After his son “relocated to Heaven” Pastor Steve Berger began to see a new perspective emerge… one of “living every day in the reality of heaven.” Read his enlightening post below. Listen to our chat on Bold Living, airing Saturdays at 11:05 AM MST on FaithTalk 1360 AM and you can find all shows on iTunes from my website. Comment to win Between Heaven and Earth.

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Living Hope

by Steve Berger

The resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees every believer resurrection to eternal life in heaven. As believers, this is our living hope.

The apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:3–4,

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.

Peter reminds us that because of Jesus’ resurrection, we have a living hope of experiencing a resurrected life in heaven. It comes with a great inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and unfading, and it’s reserved just for us! The words Peter uses are extremely important as we gain a deeper understanding of heaven’s real hope:

Incorruptible: This literally means “exempt from wear, waste, and final perishing.†There is nothing about our heavenly inheritance that withers, wears, or shrinks.

Undefiled: This means “unpolluted, unstained, undefiled by sin, sincere, and holy as being free from evil.†There is no residue of the curse in our heavenly inheritance.

Unfading: Our heavenly inheritance is not something beautiful that lasts only for a while and then fades. The Complete Word Study Dictionary says, “It is of unfailing loveliness, reserved for the faithful in heaven.†Our inheritance is perpetual.

Reserved: This means “particularly to watch, observe attentively, keep the eyes fixed upon. Figuratively, to obey, observe, fulfill a duty, precept, law or custom, to vigilantly watch.â€

Our inheritance is God is diligently and vigilantly watching over our heavenly inheritance. His eye is fixed upon it for us. The Almighty is guarding our eternal future.

We have a living hope that is far greater than any hope that we can find on this earth. When we look to the resurrection we have hope for today and tomorrow.

Peter continues just a few verses later in 1 Peter 1:13, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.â€

He starts with “therefore.†It brings together these four incredible words: incorruptible, undefiled, unfading, and reserved. Then He challenges us to get our heads—our thinking and our sight—right by being sober. He’s serious about this. He says, “Rest totally on the living hope of Jesus. Rest yourself fully in the grace of heaven that you are going to experience.â€

We have this incredible inheritance that is guarded by God, and that should give us tremendous hope. It’s not going anywhere; it’s reserved for us. We should rest on the hope of this inheritance, not in the circumstances of this world. We can’t rest our hope in our bank account or our jobs. They don’t pass the test—they are not incorruptible, undefiled, unfading, and reserved. If you rest your hope on anything of this world, you will be disappointed!

When we rest ourselves on this living hope, suddenly we’re more heavenly minded. No matter how crazy things get here on this little planet, we have a better, living hope. We have joy in that hope, and that hope anchors our souls. Our living hope is in heaven.