Titus 2 11
Grace that changes lives - Titus 2:11-15
wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. Isaiah 1:16-17
How relevant is the stuff we look at on a Sunday morning? How relevant is Jesus Christ to our world today? I am convinced that the Word is totally relevant for us, for each of us, the babe on the bottle to the eldest in our midst. Remember vv 9-10. On to 11-15.
Two sides of two sides – like the Isaiah passage. Stop and start – 201 principle – the way to deal with a bad habit is replace it with a good one – Jesus comment about the unoccupied house. Houses don’t stay empty – neither do lives.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men - For refers us back to the behaviors and character issues – here is the why and the how behind the life changes described and the results from them – that the Word would be honored, the critics silenced, and the saving nature of the gospel demonstrated in our lives. Here is the base on which healthy lives and relationships are built.
There has been an epiphany, a revealing.. The pivotal event of history of the universe had occurred. In less that 40 years, the very fabric of space time had been transformed, the creator had entered His creation; not as the destroyer, but as the redeemer. Grace had been set loose in the physical realms. It did not come as a philosophical construct from the great minds of the greeks, nor as a political force through the Romans. This cosmos transforming power was not manifested through the spiritual contemplation and depth of the Orient, nor through the natural mysticism of the Native American peoples. The Shamans did not reveal it, the powerful empires of Africa did not encompass it.
Every man and woman, every child, from the first parent of the races to the final person to be born on this planet stood afflicted by a terminal illness. More virulent than Nile fever, more deadly than Ebola, more insidious than AIDS, this horror is sin.
God’s solution is Grace, the good news of the birth and life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, of his substitution for us, taking our place in death, bearing our penalty, becoming our lifesaver. He does not just bear the penalty, but grace goes beyond that; becoming our tutor and instructor as well in living a life beyond anything we could hope for complete with a support person who never puts us on hold, who always has our best at heart, who cannot be stumped by a problem or situation – the Holy Spirit.
, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires - The negative – to deny or disown – that which is not of God or denies God and that which is of the world. I disown these. I disown, and am not owned, by the things of the world. Penthouse Trump’s son showed – 1,000,000 for a one bedroom. Comment on the radio about the acquisitiveness of Hollywood culture. Worldly desires, lusts. Anything that will not pass into eternity - Chrysostom. Another definition – things we would not show Jesus. But we do, for we are the temple – things you would not bring to church?
and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, The positive – sensibly – self control, righteously – upright – right relationships, Godly – reverent – God aware
looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, The focus – on the return of the Lord – a heavenly eternal perspective – seeing things as they are from God’s perspective. Again, what will stand the presence of Jesus? I am to measure things and hold things up to the reality of the coming of the Lord. This changes the way things look! When you are a Christ follower you have a secure and everlasting future – a hope guaranteed by a policy underwritten by the sovereign King of creation. Not a policy on paper but one in a person who is coming back and will appear to all on the planet. How relevant is all this? Does it apply today?
Who has seen God turn them from substance abuse to a healthier life? Who has seen their marriage restored? Who has seen their life filled and complete even though they were good folks? Good people need Jesus too! Who has found healing in body or mind or heart? Who has been given the hope and courage to go through the dark times of life, even when they last for years? Who has stood before the grave of a loved one and even though there is sorrow and pain at the loss, known that those whose life belongs to God will one day return with Jesus, vibrant and alive forever? This stuff was relevant to life in ancient times, it is relevant to life today, and it will be relevant to life in eternity as we remember and rejoice in all God has done for humanity and for all creation.
Why did God do it, why does he love us so, why does he continue to tolerate the world as it is? Look at verse 14 – first to redeem, then to purify, then to impassion – zealous for good deeds. Not just nice, but zealous – Healthy people, healthy relationships, healthy churches reproducing health in their spheres of influence. The opposite of cancer – total health! Old Dude running on the beach.
who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify
Again the two sides, negative and positive – bought back and cleaned up first – Only Jesus can do these two things – again we cooperate, we are to cleanse ourselves and stop, but apart from him it is impossible. Abide in the vine.
for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Titus 2:11-15
It is for Himself that God is doing this – that we would be his own special possession – set apart for the Kings use. The Big chair in some churches. The front seat. The best stuff. He wants to turn us into that. And it is internal – the iceberg again. Grace does all this. Devil’s trap – try to get us to focus on the failures, then to give up in despair – God wants to purify us completely – and to do so He has to let us see old stuff still there.
God is out to heal us completely, to purify us totally, to set us absolutely free. The People of God, fulfilling the plan and will of God, all for the glory of God!
Invitation.
