- Lesson 3 in the Connect 360 unit “Hunger for Holiness: Living Pure in an Impure World” focuses on 1 Peter 1:18-25.
Our faith is based in the blood of Jesus, and our hope is based on the resurrection and glorification of Jesus. Peter knew Jesus the man. He did not write as one who heard second-hand. He knew Jesus’ mother Mary and brothers James and Judas and presumably the others, but Peter knew Jesus was far more than a man. Jesus existed before the creation of the world. God’s plan was that Jesus was chosen before even the beginning. Peter knew well both the humanity and divinity of Jesus. The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus is the one through whom the universe was made (Hebrews 1:1-3). Paul also wrote that Jesus is the Creator of all things including heaven and earth (Colossians 1:16). First, our hope is built on the person of Jesus who is the Creator of all things
Second, our hope is also built on the plan of God. God’s purpose and plan is not random or arbitrary, but it was specific and deliberate. The first rudimentary mention of God’s chosen plan is found in Genesis 3:14-15, when God told the serpent that Eve’s descendant would crush the head of the serpent. The Chosen One was always Jesus. There is no other name by which salvation can be found (Acts 4:12).
Additionally, our hope is also built on the power of God. God’s plan was never in doubt for one second. It was an elaborate plan of love and sacrifice that was based on the power of God, which raised Jesus from the dead and returned him to a glorified state. Jesus knew of his mission throughout his earthly ministry, going back as far as when he was 12 in the Temple (Luke 2:46-50).
Therefore, our faith and hope are in God, not in other empty world religions but also not in ourselves. The object of our hope is not in any religious activity and most certainly not in ourselves. Our hope in God is far more important than the “way we do church.” Generations come and go and with them a changing of how we do church. The one constant though is that our hope is in the plan of God through the person and work of Jesus.
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