Resurrection Faith and Hope  © 2016 WF Cobb Truthbase.net DailyTruthbase.Blogspot.com

1Pt 1:17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you

Isa 53:5 He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all....10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,  and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life to death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many,  and made intercession for the transgressors. 

2Pt 1:16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private imagination NET, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man/human impulse NET, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Dan 7:9-14; 9:24 Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city: to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up/fulfill vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy  

25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the Prince, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.   26a After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. 

26b The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple  he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him   dailytruthbase.blogspot.com/2012/04/daniel-8-9-seventy-sevens.html

A.D. 64 Roman historian Tacitus: Nero fastened the guilt . . . on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of . . . Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome. . . .   https://bible.org/article/ancient-evidence-jesus-non-christian-sources

A.D. 112 Pliny asks Trajan about this issue because a great multitude of every age, class, and sex stood accused of Christianity.

They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god, and bound themselves by a solemn oath, not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to partake of food--but food of an ordinary and innocent kind

<AD 100 Josephus, Jewish Historian: About this time there lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one ought to call him a man. For he... wrought surprising feats.. . He was the Christ. When Pilate...condemned him to be crucified, those who had...come to love him did not give up their affection for him. On the third day he appeared...restored to life...And the tribe of Christians...has...not disappeared 

21 who thru Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 

22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth thru the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 24 because "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, 25 But the word of the LORD endures forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

Questions for Reflection/Discussion/Response:

1. Where do you get your ideas about the future, what happens when you die, the purpose and meaning of life? Natural or Supernatural?

2. What's the basis of your faith/hope? What's the Biblical difference between faith and hope? In what is your faith? For what do you hope? 

3. Who do you love and why? Is your love pure or selfish? How does one get a pure heart and sincere love?

4. How does your religious practice compare with that of the early Christians? Would you ever be accused of Christianity? Who would know?

5. How do the historical facts of the prophecies, death, and resurrection of Christ influence your values and everyday decisions/actions?