Bible Society of South Africa
Quintus Heine

Suffering, resurrection and Christian love – day 6

Jesus’ resurrection gives us hope

Bible text(s)

A Living Hope

3Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope, 4and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away.

1 Peter 1:3-4GNBOpen in Bible reader

Jesus Christ’s resurrection changed our lives. Because of it, we do not only have a past, but a future as well. If we say we believe that Jesus died for our sins, it is a statement of a past event. If we say we have hope, it is what we believe about Jesus in the future.

Faith in Jesus’ crucifixion describes both our past and our new beginning. Hope in Jesus describes our daily continuation of our new life and new future. Our faith has no hope unless we believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Faith and hope are inextricably linked. One cannot exist without the other!

Since the resurrection of Christ, we having been living in the time of hope! For Christians, the resurrection is a fact, a historical event that took place. It is also the highlight and the symbolic starting point of our new lives as Christians. This is one of the cornerstones of our faith! Without hope, we cannot believe.

If you say you believe – it is because you trust and believe that Jesus has already paid for your sins. If you say you have hope – it is because you trust that the Lord will still be king of your life in the future and you will get part of his inheritance.

You see, hope is about trusting in the future! However, it starts now. You already now have hope in all your circumstances! You trust that Jesus will live each day with you. You trust that you can leave your life, your country, your family, your everything, in the hands of King Jesus. Jesus’ resurrection gave believers a new future; the future that they will live, although their bodies will die.

There is only one reason for Christian hope – the resurrection of Jesus. Without the resurrection, we have faith with no hope (a hopeless faith). Jesus broke the bonds of death and hopelessness.

Bible Society of South Africav.4.21.9
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