supposed to be in the towers that day but somehow never actually made it. Many people have stories of how they were delayed or felt something telling them not to go to work that day or to call their loved one just to check in.
And as stories continued to surface, there seemed to be a common thread connecting them all together; life is never guaranteed, and we never really know when it is our time to die. So then, how are we to find hope in the midst of all the current pain, hurt, death, and destruction?
John 3, verses 16-17, say this.
John 3:16-17 ((NLT)
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”
Many people were drawn to the Bible, local churches, and God’s movements in their lives as a result of what happened twenty-one years ago. And many people came face-to-face with the God who is real and intimate and the Author of Salvation.
Many people experienced spiritual newness and were made alive in Christ because of the message of Hope found in Jesus Christ. They heard that God gave His only Son so that they might be brought from death to life. They saw first-hand why Hope in who Jesus Christ is and what He did on the Cross and the promise of eternal life with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, could never disappoint.
But Hope is never alone. Where there is Hope there must also be Faith. You may have been wondering this whole time, “I thought Faith comes before Hope?” Or maybe you were thinking, “Why is he driving home Hope that never disappoints, but what about Faith?” “Don’t Faith and Hope go hand in hand?”
And the simple answer is, of course! Where there is Hope, the confident expectation rooted in solid certainty, there must always be Faith, the promise and guarantee of things we Hope for, the conviction of things not yet seen.
Faith and Hope are intertwined. Without Faith, there is no Hope, and without Hope, there is no true Faith. Christians are people of Faith and Hope.
Titus 1, verse 2, says this.
Titus 1:1-2 (NLT)
1 …“I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives.
2 This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began.”
Just to be clear here, Faith does not only apply to salvation. Faith is an ongoing act for the rest of our lives as Christ-followers. We are to believe what the Bible says, and we are to obey it. We are to believe the promises of God, and we are to live and walk in them. We are to agree with the truth of God’s Word, and we are to be transformed by it daily.
Sadly, much has changed in the last twenty-one years since 9/11, and unfortunately, we no longer live in a culture and society that makes God a priority or believes in the Bible as the fundamental truth for living lives of righteousness and godliness.
Many of you students in this room are experiencing moments in your classrooms where to speak up against the ridiculous thoughts, practices, and agendas being forced upon you results in you being made the outcasts and accused of being intolerant.
I know for many of you, there is a burning fire to push back and stand up for Jesus. But it can be scary, and sometimes we just don’t know what will happen.
Many of you have tasted and seen that Jesus is good. You know exactly why Faith in Jesus Christ gives you a Hope that never disappoints. So, my encouragement to you is this:
Take a stand!
Be brave and bold for Jesus but remain meek and humble!
You are the generations I believe God will use to stir the waters of a great revival!
I see God’s Mighty Spirit upon you. So, walk courageously and let the light of Jesus boldly shine out of you!
Pray for your peers and your teachers, and your school staff!
Let the callouses on your knees be the evidence of your love for the lost!
Let love win the day! Jesus isn’t dead; he is alive and wants to use every single one of you for His name.
Make a choice and watch what happens.
Now, the buck falls back on us adults. How are we as a unified Body supposed to remain lights in our current time and in this hostile world?
Look to our priceless inheritance! Yes, let me say that again, look with longing eyes and hopeful hearts to our inheritance that can not be taken away or changed by anyone or anything. This Jesus is our Hope that never disappoints!
Look with me at 1 Peter 1, verses 3-5, and let’s unpack that last statement together.
1 Peter 1:3-5 (NLT)
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation,
4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
This is such a powerful reminder! We have an amazing God who we should praise and worship! The Apostle Peter begins by praising God. He begins by reminding us that we should praise and give honor to God the Father because He has given us new life and a new birth. This new birth is because of God’s great mercy.
Remember, mercy shown to us by God resulted in Christ being crucified. God withheld the judgment which we deserved and sacrificed His sinless and precious Son as a ransom for our sinfulness.
This means our new birth, given to us because of God’s mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice, has changed our status before God. We are new creations because of what Jesus Christ did on the Cross and because of Jesus’ resurrection.
Our new birth means we come boldly before the throne room of Grace, knowing that God sees us as righteous. God sees us through His Son, Jesus. And remember, because we have been sealed by and have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we have become a set apart people of God. We are a people of Hope and Faith.
