Unshakable Hope: The Promise of Resurrection

Devotional

Day 1: The Resurrection as Unshakable Hope

The resurrection of Jesus Christ offers believers an unshakable hope that transcends the despair and cynicism prevalent in today's world. In a culture where hope seems scarce, the resurrection assures us that our earthly struggles are temporary and that we have an eternal home prepared by God. This hope is not just a distant dream but a present reality, guaranteed by the Spirit who dwells within us. As we face life's challenges, we are reminded that our groaning and burdens are not in vain; they are the birth pains of a new creation. The resurrection is a promise of a new heaven and a new earth, where God will dwell with His people, wiping away every tear and eradicating death and pain. [01:28]

"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (2 Corinthians 5:1, ESV)

Reflection: In what areas of your life do you feel hopeless? How can the promise of the resurrection bring you comfort and assurance today?

Day 2: Distractions and the Death of Hope

Our culture's endless distractions and material abundance often deaden our hope of heaven. We are constantly bombarded with messages that foster discontentment, shifting us from naive optimism to cynicism. This cynicism, born from the failed promises of secularism, leaves us hollow and without hope. To counteract this, we must intentionally create space for silence and reflection, allowing God's word to speak to us and rekindle our hope. By meditating on His promises and walking by faith, we become like trees planted by the river, nourished by the living water of Christ. [03:12]

"Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." (Colossians 3:2, ESV)

Reflection: What distractions in your life are deadening your hope? How can you create space for silence and reflection this week to focus on God's promises?

Day 3: The Promise of New Creation

The resurrection is a promise of new creation, where our groaning and burdens are transformed into the birth pains of a new heaven and earth. This hope is guaranteed by the Spirit, who dwells within us as a down payment of what is to come. As we navigate this life, we must examine where our hope lies. If it is in anything other than Christ, it will ultimately fail us. God, in His grace, will dismantle our false hopes to replace them with the only hope that lasts, found in the promises of His word. [07:44]

"For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God." (Romans 8:19, ESV)

Reflection: What false hopes are you holding onto that need to be dismantled? How can you shift your focus to the hope of new creation in Christ?

Day 4: Examining Our Hope

We must examine where our hope lies, as anything other than Christ will ultimately fail us. In His grace, God dismantles our false hopes to replace them with the only hope that lasts, found in the promises of His word. As we meditate on His word and walk by faith, we are sustained by His promises, becoming like trees planted by the river, nourished by the living water of Christ. This process requires intentional reflection and a willingness to let go of the things that do not satisfy. [20:11]

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." (Jeremiah 17:7-8, ESV)

Reflection: Where does your hope currently lie? What steps can you take to ensure your hope is firmly rooted in Christ alone?

Day 5: The Culmination of God's Promises

The culmination of God's covenant promises is the new heaven and earth, where He will dwell with His people, eradicating death and pain. This is the ultimate hope of the resurrection, assured by the empty tomb and the outpouring of the Spirit. As believers, we are called to live in light of this hope, allowing it to shape our lives and guide our actions. By focusing on the eternal promises of God, we can find strength and encouragement to persevere through life's challenges. [18:05]

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more." (Revelation 21:1, ESV)

Reflection: How does the promise of a new heaven and earth impact your daily life? What changes can you make to live more fully in light of this hope?

Sermon Summary

In the beautiful setting of South Carolina's low country, a profound moment with my four-year-old daughter reminded me of the unshakable hope we have in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As she innocently declared, "We're all going to die," she followed with the comforting truth, "But that's okay because Jesus moved the stone." This simple yet profound statement encapsulates the essence of our faith: the resurrection offers us hope beyond the grave.

In today's world, hope seems to be a rare commodity. Influential voices like Richard Dawkins suggest a universe devoid of purpose, leading many to a state of hopelessness. Our culture, filled with endless distractions and material abundance, often deadens our hope of heaven. We are constantly bombarded with messages that foster discontentment, shifting us from naive optimism to cynicism. This cynicism, born from the failed promises of secularism, leaves us hollow and without hope.

However, the resurrection of Christ breathes life into our weary souls. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5, our earthly bodies are temporary tents, but we have an eternal home prepared by God. This hope of new creation is not just a distant dream but a present reality, guaranteed by the Spirit. The resurrection assures us that our groaning and burdens are not in vain; they are the birth pains of a new creation.

The resurrection is not merely an event of the past but a promise of the future. It points us to the ultimate hope of a new heaven and a new earth, where God will dwell with His people, wiping away every tear and eradicating death and pain. This is the culmination of God's covenant promises, fulfilled in Christ, the true temple among us.

