Our Blessed Hope

Advent 2022  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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An exposition of who/what our blessed hope is.

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“No Hope”

It would be a tremendous burden to journey through life without hope; and even worse to die in that state.
Archaeologists have dug up first century cemeteries in Greece and Rome and have found many tomb stones that bear the Greek or Latin inscription for “No hope.”
Imagine living your entire life with no hope! Imagine going to your death, to that eternal night, hopeless!
In contrast, Christianity offers the world something completely different. Christians are people that adopt the statement: “There’s always hope.” I’ve talked to several Christians over the years and one of the things I hear from those who’ve gone through hard times is “I don’t see how I would make it without the Lord. I don’t see how others make it without Him. “
One definition of hope is “a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain think to happen.” A simple Christian definition is “faith applied to the future.” It goes without saying that Christians should be some of the most optimistic people in the world.
Because our hope is established on a person, Jesus Christ, who is described in Isaiah 9:6
Isaiah 9:6 ESV
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
In our passage, the apostle Paul writes his good friend Titus of how he should conclude his ministry on the island of Crete. Titus had accompanied Paul on his second and third missionary journeys and part of his fourth. He was a close confidant of Paul’s.
According to one commentator, Titus was called by Paul
“...to complete the organization of the churches, to deal with false teachers, and to give instruction to the churches on proper conduct.” (New Geneva Study Bible, 1925).
And that behavior and witness among God’s people must be honorable; different than those living according to the culture’s ethics and practices. Because if our behavior is not honorable, then will not follow Christ.
Our behavior and witness is important for it reflects our faith, hope and love. First, let us consider...

We are people of hope because of what God has brought to us in Christ.

Titus 2:11 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people...”
Grace here, is God’s unmerited favor, found in the person of Jesus Christ. The verb is epifainw, where we get the word “ephipany,” references Jesus’ appearing.
The “all men” is used here to represent human beings without distinction: men, women, boys and girls, regardless of race, ethnicity, background or social status. Christ came for the nations. He is God’s gift to the world. Jesus said in Matthew 24:14:
Matthew 24:14 ESV
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
And the evidence of that salvation appearing in a person’s life is his/her response to the gospel, and an undergoing of training; a transformation where one is weaned from a worldly way of living to a different mindset; to a life that is evidenced by self control and godliness. This is why Paul writes in 2:12:
“…training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age… .”
In other words, people in the world must look at our lives and see something different: a different motivation for living; a different vision for our lives and a reason for our existence. Instead being being ‘without hope,” we are some of the most hopeful people in the world.
But this is due to a certain type of training. The New King James version labels it “teaching.” It is the Greek word paid-eu-o which implies discipline and education. We get our word pedantic from it. It is the work of the Spirit.
In my younger years, when I would get out of line or exhibit some unfavorable behavior around my mother, she would say: “I didn’t raise you like that.” It was a reminder of the discipline I received because I was raised by John and Diane McKinley.
The Holy Spirit is your trainer, whose work reflects a change of will, an education and a transformation brought about by God’s grace in Christ. Christians are not perfect, but they are different.
And part of the reason for this difference is because of anticipation...

We live with expectation of something glorious.

Notice Titus 2:13:
13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”
As a Christian, your hope can be full and overflowing. It is centered on the event that will come and the end of the present age, “...the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Here, Alan Nute points out that both adjectives apply to Jesus, rather than to God the Father and God the Son:
“No where else in the New Testament is God the Father said to appear, nor is the adjective great used of Him. The most convincing argument, however, is the presence of only one definite article which has the effect of binding together the two titles.” (Alan Nute, “The Letter to Titus,” A New Testament Commentary, 528)
Another commentator states: “This is one of the clearest affirmations in the New Testament of the deity of Christ.” It is much like what Thomas said when the risen Christ appeared to the disciples in the upper room and called His friend over to Himself to place his hands in his wounds. At this Thomas responded: “My Lord and my God.”
Noteworthy is that the change that Paul speaks of, is what he underwent. Remember that this is Paul, the member of the Sanhedrin, the consummate Pharisee, who held the coats for those who stoned Stephen; who once imprisoned Christians, is now calling Jesus: “Our great God and Savior,” who will one day return and deliver us from this world to be at the Lord’s side.
The surest thing that awaits this world is the return of Christ. The Apostle’s Creed teaches us that Jesus will one day: “come to judge the quick and the dead.” And the Nicene Creed, which teaches: “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and His kingdom will have no end.”
And when He does, there will be two types of people: Those who are happy and overjoyed to see Him and those who are regretful and overwhelmed at seeing Him. Regarding the latter group, John wrote in Revelation 1:7 (ESV)
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”
Notice the verbs associated with Christ- what He has done for us:
He gave Himself for us; (speaking of His death on the cross)
to redeem us from all lawlessness; A term describing our being purchased from the power of the devil and sin’s control.
and to purify for himself a people for His own possession. This was a title reserved for God’s people in the Old Testament, is now applied to Christians.
Psalm 130:7–8 ESV
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
It reminds us that Christ’s work is a rescuing work, resulting in a genuine spiritual work in the heart and bringing about transformation, based upon His precious sacrifice. And this, makes us hopeful.
Michael Horton writes:
“We say, ‘I am not entitled to believe whatever I want or live however I want. I am not my own, but I belong to God. He made me and he redeemed me.’ Every genuine Christian has made that decisive U-turn. No true believer says, ‘I accept Jesus as my Savior, but I’ve decide to stay on the path that leads to destruction.’ It’s a contradiction.” (Horton, Recovering Our Sanity, 31)
John Calvin states:
“There is nothing that ought to render us more active or cheerful in doing good than the hope of the future resurrection; and secondly, that believers ought always to have their eyes fixed on it, they they may not grow weary in the right course; for if we do not wholly depend upon it, we shall continually be carried away to the vanities of the world.” (John Calvin, The Epistle to Titus, trans. William Prengle, 321-322).
In other words, we must keep our eyes on the prize.

A place appropriately named...

One of the early explorers of South Africa’s ocean waters, Bartholomew Dias, went around a cape on a stormy sea in 1488. His ship threatened to go to pieces, so he called the place the Cape of Storms.
But Vasco da Gama, who came a few years later in 1497, changed the name to the Cape of Good Hope, for he saw ahead of him the jewels and treasures of India.
You can call this a life of storms if you wish. But if you can see the glorious redemption of eternity ahead of you, you can call it what it is only in Christ—a life of good hope.
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