THE BLESSED HOPE

THE BLESSED HOPE"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13).

THE RETURN OF OUR BLESSED LORD is the joyous anticipation of the body of Christ. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:11-14).

GRACE HAS BROUGHT US SALVATION, and that salvation is not limited to this world and time. It begins with deliverance from sin. It will be consummated when Jesus returns. Grace brought us salvation, and grace effectively teaches us to prepare ourselves for the return of the Savior. It shows us how to avoid involvements associated with the curse. It also teaches us to live in consonance with God – "soberly, righteously, and godly" though in an alienated and cursed world.

HOWEVER, AVOIDING SIN AND BEING HOLY is not the conclusion of the matter. Under the old covenant, Solomon provided a summation of that economy. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Eccl 12:13). Nevertheless, this is not "the conclusion of the whole matter" now – not since Jesus died, arose, and ascended back to heaven. The "whole duty of man" from Solomon's perspective was to "Fear God, and keep His commandments." He does not include loving God, worshiping God, serving God, or believing on Christ. Eternity is not in His expression. It is not that Solomon was obtuse; he lived under an inferior covenant that did not have "better promises." In spite of this condition, I continue to hear a number of sermons on Solomon's sayings, when "a greater than Solomon" has spoken (Matt 12:42).

WE SHUN EVIL AND CLEAVE TO THE GOOD in expectation of the Lord's return; "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ." This is an anticipation blessed by God: a "BLESSED hope." It is expectation that rejoices the heart: a "blessed HOPE."

WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR A SECRET APPEARING, but a "glorious appearing." If God's glory could not be hidden at Sinai, what can be said of the greater glory of our Lord's return! The Word of God knows nothing of a unrevealed return of Christ. Such a thought is unacceptable, although men have attempted to sanctify it with complex, but uninspired, explanations of Scripture.

A "GLORIOUS APPEARING" is one that cannot be hidden. Jesus declared that unimaginable glory would attend His return. "For whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels" (Luke 9:26). How marvelous! His own glory! The glory of the Father! The glory of the holy angels! That is all the glory there is! How could something like that be hidden? The very thought is preposterous! And, we are looking for this unequaled revelation of divine glory. We are looking forward to the time when nothing about Jesus will be obscured; nothing about the Father will be hidden; nothing about the angels will be veiled.

THIS IS THE "BLESSED HOPE" OF THE CHURCH. Unity is not its hope! The evangelization of the world is not its hope! The salvaging of our nation is not its hope! The stabilization of the home is not its hope! All of these things are fine, and we are certainly not opposed to any of them. We are for them, and will exercise as much influence as we can to bring them to pass. Still, our hope is not in them! When we see a divided and fractured church, we still have a "blessed hope." When we see a world steeped in sin, we still have a "blessed hope." Even when we see our nation descending into a quagmire of iniquity, we still have a "blessed hope." We want our families to reflect the glory of the Lord. Yet if, after we have wholeheartedly devoted ourselves to the Lord, they do not, we still have a "blessed hope."

THE FULNESS OF SALVATION is not ours until it's Captain appears "without sin unto (in order to) salvation." Then we shall testify to an assembled universe "that He which hath begun a good work in" us did, indeed, "perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil 1:6). Any religious posture that does not ascribe preeminence to this consideration is your enemy! Do not allow yourself to be distracted from "the blessed hope," the return of your Lord.

– Given O. Blakely