“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3)

Many today are casting about for hope. As we see in our text, the Christian has an “actively alive” hope for eternal life based on the resurrection of Christ from the dead. If He rose, our destiny is certain, for “now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

A hymn of earlier years, “My Hope Is in the Lord,” aptly reminds us of this truth.

My hope is in the Lord
Who gave Himself for me,
And paid the price of all my sin
At Calvary.

The hymn reminds us of a “big picture” truth—God created all things, mankind included, in perfect, lasting fellowship with Him. He loved us and graciously provided all we could ever want or need, but He informed us that any deviation from His perfect plan was unacceptable and would be punished by death. We, through Adam, were without sin and had no looming penalty to pay for sin, yet we chose (and continue to choose) rebellion and received His just sentence.

Thankfully, He knew that we were totally unable to restore our broken relationship with Him, so He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die as an acceptable sacrifice for us. Christ paid our penalty on Calvary. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), but “Christ died for our sins . . . and rose again” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Thus, God’s grand plan is accomplished and we have hope. JDM