Jack Graham - The God of Hope
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Take your Bibles and turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 1. This is our brand-new series from the letter of 1 Peter, and the theme is LIVING HOPE IN A HOSTILE WORLD. And I’m so glad that you have joined us today and that includes all of you who are worshiping with us, and now with the Word open wherever you are. Verse 3, 1 Peter chapter 1: «Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again», Peter is echoing the words of the Lord who said to Nicodemus «You must be born again». So he said, «How are we born again»?
We are 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 (or reserved) in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded (kept) through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time». That is, when Christ comes again. «In this you rejoice, thought now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials…» Peter is preparing Christians in his generation and in all generations when various trials and suffering and pain that often comes in life. And so he is getting all of us ready for our need for hope in this world.
As a pastor, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen so much hopelessness as we are seeing today. This is an age of rage, an age of anxiety, a troubled generation. There’s so much fear and so much loneliness and anxiousness. And there’s a great psychological, medicinal and spiritual need for hope. A doctor by the name of Dr. Arnold Hutschnecker said this: «Since my early years as a physician I learned that taking away hope is to most people like pronouncing a death sentence». And, yes, people are living under a death sentence today of hopelessness. The Apostle Paul reflected on this in Ephesians chapter 2 when he said people are without God and without hope. Because if you are without God, certainly there is no hope.
So he said it’s like pronouncing a death sentence. Their already hard-pressed will to live can become paralyzed and they may give up and die. I’ve seen this myself. I’ve watched as people have given up hope to live and they die. I want to talk to you about a living hope. I believe my goal as a pastor and minister in these days is to preach the message of hope in Jesus Christ. Hope is both biologically, psychologically, and certainly spiritually vital to every person. It’s been said many times, I don’t even know the human author of this quote, but it’s been said that, «Like oxygen to the lungs, so is hope to the soul».
You cannot live, you cannot breathe without oxygen, and you cannot live, you cannot breathe without hope. And yet so many people are living hopeless lives. I want to bring you a message of hope. The result of so much hopelessness is all the chaos that we are seeing, all the emptiness, the violence, and even death. And there’s a sense I think all of us are feeling these days that something catastrophic is about to happen in the world, even in our country. So how can we find hope in times like these? It is through the truth that comes from the God of hope.
Romans 15:13 says, «May the God of hope», and this is my prayer for you, «May the God of hope fill you will all peace and joy in believing, that you by the power of the Holy Spirit may overflow, may abound in hope». That’s Peter’s point in this letter. Hope is the expectancy of faith that we can live with strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow. It is the confidence and the certainty that God provides a better day, a better future for those who look to Him. That His promises are true and that life is blessed when we live in the hope of His blessing. Hope is like light in the darkness. Hope is light in the darkness. Hope is the Light, the dawn of an empty tomb when Christ came out of the grave. Hope is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And so this living hope that we have is all because He lives. And we should be able to give a reason according to 1 Peter 3:15 «for the hope that is in us»! If you have this hope in you. Hope in not just out there somewhere. Hope lives in us as Christ lives in us. And if you have this hope, you ought to be able to share this hope with others. Here’s my definition of resurrection hope. Hope is in the resurrection so what is resurrection hope? Resurrection hope is the sure expectation that God is willing and able to keep His promises to those who trust Him. There it is!
That God is able to keep His promises to all of us who trust in Him. And the God of hope provides something real because it’s the resurrection; it’s factual; it is history. And it’s more than optimism. I like optimism. One of my dearest friends was Zig Ziglar, and Zig was a great optimist. He said I’m so optimistic that something like, I’m going to go after Moby Dick with a jar of tartar sauce and a fork, or something like that! That’s optimism and I like that! I heard about a father who had two sons. And one of the sons was always negative; he was a pessimist about everything. And then the other son was a complete optimist. He just almost was unrealistic in his optimism.
So the father thought I’m teach them a lesson at Christmas and hopefully help them get balance in this. And so to the negative son he wrapped up many presents and put them in a room with bows and toys and all kinds of good things, all wrapped up and he was just going to overwhelm his negative son with all these good gifts. Then to the overly optimistic child, he filled his room with horse manure. And so Christmas day came and the boy who was negative came out, and the father said, «Where’s the smile? Didn’t you see all the presents»? Said, «I know, but didn’t even open them. I don’t know if I’ll like them. Maybe I’ll break all those things. I don’t know if I’ll like them or not».
And about that time the other son, the optimist, came bounding into the room and he was just covered with you-know-what, smiling from ear to ear. And the father said, «Son, I don’t get it. How can you be smiling»? He said, «I just know there’s a pony in there somewhere»! That’s what I want for Christmas! Well, it’s good to have optimism but unrealistic expectations can sometimes be disappointing. So we need more than wishful thinking and optimism and even a positive mental attitude. All that’s good. But we need something more, don’t we? We need something real. We need living hope. Isaiah 40:31 is a verse I memorized as a youth. «They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength». It’s that verse that talks about «mounting up with wings of eagles and running and not be weary, walk and not faint».
