1Pet 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in offenses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)
[Part 1 of 2] In 1:3 Peter tells us that we have been regenerated unto a living hope. This hope in our pilgrimage today is for the future. It is not a hope of objective things; it is a hope of life, even eternal life, with all the endless divine blessings. Peter speaks not merely of hope, but of a living hope. It is not easy to explain what this living hope is. From experience we know that the life-giving Spirit has come into us to enliven us. Formerly we were dead, and everything related to us, in particular any expectation for the future, was also dead. But the enlivening which we have experienced through the life- giving Spirit results in a living hope, in the hope that everything related to us will become living. When we were sprinkled with the blood of Christ, immediately the life-giving Spirit came into us to enliven us. Using the word "life" as a verb, we may say that the Spirit came into us to "life" us. Formerly we were dead and altogether without hope, but we have been "lifed" through the life-giving Spirit unto a living hope. Now we have the hope that every part of our being will be lifed. This is the living hope. To have a living hope is to be lifed. The regeneration of God the Father results in the hope that every part of our being and everything related to us will be lifed, enlivened. Everything related to an unsaved person is dead. But with one who has been regenerated by God with the divine life, there is the hope that everything will be enlivened and thus become living. (Continued tomorrow) (c) 2007 Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of First Peter, pp. 25-26. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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