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 . . .” 1 Peter 1:3 NKJV

Jesus told a group of religious leaders, who sought to kill Him, that searching the Scriptures for eternal life, apart from coming to the Author of the Scriptures (Jesus) would be futile (John 5:39, 40).  You don’t find life in the dead letter of the Scriptures: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:6). So, before you come to the Scriptures, you need to first come to the Author of the Scriptures and acknowledge that Jesus died and rose again for you to be a son of God (Rom. 8:17), and God as revealed in Christ is the only place where you’ll find life (John 10:10; 14:6). It is your birthright to know and experience and live out this truth that you are born again to a living hope.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). To be born again to a living hope is not just an improvement of your old self–—it is a transformation of your life. You see, the Gospel teaches replacement, i.e., a shift to a new identity. You become a new creation who is capable of doing new, different, and better things; and, you find that new person only in Christ Jesus.

In order to become a new creature, you must be willing to die to your present identity. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6). Thus, you must die to your old identity and be resurrected to a new identity.  You are born again to a “living hope” by the incorruptible Word of God (1 Peter 1:23). The incorruptible Word helps you to release the old identity and be born again. Being born again produces in you a living hope—a hope that is alive—alive with God’s life—a hope that sees all things working together for your good.

As the Apostle Peter stated in the above text, being born again imparts hope for this present dimension here on earth (John 3:3, 5, 12). You’re born again not to go to heaven, but to a living hope—a hope to live by here on earth. Your hope is based on that which was always so in the kingdom of heaven, which can now be manifested in the earthly realm of your experience (Matt. 6:10).  A living hope is for now—not for heaven (Ps. 27:13). You are born again to a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!