Sermon December 7th – 1 Peter 1:3
“This week our Sermon was from 1 Peter 1:3
The biblical definition of hope is “Confident Expectation.” “Anticipation.”
BIBLICAL HOPE IS SO CERTAIN YOU’D BE SHOCKED IF IT DIDN’T HAPPEN
This side of eternity our hope is that “God will not give us more than we can bear.”
HE WILL EITHER DELIVER US FROM IT OR WALK WITH US THROUGH IT.
HOPE IS THE MANTEL UPON WHICH WE PLACE OUR FUTURE CONFIDENCE.
When we see the baby Jesus lying in the manger we are filled with HOPE because in His arrival we were introduced to the One who is Emmanuel, God with us, the Savior of the World. In HIM… We met LOVE. We found HOPE.
The first sign of Hope was found in Genesis 3:15 not long after Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garden of Eden. God promised that there would be a seed of the woman. This word, “sera,” in the Hebrew is traced from Adam to Jesus in the Genealogy of Luke’s gospel. YOU CAN HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT GOD HAS BEEN WORKING OUT HIS SALVATION PLAN FROM THE BEGINNING. In the years that followed there were more than 300 prophecies of the coming Jesus, Messiah, Savior of the World. By the time we get to 1 Peter 1:3 Jesus is called, “our Living Hope.” Because He lives, I too will yet live. YOUR HOPE TODAY SHOULD LOOK LIKE CONFIDENT EXPECTATION; CONFIDENT THAT YOUR FUTURE IS SECURE.
Discussion Questions
1. What hope would you have if Jesus didn’t come? What difference would it have made if God did not give us His Son?
2. When Christmas comes we have a yearly reminder that God loves us because He gave us of Himself. How confident are you in the expectation of eternal life? How does this confidence help you in your daily struggles this side of eternity?
