The beaming smile of gold-medal-winning Olympians on the podium is not the picture image immediately following the win. At that moment, they are physically spent, sweating, heart pounding, muscles all screaming in unison. They are simultaneously laughing with relief and crying from release of pent-up emotional energy. They’ve pushed and trained and dieted and ‘buffeted their bodies,’ all for this glorious moment. They’ve arrived. Hope has achieved, for them, a gold medal. And so it is for us. “Our hope [in Christ] is not a disappointing fantasy because we can now experience the endless love of God cascading into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us!” (Rom. 5:5, TPT).

1 Peter 1:1-16, TPT

1. vv. 1-4 – hope __________________________________________________!

2. vv. 5-9 – hope until _____________________________________________!

3. vv. 10-12 – hope in______________________________________________!

4. vv. 13-16 – hope of______________________________________________!

“ . . . hope is not simply a 'wish' - rather, it is that which latches on to the certainty of the promises of the future that God has made.”

R.C. Sproul