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Trust in Despair - Born Again to a Living Hope

HHBC_Despair_Les_Miller

1 Peter 1:3-9

“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, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Meditation

During the extreme desperation of the second World War, the French philosopher Jean Paul Sarte wrote his play “No Exit.” Living in the midst of war, the title immediately brought to mind shades of hopelessness—beyond that, even terror—“No Exit?” From his dark conclusions, Sarte proclaimed “Hell is other people.” The bottom line for Sarte was “You are—your life, and nothing else.”[i] Sarte had explored Christianity, but could not get past the deception, that God was “absent,” that He no longer cared.

First Peter was written to the scattered church, many of whom had fled to other parts of the world. The persecution of believers had increased and at the time of Peter’s writing, the church was moving into the time of Nero’s persecution—considered one of the most brutal. Peter himself is believed to have been crucified during Nero’s reign.

Today, we’re hitting daily records for virus infections, impacting our families and friends; exhausted, our country is working to recover from the recent ice storm, wildfire, or latest hurricane; and today’s political hate-speak attempts to convince us that the battle is against flesh and blood, when Scripture clearly teaches otherwise (Eph. 6:12). Sarte, unable to see the cosmic, yet personal, spiritual battle, embraced the lie—“hell is other people.”

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Peter speaks powerful truth into his time, and ours. In his suffering and the suffering of the 1st century church, Peter tells us that Jesus “has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”; and he doesn’t stop there, but tells us this living hope is “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Return to the passage above and keep reading! Meditate on God’s goodness as you rest, though right now uncomfortably, in your secure sonship—He has caused you to be born again and His plan for you cannot be thwarted! Though we grieve as the genuineness of our faith is tested, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope! Unlike Sarte, who declared God absent, Peter tells us, though “we do not now see him, we believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Prayer

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!

[1] Jean Paul Sarte, “No Exit”, as Referenced by John Stott in “The Message of 1st Peter”