Advent: The Gift of Hope
Titus
2:11-15
Introduction: The festival of lights began to beautify our town
even before Thanksgiving! The Gardens
are spectacular, many businesses and homes have joined in, and if you’ve driven
by after 4 pm I’m sure you’ve noticed that even our church is shining brightly
thanks to the hard work of some volunteers! For many people this season is a time for adorning
the house and decorating the carefully selected tree with the symbols that are
associated with Advent. Those
traditions are fine, as long as we maintain our focus on the One who is the
reason for the season. As Jesus was doing miracles of healing in Matthew
12, the gospel writer says His actions were in fulfillment of the prophecies of
a “Servant” in Isaiah 42:1-4. He concludes the quotation by saying “In His name the nations will put
their hope” (Mt 12:21). Jesus came in fulfillment of the Old Testament
messianic hope, to give hope to all who would believe. In our
context, post cross and resurrection, we live with the sure hope of His return.
This
week as we celebrate the “Gift of Hope” we turn to a passage in Paul’s letter
to Titus and we are reminded that sound doctrine, right teaching of God’s word,
is something that we can adorn, it is visible as it impacts us and changes us, it
gives us hope, while also revealing the beauty of the Gospel to those
around us: “…in
everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior…” (Titus
2:10b). Some translations say, “make
attractive” the teaching. As surely as lights can beautify our town, God’s
truth can beautify our lives. When people see that we have hope in the midst
of this chaotic world it gets their attention because “hope” is something
everyone desperately longs for.
There is much uncertainty in the world
today, division in our country, in our cities, even among believers. When we
get back to our series in I Peter in January, we’ll be reminded that we are in
a spiritual battle, and “…our adversary,
the devil, goes about as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” Our
hope is not in a human leader or in a political party. People are fallible,
they will disappoint us. We have a sure hope that is based on the truth that
Jesus Christ has defeated death, he knows us, and one day we will see Him face
to face. Hope means to anticipate something with a confident expectation that
it is coming. We find comfort in the promise that the suffering of this present
age is not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us (Rom
8:18). It seems that Paul is saying that as we live in submission to God’s
revealed truth we reveal the intrinsic beauty of who God is, and what he has
done in us and for us. For Paul, theology is always practical and it must
filter from our mind to our heart, to our hands and our feet. The truth He has
revealed empowers and motivates us to live by faith.
The Maine*
Idea: The first coming of Jesus revealed God’s grace and
motivates us to live faithfully, proclaiming the truth, in the sure hope of His
return.
I. The Gift of Christ offers hope for humanity: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
salvation for all people…” (11).
Grace has appeared, because the
grace-giver, the gracious redeemer, burst upon the stage of human history 2000
years ago. Grace has appeared since He came of his own free will, with a
purpose, to give himself to provide salvation for all who would believe. We are so familiar with the story we can
almost forget how astounding it is in the way that it unfolded. After 400
years of silence, the God of all creation, the Lord of the universe who spoke
in times past through the prophets, spoke in His Son. He himself came as one of us. He humbled
himself, taking the form of a servant and being made in the likeness of men. The
Jewish people of the first century had a hope based on Scripture: one day the
Messiah would arrive and bring salvation to His people. Contrary to expectations
he came under the humblest circumstances not to defeat armies and establish His
earthly kingdom, but rather to make a way for forgiveness and life. He provided
the Way, the only Way, for sinful humans to be reconciled to a holy God. That
is the gift that gives hope!
In his letter to Titus Paul goes on
to say that grace appeared, “…bringing salvation
for all people…” Not to say that all people would be saved, but that the
price has been paid and the gift has been offered, the One Way of salvation
through faith in Christ has been extended to all classes of people, to all races
and nations. Paul had just been talking
to masters and servants, to husbands and wives, to young and old, telling them
to walk worthy of their calling in Christ. Jesus is the one and only source of
forgiveness and life, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the only name under
heaven by which we can be saved (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). The first coming of Jesus revealed God’s
grace and motivates us to live faithfully, proclaiming the truth, in the sure
hope of His glorious return. The Gift of Christ means hope for humanity, and…
II.
The Gift of Hope calls us to live differently, understanding we are
pilgrims: “…training us to renounce ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the
present age…” (12).
First of all, we are to live
differently in terms of what we don’t do: “…teaching
us to renounce ungodliness and worldly lusts…” Sin is a choice.
So is obedience. Our hope in Christ transforms our thinking,
it is something that motivates us to live more and more in the light of
eternity. This week someone put on
Facebook a quote from C.S. Lewis:
"All these toys were never intended to
possess my heart. My true good is in another world, and my only real treasure
is Christ."
I love
that! Increasingly our forward focus on Jesus and on what He has prepared for
us will enable us to say no to sin. Paul said in another letter:
“I have been
crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me.
And the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me…” (Gal 2:20).
Positively, we are called to live in a way
that manifests the fruit of the Spirit, the presence of God in our lives: “…we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly in the present age…” Did you know that you are living, already, in
the future? We are living in this world, but we are citizens of heaven. We
walk in this present age, but we already are partakers of the age to come. As
Paul told the Colossians “He has
delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of
his beloved Son…” (Col 1:13). Even so, God saved us and left us in this
fallen world. He gave us a mission. Like the man from whom the legion of
demons had been cast, who wanted to go with Jesus, he saved us and told us, “Go
back to your people (your oikos) and tell them what great things God has
done for you!” We have a mission! And so the first coming of Jesus revealed
God’s grace and motivates us to live faithfully, proclaiming the truth, in the
sure hope of His return. So, because of
our hope in Jesus we live differently and we live expectantly.
