March 17, 2016

1 Peter 1:3  NKJV - "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Commentary:

For now, one last reason why the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is so important.  Namely, without that resurrection we would have NO HOPE!!  As it was, before we were saved, the Bible says in Ephesians 2:12, "...you were without Christ...having no hope and without God in the world."  Apart from Christ there is no hope available for anyone to receive forgiveness of sin, victory over sin, and especially, eternal life in heaven. 

Christ came into this world to offer hope to hopeless people.  But that hope could only come by way of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the tomb.  If Christ hadn't risen from the dead then He certainly couldn't offer hope to anyone.  A dead and buried Savior leaves his followers to suffer the same end:  dead and buried.  No joy there.

But Peter emphasizes that we were "begotten again," another way of saying "Born Again!"  Christ could give us new birth because He rose from the grave Himself.  And this hope he gives shares the same wonderful description of Him - LIVING!  We have a living hope because we have a Living Savior!