We wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of
our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13)
Here is a clear
affirmation of Christ as God. True, the original New Testament Greek could
technically mean, ‘the appearing of our great God (the Father) and our Saviour
Jesus Christ’ – but nowhere in the New Testament is God the Father ever said to
‘appear.’ Every one of the ten
‘appearing’ references are of Jesus.
Certainly this is how the Greek church leaders of early Christian history
understood the passage – and I guess that their Greek was better than ours!
Actually the reference
HAS to be to Christ, because the sentence runs straight on to describe his
sacrificial death (v. 14).
So Jesus Christ, our
Saviour and our God, will ‘appear’ at the end of the age. He came first, in the
‘grace of God’ (v. 11), at Bethlehem. That first coming was humble, localised –
and witnessed only by a few. The Second Coming will be different. It will be
‘glorious’ and it will be universal.
You will witness it, whether or not you wish it. Think of it. Generals, dictators and terrorists
will all see the Coming. So will the stars of sports, screen and stage. So will
atheists, and devotees of every religion and belief-system going. And – whether
we wish it or not – we will bow to
His authority; either joyfully as one of ‘his very own’ (v.14) or in crushing
judgment that will consign us to outer darkness.
About the present
‘leasehold’ of humanity’s stay on earth, Stephen Neill has written, ‘We know,
without a shadow of doubt, that one day it will run out.’
Make the most of this day of choosing, and of ‘grace’ (v.
11). It won’t last for ever.
--ooOoo--
