THE BLESSED HOPE:

THE BLESSED HOPE: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” -Titus 2:13 KJV Paul didn’t tell believers to look for the Antichrist, the mark of the beast or the wrath of God. He told us to look for Jesus Christ. That expectation is called the blessed hope. The Greek word translated “looking” is prosdechomai. It means to wait for something with expectation, to welcome it and receive it. This isn’t passive curiosity about prophecy. It describes a believer living with the genuine expectation that Christ could come. The word “blessed” is makarios, meaning happy, favored or deeply fortunate. “Hope” is elpis, which doesn’t mean wishful thinking. Biblical hope is confident expectation based upon the promise and character of God. The blessed hope is the certainty that Jesus Christ is coming for His people. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout… and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.” -1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 KJV Paul describes the same event in 1 Corinthians 15. The dead are raised incorruptible, living believers are changed and mortality puts on immortality. Philippians 3 says Christ will change our vile body and fashion it like His glorious body. This is why His coming is blessed. We aren’t waiting for death, decay and sin to have the final word. We’re waiting for resurrection, transformation and reunion with Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13 also contains one of the clearest declarations of Christ’s deity in the New Testament. Paul calls Him: “The great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Jesus isn’t merely a prophet returning with God’s authority. He is the great God and Savior Himself. The context begins in verse 11: “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.” Grace saves us, then teaches us how to live while we wait. Verse 12 says we should deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, living soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. The blessed hope was never intended to make Christians careless. The expectation of Christ’s return should make us more faithful. We know this life is temporary, our labor for the Lord isn’t wasted and every believer will eventually stand before Christ. Paul continues in verse 14: “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Jesus died to redeem a people who belong to Him. He is coming back for the people He purchased with His own blood. The world isn’t our home. Our bodies won’t remain corruptible forever. The grave won’t keep those who died in Christ. One generation of believers will be alive when the trumpet sounds, and they will leave this earth without passing through death. That is our blessed hope. Not because we’re worthy of escape, but because Jesus Christ is faithful to His promise. He saved us by grace, sealed us with His Spirit and will return to receive us unto Himself. “Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” -Revelation 22:20 KJV #MoreJoyMinistries