3月31日 复活的希望
那叫主耶稣复活的，也必叫我们与耶稣一同复活，并且叫我们与你们一同站在他面前。——哥林多后书4：14
耶稣的复活带来盼望。已故的艾米尔 布鲁内尔（Emil Brunner）曾说过，“盼望对人生的意义，恰如氧气之于心肺”。人体器官正常运作有赖于氧气的供应，人类的生存也需要有盼望的支持。然而现代社会充斥着失望与绝望。彼得，这位曾经在各各他失去信心的使徒，在往后的日子却能自豪的说：“愿颂赞归于我们主耶稣基督的父上帝。他曾照自己的大怜悯，借耶稣基督从死里复活，重生了我们，叫我们有活泼的盼望。”（彼得前书1：3）
这是罪过得赎的盼望；是在失望中仍有喜乐、平安、信念、安全感的盼望；是圣经中应许基督将会再来的“有福的盼望”；是新天新地、天国终将来临的盼望。我们的这些盼望并不是出于我们自己的能力或功德，而是那复活的基督赐给我们的 。
每日祷告：
复活的救主耶稣，你是我的盼望！愿我心存你得胜的爱心，永不绝望。
March 31: The Hope of Resurrection
He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus . . .
—2 Corinthians 4:14
The resurrection of Christ brings hope. The late Emil Brunner once said, “What oxygen is for the lungs, such is hope for the meaning of human life.” As the human organism is dependent on a supply of oxygen, so humanity is dependent on its supply of hope. Yet today hopelessness and despair are everywhere. Peter, who himself was given to despair during the episode of Calvary, writes in a triumphant note, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
There is hope that mistakes and sins can be forgiven. There is hope that we can have joy, peace, assurance, and security in the midst of the despair of this age. There is hope that Christ is coming soon—this is what is called in Scripture “the blessed hope.” There is hope that there will come some day a new heaven and a new earth, and that the Kingdom of God will reign and triumph. Our hope is not in our own ability, or in our goodness, or in our physical strength. Our hope is instilled in us by the resurrection of Christ.
Prayer for the day:
My hope is in You, my resurrected Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! May I never despair, as I remember Your triumph and love.
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