The living hope of the Christian

Pastor Eduardo preached:



The living hope of the Christian

1 Peter 1:3-12 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.



I. Timeless faith - 1: 4-5 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

The question is not whether we have faith, we all have faith. The atheist has faith that his rational reasoning has eliminated the possibility of God. He has faith in his intellectual capacity. Others have faith in their abilities, skills, connections, friends, family and themselves. Everyone has faith. The question is where is your faith anchored?



Sooner or later, the storms of life will begin to blow and then the question will become the anchor of faith.



Peter gives us three reasons why it is important to anchor our faith in Christ.



A. Faith in Christ is imperishable (does not perish).

How can it be? Well, look where faith is kept in Christ, in heaven. Jesus says we should put treasures in heaven where the moth and rust cannot destroy or the thief steal.



If our faith is set in the things of this world, then our faith will perish. Countless kingdoms have come and fallen, economies have been built and destroyed, and nations have been established and disappeared. That is the only way we know that our faith is imperishable.



B. Our faith will be incorrupt

You have undoubtedly heard the phrase, absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is a statement that indicates our sinful nature. The story is full of leaders who started with the best intentions, but pride, ego or other defects got in the way. If we put our faith in a leader, it is only a matter of time before the corruptible nature of the individual is revealed.



II Proven Faith - 1: 6-8 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuinenessof your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,



Our faith must be anchored in the timeless nature of Christ, but I can hear the question. How do you know that a faith in Christ will be maintained during the storms of life? Why should I trust Christ? Because, this is not an ordinary faith, it is a proven faith. Countless people have put their faith in Christ and found the anchor.  Peter discovered that a proven faith is valuable, revealing and centered on love.

A. It is valuable (1: 7) of greater worth than gold, which perishes

Peter here plays with a great image, the goldsmith. A goldsmith would melt the metal until it became a liquid. All impurities would surface and the goldsmith would scrape them and allow the metal to cool. Then I would go back and repeat the process over and over again. His goal was pure gold. How did he know when he had pure gold? When no impurities surfaced or when I could see its reflection in melted gold.





III. The true faith - 1: 10-12 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care

In our postmodern word, we often hear the claim that what works for you may not work for me. Then Peter had a faith in Christ that was eternal. His faith was valuable, revealing and full of love