Thats All Folks NOT

"Living Hope"

Does anyone recognize the name “Mel Blanc?” He was the voice behind all of the cartoon characters in Looney Tunes. At the end of every movie, you would see Porky Pig come on the screen, & he would always say the same thing: “That’s all folks!”

A couple of years ago, Mel Blanc died. Do you know what his family put on his tombstone? “That’s all folks.” What a hopeless epitaph.

I want to talk with you about hope. That's the focus of our Scripture passage for today: "Praise be to the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In God’s great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead." (I Pet 1: 3ncv). “A living hope,”ahope that won't let you down. And never forget, there is a clear connection between Easter & hope. Through the resurrection, God grants us hope, living hope.

If you did Google search for "hopelessness" you would find millions of hits, many of them are psychologically oriented. Most agreed that hopelessness is a very bad thing. A National Institutes of Health study found that hopelessness among older adults leads to a higher mortality rate. The World Health Organization noted that "the single most accurate predictor of a person's likelihood to attempt suicide" is, "hopelessness."

Because hope is so important I want make sure that the object of our hope solid, not just wishful thinking. I want us to place our hope in someone who won't let us down.

Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9 “ Praise be to the God & Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In God’s great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Now we hope for the blessings God has for his children. These blessings, which cannot be destroyed or be spoiled or lose their beauty, are kept in heaven for you. God’s power protects you through your faith until salvation is shown to you at the end of time.
This makes you very happy, even though now for a short time different kinds of troubles may make you sad. These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold, which can be proved to be pure by fire but will ruin. But the purity of your faith will bring you praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is shown to you. You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You cannot see him now, but you believe in him. So you are filled with a joy that cannot be explained, a joy full of glory. And you are receiving the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” (NCV)

The Content of Hope: Question: What is the content of this living hope? What are we hoping for when we have a living hope?

The answer comes to us in the rest of our text from 1 Peter. " Now we hope for the blessings God has for his children. These blessings, which cannot be destroyed or be spoiled or lose their beauty, are kept in heaven for you.” (v4) Notice, biblical hopefulness is grounded in the content of hope. Hope is not just the feeling, but the reality that produces the feeling. Our hope is our heavenly inheritance.

Jesus refers to the life of the future as the "abundant life." It's life as it was meant to be, full, rich, joyous, active, mysterious, & rewarding. It's life lived in an intimate relationship with Jesus & Jesus people. Our heavenly inheritance is life beyond our wildest expectations & dreams.

Peter says this inheritance is " which cannot be destroyed or be spoiled or lose their beauty,." It won't disappear in the down turn of the economy or be destroyed by a flood or an earthquake. It won't be ruined by the time we get it.

Hope & the Resurrection: Question: How can I be sure that this hope isn't an empty promise? How can I have confidence in my inheritance?

Here is Peter's answer: " In God’s great mercy he has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead." Did you catch that? The resurrection confirms that the promises of God are true. The resurrection demonstrates the power of God even over death. The resurrection proves that your inheritance is real, secure, & will be there waiting for you.

The Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians: “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith has nothing to it; you are still guilty of your sins. And those in Christ who have already died are lost. If our hope in Christ is for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone else in the world.” (I Cor 15:17-19 ncv)

The evidence shows that Jesus Christ was in fact raised from the dead. His tomb was empty. If it hadn't been empty, the opponents of early Christianity would have produced the body of Jesus & that would have been the end of the Jesus movement. But the resurrection changed these fearful, discouraged, & hopeless disciples into a fearless, bold, & hopeful group that changed the face of history.

Because of the resurrection, we can have hope, a hope that will not die or disappoint us, a living hope, a confident hope, a joyous hope.

Hope & Life Today: Question, What does the resurrection have to do with life today? Is Christianity simply a matter of waiting around hopefully for a life to come? Does the resurrection make a difference now?" These are great questions, crucial questions, some of which are answered here in I Peter.

