Hope is alive!
Lately, my kids have been hoping for snow. The winters are clearly milder down here in southern Ohio than they were in Michigan. We’ve had a few scattered snow showers – even a dusting – over the past couple of months. But, alas, no actual accumulation. Still, they are holding onto hope that the forecast will soon turn favorable for Frosty the Snowman. They have dreams and prayers for snowflakes, but the meteorologists are uncertain. The projections are nothing someone can count on.
However, God invites us into a hope that is guaranteed and grounded in reality. How so? Our enduring, eternal, and immutable hope has a name: the once-crucified and now-resurrected Jesus Christ. The apostle Peter instilled these words into first-century believers living amid a growing fire of persecution:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1 Pet. 1:3-4).
Hope is alive!
Today, I’m emotionally processing the recent death of my dear grandma, Nancy Breznau. I was privileged to be her pastor for five years. The older she grew, the more resolute in hope she became. She embraced me with happy tears in her eyes when I’d preach a message on Christ, our Hope. She knew her inheritance of heaven was guarded and sealed by God’s power (1 Pet 1:5a).
How could she be so sure? The resurrected, living Lord of heaven and earth is also, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27b). Her faith did not rest in what she knew, but in who she knew – and He had made all the difference. Her soul was at rest because His life was in her. So, you and I can trust God’s invitation to be people of hope. Christ lives and is coming again. He will wipe away every tear from our eyes and all things will be made new (Rev. 21:4-5).
Take heart, loved ones, and in Him have hope.
