A Living Hope In Jesus Christ!

1 Peter 1:3-7

We are living in hopeless times because of the effects of COVID-19. Job losses, business downturns, travel bans, school shutdowns, lack of PPE for health workers, high death rates, etc. Yet, believers can still keep their hope alive in Jesus Christ.
In our passage, we find some reasons to have hope in this or any hopeless situation.

1. We are born again into a living hope in Jesus Christ. Our salvation came as a result of God’s love, mercy, and grace toward us when we were still sinners. God’s love, mercy and grace did not end at our salvation, they continue to abound in our lives. God’s mercy is renewed every morning (Lam.3:22-23), His grace is sufficient for everything we go through (2Cor.12:9), and nothing can separate us from His love (Rom.8:38-39). This should motivate every child of God keep hoping for God’s protection and divine intervention in the current pandemic.

2. Our hope is in a living Savior, who died and rose again, not in a dead person or prophet. Our God who did not abandon Jesus in the grave will not leave nor forsake us in our distress. You will rise again from that sickness, trouble, loss, failure. Your dead business, dream, marriage, hopes, will live again.

3. We have a living hope because God has kept us by His power. Lots of sicknesses, troubles, accidents, could have killed us, but through them all, God has kept us by His power. God’s ability to keep us by His power. He neither grows weary nor faints (Is.40:28). He will continue to keep, protect, and preserve us even in this crisis, because His power is greater than any virus, bacteria, or difficulty, as we keep our faith in Him.

4. Our faith and hope in Christ will be tested by fire. So whatever you May be going through is a test to see if our faith is genuine. So in these crisis, we can demonstrate our faith and hope in Christ by drawing closer to Him through prayer, study and obedience to His Word, devotion, giving, and encouraging one another in love. We may be socially distanced from people, but not from God.

5. When we pass the test, we bring glory, honor, and praise to God. We lift up Christ so that others who do not know Him can also believe in Him. In times like this, we need to share our hope in Christ with those around us who’re going through hopeless situations. Our God saves, heals, delivers, makes a way where there’s no way, and nothing is impossible with Him. As Moses lifted up the serpent (Num.21:4-9), may we lift up Christ so He will draw all our family, friends, and neighbors to Himself (John 12:32), so they can believe in Him and live (John 3:14-15).

May your living hope in Christ be your anchor in these critical times, and may you never be disappointed in that hope. You are an overcomer!