Daniel: Humble Servant, Faithful God - Living Hope

For Christians, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is no small event, it is the critical event in God’s gracious rescue plan. Of all that God has committed himself to do for his people, all of it is meaningless apart from his promise of new and eternal life. God has offered to atone for our sins through His one and only Son, but what benefit is this payment if we don’t get to live? God has promised forgiveness through that atonement, but how does that help us if we don’t enjoy a life reconciled to God? God sends his Spirit to enable us to walk in righteousness, however imperfectly in this life, but to what end if only for a few short years? God has provided a future for us in a world without suffering, but how empty a promise if he cannot generate life beyond the grave? God can promise the world, but if he can’t give us life, his promises are cruel illusions and our hope, fanciful dreams in our life of death.

The resurrection of Christ gives us hope that all God has promised through Christ will be realized in Him. Our hope is a “living hope.” Our hope is alive because he is alive. Peter, like Daniel, writes to people who are facing intense suffering, persecution, and hardship. They face the threat of depravation and death every day, but they face it with confidence in the eternal life God has promised. Join us Sunday as we worship the living Christ with living hope.