1 Peter 1:3-12
Praise God for the Living Hope
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
John 3:1-8
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus about being Reborn
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c]must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
1 Corinthians 15:50-58
We Will Change in a Twinkling of an Eye
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
1 John 2:1-2
Jesus is Our Atoning Sacrifice for our Sins
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Let us praise God and our Lord Jesus Christ!... In God's great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...Our sins are forgiven...He has given us a hope that can never perish, spoil or fade...This hope and this inheritance of the future is kept in heaven for you...Through your faith, this hope is shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the end of times...In all this hope we can rejoice, though now for a little while in this life we may suffer grief and have differing trials...These trials have come so that they strengthen the genuineness of our faith...And remember our faith is of greater worth than gold...Your faith will be rewarded in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed to you in God's Kingdom...And though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy...For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls...
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to us, searched intently for this salvation with the greatest of care...The prophets always had in mind the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ would come, they predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that He would bring...It was revealed to the prophets that they were not serving themselves telling us about the One who was to come, when they spoke of the things that have now been told and have been seen...Jesus, the Messiah has preached the gospel to us by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven...Even angels long to look into these things...
Martin Luther said we will change and are always changing as we grow and age...“This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise...We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road...All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.”...
Jesus is our hope and He is our salvation...Our faith is of greater value than any gold as we are reborn...And being reborn means we will change...Because no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again...That which surrounds death is a mystery...For we will not all die, but we will all be changed...And in a flash, and in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, we will have changed...For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed...For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality...When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”...“Where, O death, is your victory?...Where, O death, is your sting?”...The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law...But thanks be to God!...He gives us the victory over death through our LORD Jesus Christ, who has taken up our sins...Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm...Let nothing move you...Always give yourselves fully to the work of the LORD, because you know that your labor in the LORD is not in vain...
We try to be just, be we are not just...We try to be good, but we are not good...We try not to sin, but we sin...But if anybody does sin, we have One who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One...