3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
O the joy of belonging to Christ. I seem to always release a deep sigh every time I think about the fact, that all that is promised to me from God in Christ, is dependent on His own ability to keep those promises. We’ve all had moments when we realize something we thought was going to happen, doesn’t. perhaps we slammed our brakes on to avoid a deer, and are relieved to see that we stop in the nick of time, avoiding a deer in the windshield scenario. Or perhaps we hear of a dangerous situation happening where our loved one works, and are so relieved when we hear his/her voice on the other end of the phone, telling us they are okay. Maybe something shows up in a routine doctor exam, and with further testing, we find that it’s nothing to worry about.
Sweet relief, sweet release. The sighs that come at these moments are deep and powerful. Well, that’s the kind of sigh I am talking about. When I think on the promises of God and the solid fact that He is completely able to keep them, I sigh with deep relief. You see, I know myself, and frankly, if it were dependent on me, I’d be terrified all the time.
The word “living” in this passage is defined as being “vivified, to be warm, to have life.” I can remember going to parks on a super hot day, and standing under the cold rush of a waterfall. I can’t think of anything more stimulating than that. The hope that is brought to life inside of us through the promises of God, is that kind of living, like the cold, refreshing rush of water on a steamy hot day. God promises that the hope He gives is imperishable, it is not even capable of corruption, nothing can diminish it. It is undefiled, unpolluted, untainted by anything of this world. It is pure and crisp and clean and perfect. God’s hope will never fade away, unlike our favorite daylilies, which bloom in the morning and have wilted by setting Sun. “Our heavenly inheritance is not something which lasts only for while and than fades away. It is of unfailing loveliness.” (lexical aids, The complete WordStudy, New Testament).
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