It is easy, in our world, to undervalue and under-appreciate our faith.  When we are offered so many other pseudo-promises that capture our excitement and anticipation we often fail to truly treasure the greatest gift offered.  Yet it is our hope in God that will determine how we live here and now. 

Observations:
Paul’s prayer request is for the dimensionality of the resurrection: past, present, and future

1. The hope of resurrection is the central hope of Christianity
2. The hope of resurrection is assured
3. The hope of resurrection begins on earth
4. The hope of resurrection is focused on Jesus
5. The hope of resurrection is matched only by the ascension of Jesus
6. The hope of resurrection is the anchor of our faith in Jesus and love for one another

Conclusion:
By Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, God has strengthened us with power for our present transformation through the hope of our future transformation 

Application:
God’s desire for you is to be strengthened in your Christian walk by following Jesus 

1. Starts with having your eyes opened – Believe 
2. Tune-in to the Holy Spirit’s leading
   1. Are my hopes focused on earth or heaven? 
   2. Is my mind transformed by love in what I love and how I love? 
   3. Do I regularly rely on the Spirit’s power for change in my life? 
   4. Do my actions show that I’m seeking to know Jesus more?

Hebrews 1:1

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 

Colossians 2:13; 3:1

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.”
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”

Ephesians 2:4-6

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”

1 Corinthians 15:53-57

“For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Psalm 73:25

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.”

Matthew 6:19-20

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

2 Corinthians 5:16

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.”

Philippians 3:10-11

“My aim is to know Christ, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Philippians 3:7-8

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.”