Day 7 - Week 29 - 1 Peter 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

"...a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."

Remember our verse several weeks ago, Romans 10:9, "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

There is something critically important about the resurrection of Jesus.  Our belief in His resurrection is stated as a requirement to our salvation, and Peter states that it is through the resurrection that we are given a new birth into a living hope.

Christ's resurrection sets Him apart from every other living being.  People saw Him physically die, His body was lain in the grave, and He arose!  Because of His resurrection, we know that we will follow Him into a resurrected life. 

John MacArthur states,

The resurrection is the pivot on which all of Christianity turns...Without the resurrection, Christianity would be so much wishful thinking, taking its place alongside all other human philosophy and religious speculation.

But instead of wishful thinking, we have living hope! 

On nights like tonight, when I'm wondering HOW in the world I have gotten a cold this early in the season, I thank God that I have the certainty of my own resurrection, to live with Him forever, where I will never be in need of a Kleenex or a decongestant!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

I love to sing His praises now, and I will love to sing them with the chorus of angels...for He alone is worthy!

Hallelujah and Amen!