We live, or rather should daily live, as people who have a Living Hope, a firm foundation, an inheritance that never decays. When was the last time we reminded ourselves of this Living Hope? When was the last time we firmly grasped this reality and boldly lived a day in light of this Hope that never disappoints?
I really like how the NIV says 1 Peter 1, verses 3-5.
1 Peter 1:3-5 (NIV)
3 “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,
4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
5 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.”
Do you see God’s merciful hand? It amazes me that God allowed his Son to become the sacrifice for our sins. He shows us mercy and withheld the judgment we deserved. And because of Him, we experience a wonderful chain reaction.
Because of the new birth given to us, we experience a living hope. This hope, this living hope, is focused on the future coming of Jesus. We have a fixed hope, and a clear vision of what God will do for us in the future.
And notice what happens next in this chain reaction. Because God has extended mercy to us and given us a new birth and a living hope, we also are given an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.
Because we have been given an inheritance, we are now children of God. Because we are children of God who have received a new birth and an inheritance, we have received eternal salvation.
And not just salvation, but eternal life. And not just eternal life but the reality of spending eternity with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, praising him and worshiping him forever.
We do this in a place that can never be destroyed. We do this in a place that can never be corrupted. We do this in a place that can never be taken away. Heaven is a real place.
Right now, there are a host of angels and Saints worshipping and praising our King and declaring Him “Holy, Holy, Holy,” the Righteous and Forever King. Romans 8:34 tells us right now, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the father, making intercessions for us. But one day, he will come back.
Matthew 24, verses 29-31, say this.
Matthew 24:29-31 (ESV)
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
Our hope that never disappoints is rooted and founded upon Jesus Christ. We have been given a new birth and new life because of what God has done. We have been given a hope eternal. We have been given the gift of a relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords. We have been given an inheritance that is guarded by God, Himself.
But remember, hope is never alone. Where there is hope, there must also be faith, and where there is faith, there must also be hope. Remember, without faith, it is impossible to please God, and without faith, it is not possible to believe that he is who he says he is. Salvation is not possible apart from faith.
I truly believe that twenty-one years ago, millions of people were being drawn to God in order that they might place their faith in Jesus Christ and be able to experience a living hope. A living hope that could not be taken away or destroyed or shaken. A hope that would never disappoint.
I believe this nation was being reminded that God is the author of eternal life and wanted to give them an inheritance that would be guarded by the King of kings and Lord of lords.
This hasn’t changed. God still wants people to experience a living hope, a hope that never disappoints because it is rooted in confident expectation based on solid certainty. This solid certainty has a name, and that name is Jesus Christ!
For us as Christ followers, faith and hope go hand in hand. We hope beyond hope because we believe that Jesus Christ was resurrected and will come again. We believe faith in Jesus Christ results in experiencing a living hope that one day we will be with God forever. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation pillar of why we have hope that never disappoints.
I want to close with a word of encouragement for us this morning. Since we have been given a new birth and a living hope, and because we have been given an inheritance never to be destroyed, changed, or taken away…
And because we have confident expectation rooted in solid certainty because of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we must keep our eyes fixed toward a future where we will not experience pain and hurt, sorrow, destruction, or fear. We should long for this day.
But for us who have a living hope, a hope that never disappoints, this means we must live every single day in light of our future hope. Because of this living hope, we get to live out the fruits of the Spirit.
We get to love others the way God has called us to love. We get to be lights in the world. We get to be salt in the world. We get to be Christ imitators and Christ ambassadors. We do this because we know intimately the Author of Hope. We have a relationship with the King who never disappoints.
There are countless people who live their lives without hope. Countless people do not have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. They do not know the God of the universe. They do not have a future hope that cannot be taken away.
These people are our neighbors. These people are your high school friends and peers. These people are our family members. These people are our enemies. These people need Jesus!
What this means for us this morning is simple. We must daily ask the Holy Spirit to help us live a life that reflects a hope that never disappoints because it is rooted in the life and death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Ask the Holy Spirit to give you opportunities to share about this wonderful hope that never disappoints. The closer we walk with Jesus, the better we are able to recognize these opportunities and act obediently to God’s prompting.
Because, after all, we have been given a new birth. We have been given an inheritance that can never be taken away. We look forward to a day when we will spend eternity with Jesus and see God face to face.
Why wouldn’t we want others to experience the same? Life is short; we never really know when it is our time to die.