Paul Stepp
Dec 21, 2025
The world is a hopeless place. We need to give the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the men and women around us - in Him we have hope. Jesus Christ and the salvation in Him is the only hope - even for those who hate us and fight against the Word of God. In Jesus Christ all can find Hope and Peace.
SCRIPTURE READING: 1John 3
A Living Hope
Text: 1Peter 1:3
The world is a hopeless place. It seems that all around us is only confusion, fear, dread, vanity, hatred, and strife. The worldly man has nowhere to place his hope – the politicians are self-serving liars; education and science have removed God from their systems, and leave men and women to rely on chance or the wisdom of men; the religions of men have devolved into humanistic endeavors that are only designed to affect the psychological and emotional aspects of the human mind; even our friends and our families - despite their best intentions - are powerless to contribute any sort of meaningful and enduring hope. What a hopeless world we live in! And yet, if men will hear the Gospel, and if men will be introduced to the workings of the Holy Spirit of God – and the faith and repentance that accompany that Work of the Spirit – then men will not only be made aware of True Hope, they will most certainly find and secure that True Hope, which is the Lively Hope that the Apostle Peter speaks of.
Our Hope is Alive
Any natural or fleshly hope that we have, shall perish…shall be cut off…shall not stand…shall not endure. How can any hope of man endure, when man himself does not endure? How can our hopes and desires be any different than any other aspect of our lives? We live (after the flesh) for a little while, and then we pass away. If our hopes are placed in things of the flesh and the strength and power and ability of man, how can our hopes stand or endure?
However, our Hope, that we as Christians have, is not so. It is a Supernatural Hope, because it is based upon the Supernatural God. It is ever present with us, because it lives and is alive, just as our God is alive. The Hope itself is Beautiful and Comforting, and when the Hope is realized, the Christian will not be disappointed. The Hope cannot perish or be cut off. Job 8:11-15; 1Jn. 3:1-3
Jesus Christ Our Hope Is Alive
The Hope that we have is actually personified in the Person of Jesus Christ. Our Hope is Alive and our Hope is Living within us because Jesus Christ is our Hope. Because He lives, we have Hope. Because He lives within us, we have Hope within us. The Life that He Lives, is Hope for us; it is Strength for us; it is Comfort for us; it is a Guide for us. He has Lived a perfect Life on this Earth, and He laid It down for us. Now He has taken up Life, and He Lives forever for us. Praise God, that He Lives and that our Hope is in Him. Jn. 14:18-20; Mt. 1:20-21; Rom. 4:25; Jn. 10:17-18; Heb. 9:11-14; 6:19-20; 1Jn. 1:7-9; Rom. 8:33-34; Heb. 7:24-25; 2:17-18; 2Thess. 3:3
Our Hope is in Eternal Life
Our Hope is not one that is meant to just give us an expectation of Good Things in this life, but our Hope is one that is primarily meant to Give us an Expectation of Good Things to Come in Eternity. We Hope for God and Good in this life – and that Hope is ever abiding within us. But the overriding and most precious Hope that we have, is of God and Good in the Life to Come. We patiently wait for that for which we Hope. We do not expect to receive the culmination of that Hope in this life (though we do receive many and manifold blessings in this life), but we expect to receive the Completion of that Hope in the Life to come. This is what we Hope for – Eternal Life with Jesus Christ our Lord. 1Cor. 15:16-20; Rom. 8:24-25; 1Tim. 1:1; Titus 2:13