As we navigate this life, we must examine where our hope lies. If it is in anything other than Christ, it will ultimately fail us. God, in His grace, will dismantle our false hopes to replace them with the only hope that lasts. As we meditate on His word and walk by faith, we are sustained by His promises, becoming like trees planted by the river, nourished by the living water of Christ.

Key Takeaways

1. The resurrection of Jesus offers us unshakable hope, transcending the despair and cynicism prevalent in today's world. It assures us that our earthly struggles are temporary and that we have an eternal home prepared by God. [01:28]
2. Our culture's endless distractions and material abundance often deaden our hope of heaven. We must intentionally create space for silence and reflection, allowing God's word to speak to us and rekindle our hope. [03:12]
3. The resurrection is a promise of new creation, where our groaning and burdens are transformed into the birth pains of a new heaven and earth. This hope is guaranteed by the Spirit, who dwells within us as a down payment of what is to come. [07:44]
4. We must examine where our hope lies, as anything other than Christ will ultimately fail us. God, in His grace, dismantles our false hopes to replace them with the only hope that lasts, found in the promises of His word. [20:11]
5. The culmination of God's covenant promises is the new heaven and earth, where He will dwell with His people, eradicating death and pain. This is the ultimate hope of the resurrection, assured by the empty tomb and the outpouring of the Spirit. [18:05]
** [18:05]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:11] - Family Travels and a Child's Insight
[00:43] - The Hope of Resurrection
[01:45] - The Death of Hope in Modern Times
[02:39] - Endless Distractions and Their Impact
[04:12] - Material Abundance and Hope
[05:14] - From Optimism to Cynicism
[06:43] - Resurrecting Hope Through Christ
[07:15] - The Promise of a New Creation
[08:02] - Nakedness and the Search for Clothing
[09:35] - The Tower of Babel and Modern Technology
[10:03] - The Fall and the Curse of Death
[11:13] - Groaning for Resurrection Life
[13:39] - The Spirit as a Guarantee of Hope
[15:12] - The New Heaven and New Earth
[17:02] - God's Covenant Promise Fulfilled
[19:20] - Resurrection Life and True Hope

Sermon Clips

The resurrection provides us with unshakable hope and as we think about hope we need to think about the death of Hope in our day consonant with other things that we've noticed to this point hope has died a slow death Among Us me a quote from Richard Dawkins in his book River out of Eden he says this the universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at bottom no design no purpose no evil no good nothing but pitiless indifference close quote if that's where you think about the world and that's where you live is it any wonder that people have lost any kind of Hope isn't that a a good term to describe what we see all around us hopelessness [00:01:45]

We have endless Amusement we have endless scrolling on social media and by the way we all know that's the goal of it right to keep us scrolling to keep us from ever being thoughtfully engaged with anything it's talking with this about a friend recently about ebooks versus hard regular books and he said where are you on that and I said so you kind of half in half out I said no probably 8020 I still love having a book in my hand and making notes in the margins and underlining and everything else but he said you know I think it's getting so hard for people to even read because of the amount of distractions we have all around us all the time endless Amusement social media [00:03:20]

One of the reasons that we don't see hope as vibrant as it was for our parents or grandparents generation is we have so much here we have such material abundance and plenty here and in one sense we need to rejoice in that I would argue that directly because of Christianity do we have such material AB abundance and plenty today plenty of other Scholars have have argued that as well but for Christians all of these things can combine to deaden Our Hope Of Heaven all the advertising all the social media it has a goal to make us discontent constantly and instead of a holy discontentment of not being with the Lord we have a discontentment with not having all that we want and that deadens our hope of heaven [00:04:12]

And what the resurrection of Christ does does is resurrect hope in our lives and how does that happen let's trace it out from the scriptures from second Corinthians 5 as Paul instructs us on our hope verse one for we know that if the tent that is our Earthly home is destroyed we have a building from God a house not made with hands Eternal in the heavens for in this tent we Gran longing to put on our Heavenly dwelling if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked for while we are still in this tent we Gran being burdened not that we would be unclothed but that we would be further clothed so that what is Mortal may be swallowed up by life he who has prepared us for this very thing is God who has given us the spirit as a guarantee [00:06:43]

