Resurrection Realities: Living Hope Amid Suffering

Or maybe you're dealing with the early stages of dementia in your spouse or the memory of a miscarriage or the pain of a disease that your kid has that you know they're gonna be dealing with the rest of their life or your own body falling apart or, well, one of your loved ones straying from the faith and feeling like it's hopeless. Well, first Peter tells us we have a better destiny. Because of what Jesus has done in his life, death, and resurrection, our destiny is resurrection with him. [00:43:30] (48 seconds)  #ResurrectionHope

We have an enemy who causes that suffering. We we have the brokenness of the world and our own sin that causes that suffering and the sin of others that is done to us and just, well, the broken place that we live in, it it happens. But God chooses to use that to refine us, to strengthen us because he loves us, and and he wants us to be more and more like Jesus who lived for us and died for us and rose again. [00:46:33] (30 seconds)  #RefinedBySuffering

He has overcome for us. Listen to these words in again. We have an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. I I love a paraphrase of that. We are untouched by death, unstained by evil, unimpaired by time because of what Jesus has done. This is what the resurrection means for us. It's an incredible gift. Our salvation is currently ready for us, but we're gonna have to go through these trials. [00:44:17] (32 seconds)  #EternalInheritance

I love that as a church, we focus on the cross of Jesus, and we as Christians need to do that because there Jesus paid the penalty for our sin, our shame, our sickness, our grief times billions of people throughout history. It's an incredible gift. But without the empty tomb, it would mean very well, little. We need Jesus to live and suffer and die for us, but also to rise from the grave, and he has done it. And that's what Easter is all about. [00:38:53] (34 seconds)  #CrossAndEmptyTomb

See, that's what Jesus is talking about here. He looks on the inside. He he loves us too much to let us die in our sin. And that's why he went to the cross to suffer and die for us and rise again from the grave. But he also loves us too much to let us stay in our sin. He doesn't cause our suffering, but he certainly uses it. [00:46:10] (24 seconds)  #ChristUsesSuffering

See, this is where hope comes from, knowing that what we're dealing with right now is not the end of the story. And I know I know you may be dealing with some hard things. I mean, that happens here. We we all go through suffering. It it tells us here you may have to suffer these trials. They come. They come like with a diagnosis that you don't want for yourself or even worse for your loved one. [00:42:59] (31 seconds)  #NotTheEndOfTheStory

He doesn't cause our suffering, but he certainly uses it. We have an enemy who causes that suffering. We we have the brokenness of the world and our own sin that causes that suffering and the sin of others that is done to us and just, well, the broken place that we live in, it it happens. But God chooses to use that to refine us, to strengthen us because he loves us, and and he wants us to be more and more like Jesus who lived for us and died for us and rose again. [00:46:29] (34 seconds)  #StrengthenedInSuffering

For Peter, I love thinking about Peter and what he went through. The Easter reality started when the Marys come to he and John and tell them that the tomb is empty on that Easter morning. It it starts with him sprinting to the tomb and being outrun by John, and getting there and finding it empty. It comes with Jesus appearing to him and the other disciples in the upper room and him being overwhelmed by the love of Christ and seeing him there. [00:39:27] (32 seconds)  #PeterAtTheTomb