It says, «They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength». And a number of years afterwards I read that that word wait, it’s kind of hard to describe sometimes. What does it mean to wait on the Lord? Wait, wait, wait. Well, with God timing is everything. But to wait as translated in the New International version is the word hope. So now when I read they that wait upon the Lord, I also see that word «They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength». So it’s solid, it’s strong, this living hope and it is sure, and it is steadfast. Hope is waiting and expecting God to fulfill every promise and to give us strength for every single day. It is more than feelings; it is faith. Because according to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1 that «Faith is the substance of things hoped for».
And His Word is so full of light even in the darkness. God’s hope is medicine for the soul. So two clear points Peter is making in this passage. One, our living hope is in the God of hope. Hope has a name and His name is Jesus. Hope is the hope that our God gives us. Peter was writing to the scattered saints, the elect. Not the elite, we’re not chosen because we are elite. We’re not called into this family because we are elite. We are chosen because we are loved, we are elect. And we can’t be unchosen. Because in this living hope it’s not only that God of hope that we believe, but it is the God of heaven and this hope resides in heaven. It is reserved for us. It is kept in heaven for us. Because our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. And God’s not giving us back! He’s keeping you! And He is because of what Christ has done. You were paid for in full by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I can only imagine as Peter was writing this letter under the authority and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he’s writing these words as God is breathing them out through him. And as he’s speaking of this living hope, he’s thinking about his own life. We talked a little bit about Simon Peter last week, the author and the apostle of this letter. And no doubt, this man who began to follow Jesus as a fisherman and he just dropped everything to follow Jesus. He left his career behind and he followed Jesus. And he learned so much and he lived so much in that three-year span. Ultimately when Jesus asked «Who do men say that I am»? it was Simon Peter under the power of the Holy Spirit who said, «You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God». That’s the great confession for every Christian when the Holy Spirit speaks to us and moves in us and we confess Christ as Lord and Savior. «You’re the Christ, the Son of the Living God».
Later when some followers of Jesus were going away because it was getting hard, and Jesus saying some tough things about discipleship and what it meant to follow Him, it was Simon Peter, when Jesus said, «Will you also go away? You guys going to leave, too»? Simon Peter, he said, «Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life». We’re not going anywhere. Simon Peter, later, at the cross promised that he would never deny the Lord, all these others, they may, but not me. But you know that story if you’ve been around your Bible. It’s the story of Simon Peter’s denial. Three times, again and again and again he denied that the Lord, denied the Lord and denied that he was a follower of Jesus.
And when Jesus looked at him shortly afterward, a rooster crowed, he knew that he had broken the heart of God, he had broken his promise and he was so ashamed. He wept sorrowfully, the Bible says. Profusely because now he had lost hope. And then Jesus died. He was murdered, brutally murdered on the cross, and laid in a tomb. And for Simon Peter and the rest of them, for everybody, all hope was gone! Simon Peter had lost it all. He lost it. Everything he had dreamed, everything he had hoped, and everything he had desired in Jesus was now apparently gone. Until Jesus came out of that grave and appeared to His disciples and 500 other people. And to Peter personally and restored him. And I can’t help believe that as Simon Peter is writing these words, he’s going back to those days when Jesus restored the hopeless man.
And so Peter would pray, these citizens here, verses 3 and following, really is a praise to God. It is an exaltation, it is a doxology. Yes, there’s so much great theology and biblical truth in these words, every one of them, but ultimately, Peter is so excited, he’s just bursting forth in praise. You know, have you noticed, if you follow social media, this is a new thing, I’ve seen a lot of people. People are always talking about how super excited they are, «I’m super excited about this! Just super excited! Super excited».
Well, okay, but Peter was super excited really because he knew that Jesus was alive. And he’s praising God. And this is an act of worship. It’s Easter exaltation. Well, every day is Easter for the Christian! Every Lord’s Day reminds us of the living hope that we have. That’s why it’s good to be here. When you get here, maybe you’re running low on hope but you hear the worship of Christ. Nobody, no enemy can hold you down because you have hope in Jesus Christ. Nobody! Isn’t that great? Nobody! Well, Jeremiah Johnston, Dr. Johnston is truly a biblical student and scholar has written many books. I recommend them all. We’re so glad to have Jeremiah as I noted earlier here at Prestonwood. He has a book that I would highly recommend to you. It’s called Body of Proof, and it’s about the resurrection. The seven best reasons to believe in the resurrection of Jesus and why it matters today.