He says in this tent we Gran and were burdened again what a perfect description of daily life groaning and being burdened but he says this groaning and burdening is unto something it's we're groaning and burdened because we've caught a glimpse of how good what's coming really is having caught that Glimpse he says we want it so badly and he says the same thing in Romans 8 the whole creation is groaning until now and this this groan is a resurrection groan it's a groan for life to the uttermost life that is encapsulated in the event of Christ's resurrection that is the first episode which will too be continued in our resurrection and as we Gran and long for that he says what we're asking for what we're longing for is that death might be swallowed up by that which is truly life [00:11:13]

God don't you love how Paul is so God centered and so Grace centered but and he's saying To Us by Nature we don't hope in these things by Nature all of us would want to say what Harari said or what Dawkins said but instead he says because of what God has done who's prepared us for this very thing is give us a certain future a certain hope and that's what the the Greek word by the way that Paul uses elsewhere means it's not hope in the sense that we think of it today and my wife calls me and says uh are you going to be able to take uh the girls out hunting with you this weekend well I hope so sweetie but I don't know what the weather is going to be now what does that mean likely I won't be able to but we're going to try that's not what the word means in the New Testament at all it means a guaranteed certainty which is why Paul says what he says here God has prepared us for this thing and he has given us the spirit as a guarantee a down payment in the first fruits of the resurrected Christ comes the first fruits of the lifegiving spirit in our lives as he begins to make us groan and be burdened for that which is true life [00:13:39]

And John adds that editorial aside this he said of the spirit which he was to give but he had not been given yet because Christ had not yet been glorified having been glorified he does give the spirit and therefore we can stop being thirsty we can have true hope and another metaphor there isn't it isn't that what hopelessness is it's a thirst that can never be slaked a hunger that can never be satiated try as we might to fill it up with drugs or sex or pleasure or movies or just distraction and and what what Paul and what Jesus tell us the spirit speaking in his word tells us is no no no no no it's so much better with Christ and the hope you have in him no matter what happens here will be unshakable it will be certain it is as certain as the spirit who was outpoured it is as certain as the empty tomb before the outpouring of the spirit [00:15:12]

And I saw the holy city New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying Behold The Dwelling Place of God is with man he will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and Death Shall be no more neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away what is the Terminus what is the Omega point the end point of our hope it's this and notice how John sees it going back to Babel mankind builds his way to God and it's so minuscule that Moses shows us as as God speaks through him that God has to come down and see it not like God couldn't see it he can see everything it was just making the point it's so minuscule he came down from heaven to see the puny works of mankind and man building his way up with his puny City and instead in the true and Lasting New Jerusalem it comes down from heaven it's a gift of Grace is what God is showing John [00:17:02]

And this imagery here is one of as one scholar put it a a garden and a city and a temple all combined all these major biblical themes that come together in the New Jerusalem and the centerpiece of it all is the Fulfillment of the Covenant Promises of God which are so tightly bound up with the resurrection of Christ and our coming Resurrection what is the great hope and promise of the Old Testament that God would dwell among his people what is The Book of Leviticus about following the last roughly uh 20 chapters of the book of Exodus preparing in Exodus for God to dwell among his people then instructions for God dwelling among his people and yet even then those were partial Shadows undone by Israel's Idol as it sends them into Exile and then Jesus comes and there is the true Temple Among Us John 1:14 the word became flesh and translated from the original tabernacled amongst us God himself will be with them [00:18:05]

And just consider the imagery of God himself will wipe away their tears before I came down here my daughter was very upset one of my daughters my youngest was upset one night and I came into her room and she had had had some kind of a bad dream or something and when you see your precious child crying what is the first thing you want to do you want to dry her tears and hold her and comfort her and that's the imagery that God chooses to speak to us in of what he'll do for all of his dear children he himself will wipe away their tears he himself will undo all the sadness the grief the pain the death the destruction that we have caused in other words Resurrection Life always has as its goal the resurrection of all things the new Heaven and the new earth that is our hope that is what we are pressing on towards that is our goal that is what is going to happen as certain as the tomb was empty that first Easter Sunday Millen ago [00:19:20]

What are you hoping in my friend is it is it anything other than Christ because where your hope is is where you will find meaning security trust identity and if it's anything other than Christ your hope will be exposed as false and it will wreck you and God will do that to us if we're his he will he will wreck our false hopes he will burn our Idols as it were so that he can give us TR hope that he can give us Resurrection hope so that only the promises of God As we walk by faith not by sight as Paul would tell us in 2 Corinthians only the promises of God offer that lifegiving sustenance that's spoken of in Psalm 1 so that as we meditate on the law of the Lord day and night we become like trees planted by the river we become those who can say with the psalmist my My Flesh my heart may may fail but God is the portion of my heart forever [00:20:11]

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