2006-12-31 Communion Dedication – Baldwin Christian Church 

1 Peter 1:3-5 

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 

Each of us has hope that 2007 will be a better year.  If we’re willing to admit it, we hope for our lives to get easier, more fun, and filled with more love.  We’ll say, “No, I wish for more spiritual things than that”, and that may be true, but our nature is to not argue too much of our own lives were to get better next year. 

But when you get to know Jesus, “hope” does take on new meaning.  In verse 23 of this same chapter, Peter explains the mechanism of being born again. 

1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 

The body of Jesus was dead when they planted it in that grave, but it did not turn to dust.  An incorruptible seed was planted that day.  Death could not hold Him, and irony of ironies; death was defeated through His death (2 Tim 1:10). 

Back in verse 3, Peter said we have “a lively hope” because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  If you are “born again”, you find your hope is in Jesus, not in getting a raise at work.  You find your hope in the way that Jesus arose from the dead and left the tomb behind, not that your husband will someday arise from the couch and leave the TV behind.  You find your hope in the truth that Jesus overcame the world (John 16:33), not that your wife might someday overcome her love for shopping.  You find your hope in the life that Jesus lived, that He stood before the Father and made the grade (Zech 3:1-7), not in your kids’ report cards. 

Isaiah 64:4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him (1 Cor 2:9). 

When you get to know Jesus, “hope” is a much bigger word.  The things of this world are fleeting, passing away, but what waits in heaven is better than anything we have heard or seen.  In John chapter 3, Jesus said that no one would enter into the kingdom of heaven, unless they are born again (John 3:3-5), and Peter is saying the same thing in verse 3 today.  Without the resurrection, we have no hope.  At this table we celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus, the sacrifice that gives us fellowship forevermore.  How great is the mercy and love of the Father shown to us through the death of His Son?  Dare we ever take this precious sacrifice lightly, and sin against Him? 

The Lord’s Supper is a place of hope, a time to acknowledge our sins in light of His goodness.  Hope is an invisible thing that motivates people in this life.  If you want to, you can go on living this life under the influence of ordinary hopes and dreams, even as unbelievers do, but there is an incorruptible, undefiled hope reserved in heaven for you.  Let’s be influenced by that hope today.