And those seven reasons are powerful, compelling biblical reasons, historical reasons, scientific reasons, many reasons for the proof of the resurrection. And this is why we have hope. The Apostle Paul said, «If Jesus is still in that grave we are all men most miserable». There is no hope if Christ is not alive. But Jeremiah wrote these words: «Remarkable as it may seem, nearly one hundred times in the New Testament the word hope is used as a descriptor of the believer in Christ. What’s fascinating is that hope is God as much as faith in God is the hallmark of our new life in Christ». And then he references, you can look at it right there in your Bible, 1 Peter 1:21, he says, «Through Him you believe in God who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory so that your faith and hope are in God».
And then Jeremiah writes: «As we trust in God we must wrap ourselves in the truth that our hope stands. Jesus Christ shattered the gates of death for us and now reigns as our living Lord. He is alive. We are right now alive with Him». In other words, our living hope is based on the historical, unchangeable fact of Jesus' physical bodily resurrection from the dead. He is the God of hope because He is the risen Savior. Do you know Him? Have you been born again unto a living hope? I am so glad that I am able to share this hope with people through the years. To that widow whose husband has passed away and she’s buried half her heart with him. But there is hope. I’m so glad that I can tell people that there is indestructible, unfailing reserved-in-heaven kind of hope for each one of us, a promise that never fails.
To the one who’s diagnosed with a fatal disease, in Christ there is hope. To the one who’s child has abandoned the faith and is now living as a prodigal. Because of Jesus there is hope for your child. To the spouse, the husband, the wife betrayed by sin and wonders how you can live again, there is hope. To the one who’s facing death the world looks at death and hope ends at the grave, but for the Christian, the grave is just the beginning! Because our God is the God of hope. And not only is the God of hope, He is the God of heaven. Our living faith is in the God of hope and the in the God of heaven. It’s all about the afterlife. And there is a life beyond, and you will spend eternity somewhere, either in heaven or hell.
If you don’t know Christ, you are facing a hopeless end and hell forever and ever and ever. But in Jesus Christ there is a heavenly hope. One that is secure and sure, one that is solid and strong! It is incorruptible, Peter says. It doesn’t fade away. It’s a know-so hope, because we know the One who came out of the grave, we know Him. And we’re sure that He will keep us. That’s what Peter says. If anyone could believe that the Lord could throw him away, it would have been Simon Peter. I mean, Jesus could have said, «I’m taking this puppy back to Nazareth and leave him there». But He didn’t; He kept him and he became the great Apostle of Hope. When it says in verses 4 and 5 that we are sure that we are kept, that word is the most powerful word for keeping or guarding. It’s to be guarded by an army.
Angel armies surround us. We guarded with hope like an army. We can be certain of the God who saved us and that we are forever saved. When you belong to Jesus you can never un-belong to Him. He will never take away your hope in Christ. He said the Father keeps us. We are kept by the power of God! The omnipotent grip of God has you in hand of His grace. So that’s why we’re told in Colossians chapter 3, verse 1 that we are to «set our affections on things above and not on things below». We should lean into the hope and the promise that is in front of us, reserved in heaven for you. Hope is in heaven. Hope is here now for sure, hope enough to get you through what you’re going through. But the eternal hope is what is best of all.
The hope that is reserved in heaven for you. Reserved. I had a wonderful father-in-law by the name of Doyle Peters. I knew him as Poss. It was a good name. 18 months into our marriage, Poss looked on his arm one day and there was a growth, a mole that didn’t look right, he was a rural mail carrier so he would often drive with his arm out the window, bare arm. We think, of course, that somehow he got this melanoma on his arm. And back in 1971 there wasn’t a lot of treatment for melanoma. Still can be a very deadly cancer, of course. And 18 months later he’s in heaven. So we lost both our dads in the first two years of our marriage.
Well, when Poss Peters was dying, I walked into the room and he was in a coma. And all of the sudden I heard him begin to speak. And as I listened, I realized he was teaching his Sunday school class. He said, «All right boys, open your Bibles and», I don’t remember all that he said, but he’s talking all about the things of Scripture and he’s teaching his class lesson and he goes on like that 4 or 5 minutes. I mean he was totally coherent, though in a coma. Steps away from heaven, hours away from heaven. And he’s teaching the Bible. And then he said, «Okay, boys, that’s it. Let’s go to church». He said, «But before we do, let’s sing something».
And he began to sing. «When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more, And the morning breaks eternal bright and fair. When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore. When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there». Sing it; you know it. «When the roll is called up yonder, when the roll is called up yonder, when the roll is called up yonder, when the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there». A few hours later he was there. He was there, and he’s there today. I regret that my children and grandchildren never met him but they will. They will on the other side. And at death’s door, this man was saying, I made a reservation. I made my reservation. My name’s on the roll. When I check out and check in there, my name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life! Have you made your reservation?