One of the big questions Christians & non-Christians have is: What about suffering & evil. I will be staring a preaching series next week called Making Sense of Suffering & Evil. The Bible doesn't sugarcoat reality. There's no pretending about the struggles we all face. Life is difficult! Notice what 1 Peter 1:6 says: " This makes you very happy, (the hope of eternal life) even though now for a short time different kinds of troubles may make you sad. These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold, which can be proved to be pure by fire but will ruin.”

The Bible states that, Life is difficult. It also states that God's help is available in the midst of our struggles.

Notice: that our trials in this life demonstrate the genuineness of our faith “These troubles come to prove that your faith is pure. This purity of faith is worth more than gold, which can be proved to be pure by fire but will ruin. But the purity of your faith will bring you praise & glory & honor when Jesus Christ is shown to you.”(v. 7). Then he adds, “You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You cannot see him now, but you believe in him. So you are filled with a joy that cannot be explained, a joy full of glory. And you are receiving the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” (vv. 8-9)

Even though we don't see Jesus yet, even though we have to wait to receive the content of our hope, we can still experience, in the midst of suffering: “a joy that cannot be explained, a joy full of glory.” Even, when we face of suffering & evil, we can experience “a joy that full of glory.”

Why? " And you are receiving the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls.”(v9) Notice the tense here. You “are receiving”, which means.. now, in the present. We live in between the resurrection of Jesus & His return. In our life with Jesus today we experience only a little of what life will be like with Jesus. We experience a little of the joy now, but we also hurt, & grieve, & struggle.

The resurrection tells us that someday things will be different. And the resurrection tells us that we can begin even now to experience the life of the future. In our daily life, with all of its challenges, we can know that God is at work for our good & his glory. How do I know that? Romans 8: 31 says: “If (since) God is for us, no one can defeat us. He did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all….. because Christ Jesus died, but he was also raised from the dead, & now he is on God’s right side, appealing to God for us.” (NCV) In other words, God loved us so much that he allowed Jesus to die to secure the removal of sin in our lives, Jesus was raised to life so he could give anyone who put their trust in him eternal life. And now Jesus is in heaven interceding for us!

Joy & Sorrow on Easter: Does Easter mean there will be no more suffering? Not in this world, but in the world to come. Does the resurrection mean everything in my life will always turn out great? Not in this world. Does believing in Jesus mean I'll always be happy? Not in this world.

To be honest, we will experience a mix of joy & sorrow until Jesus returns. I love Easter. I love celebrating the resurrection of Christ, reflecting on new life in Him, proclaiming His victory over sin & death. And I love singing "Christ the Lord is Risen Today."

But I'll also feel sad today because my brother-in-law John is still gravely ill. His is a young man, who is a great husband, father, & pastor. He was in great shape & enjoyed running marathons. But John got ill last Oct. & is still very ill today. For many years he has preached five times on Easter weekend to more than 4000 people, but today he talks very little with grate difficulty. As I sit down to each a wonderful ham dinner he will be fed through a tube in his stomach. This dreadful & yet unknown disease has eaten away at his body so that he only weighs about 125 lbs. Easter & the resurrection does not mean there will be no more sorrow. There is much sorrow in this life & we don’t understand it all. But because of the resurrection John is still maintaining his hope in Jesus.

Easter Invitation: Thissort of hope can be yours in Jesus today. If you already believe in & put your trust in Him, let me encourage you to make Him the center of your hope. Be encouraged by the inheritance that is yours. And begin now to enjoy the future through God's rich gifts in this life.

If you have never put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior & Lord, I can think of no better time to do so than right now. In a moment I will close in prayer. As I do, I'll give you an opportunity to pray with me to give your life to Jesus & to receive Him as your Savior, your Lord, & your hope.

I invite you to bow your head & join me in a prayer of faith direct to Jesus:

Dear Jesus. I believe in you. I want you to be my Lord & Savior. Starting today & lasting forever, I want to believe in you, I want to hope in you, & I want to do whatever you want me to do. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, tell someone.Get your faith on the record. Call a friend. Tell a relative. Write a note to me. Put it on the your connection card. Write a Post-It Note with today’s date & stick it on your bedroom mirror.