Set all your hope on the Grace that Jesus Christ will bring you

It all hinges on one word, ‘grace’.  Our hope hinges on that word, that which the Lord Jesus Christ brings hinges on that word.  When we are talking ‘grace’ in this context, we are not talking about the prayer offered before a meal.  We are not talking about the lady who tied years ago that sweet Aunt Bethany was thinking of in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. 

We are talking about something on which we are to place all our hope.  So, no pressure. 

What is the grace?  It is the salvation that is to be given to the readers, as prophesied by the prophets (vs. 10).  And what is salvation?  It is the outcome of their faith (vs. 9).  The result of faith is praise and glory and honor (vs. 7), when its genuineness is revealed through various trials (vs. 6).  And our faith is in a living hope, given to us as a new birth, through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead (vs. 3).

And while this is the promise of the afterlife, something great and powerful to look forward to, never get caught in the trap of thinking this is all we have for this life.  God poured His grace into this world through Jesus.  It is our calling to continue to establish that grace in this world.  From that work shall we receive our eternal reward.