III. The Gift of Hope calls us to live expectantly… “…waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing
of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…” (13),
Hope involves waiting confidently,
expectantly. The word “hope” usually has
a different connotation in English, it’s something we desire or want or long
for, but we don’t necessarily expect it to happen. “I hope it’s nice out this afternoon.” Maybe yes, maybe no, we don’t really know. We
“hope” it will, but there may be doubt, in fact, our “hope” might be no more
than wishful thinking! One child said,
“Hope is wishing for something you know ain’t gonna happen.” Well biblical “hope” implies anticipation,
confidence, faith, based on God’s revealed Word, an assurance that God is good,
and a sure expectation that God’s story is going to unfold according to His
plan. So we “hope,” we wait expectantly.
Waiting for what? The first
coming of Christ revealed grace, God’s unmerited favor, and provided the
basis of God’s gracious salvation through the Cross. That was hinted at in the
humble circumstances of his incarnation. A stable, animals, a feeding bin for
his bed. His second coming will reveal more fully his unveiled glory. We
see a glimpse of His glory now, but wait until we see what John saw in
Revelation 1:13-18,
“…and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like
the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the
chest with a golden band. 14
His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a
flame of fire; 15 His feet
were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of
many waters; 16 He had in His
right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His
countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 And when I saw Him, I fell at
His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not
be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18
"I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.
Amen.”
Waiting for who? The language
here is quite emphatic, “…our Great God
and Savior, Jesus Christ…” He is our Savior. Because of Him we have hope.
He is God, so our hope is sure. Think of that: The first coming of Jesus
revealed God’s grace and motivates us to live faithfully, bearing witness to
the truth, in the sure hope of His return.
IV. The Gift of Hope was costly and purposeful
(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.”
Christmas is a time for giving, but there is
no doubt that the true gift of Christmas was presented 2000 years ago. It was
presented not under a tree, but hung on a tree. He “gave himself for us,” that not only means
that He came for us, but specifically that he came to die for us.
He gave himself to redeem us from
the penalty of sin. “Redeem” is from lutroo,
“free by paying a ransom.” We were guilty, condemned sinners, unable to
free ourselves. There is the famous
story of A.J.
Gordon...
“One day he met a young
boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds
fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, "Son, where did you get those
birds?" The boy replied, "I trapped them out in the field."
"What are you going to do with them?" "I’m going to play with
them, and then I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home."
When Gordon offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed, "Mister, you don’t
want them, they’re just little old wild birds and can’t sing very well."
Gordon replied, "I’ll give
you $2 for the cage and the birds." "Okay, it’s a deal, but you’re
making a bad bargain." The exchange was made and the boy went away
whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the
church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue.”
That’s redemption. Jesus did that for
us. The wages of sin is death. That is what we deserved. Jesus paid the price
that we couldn’t pay. He did what we
could not do for ourselves. He set us free from the bondage of sin. He who was
without sin, was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God
in Him. The Gift of Hope was costly, it was also purposeful.
He gave himself to make possible a
new life, to give us a new heart. It is stated beautifully in Ezekiel 36:25-27,
“I will
sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean... 26 And I will give you a new
heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of
stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within
you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”
For
that hope to be ours, a price had to be paid. Jesus, the Son, came to be the
Lamb who would take away sin (cf. Eph 2:8-10).
That grace was revealed in the first coming of Jesus and motivates us to
live faithfully in this fallen world, proclaiming the truth, in the sure hope
of His return. Hope was costly, and purposeful, and motivates us to serve Him…
V. The Gift of Hope engages us in mission: “Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with
all authority. Let no one disregard you…” (Titus 2:15).
Paul admonished Titus to declare the
truth, to speak about the hope we have in Christ, not apologetically, but
confidently. It was a mission that Paul himself embraced and lived, and it was
something that he expected to see in his disciples, men like Timothy and Titus. We too are called to be his witnesses, to
boldly stand up for Christ and to speak the truth in love, with passion and
conviction. One of the key themes we are focusing on in our current Sunday
School series is that fact that we are all called to be His witnesses. As
Herb Mullen reminds us, “God chose you on purpose for a purpose.” To have a part in His mission in the world!
God, in his
providence, has placed you exactly where you are. And he has placed a group of
people on the “front burner” of your life: men, women, children some of whom
don’t know Him, some who desperately need hope. Have you looked for
opportunities to share that message of Hope with those in your sphere of
influence? The call to share the message of hope that Jesus offers is the ongoing
mission of the church. Look around, the fields are white for the harvest. We
are surrounded by people who have no hope, they desperately need Jesus. At this
time of the year people are perhaps more open to hear what we have to say about
the One who gave himself to give us hope.
What is God saying to me in this passage? The first coming of Jesus revealed God’s
grace and motivates us to live faithfully, proclaiming the truth, in the sure
hope of His return.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? As we enter the Advent season this year may I
ask you, do you have hope? I don’t mean wishful thinking or denial, but real
hope, firmly grounded in the truth that God became a man, He lived among us, He
bore our sins on the tree, He rose from the grave and He will return? If you
are unsure about where you stand with Jesus, there is no need to doubt.
The gift of Christmas has been
purchased: salvation, life, a sure hope for tomorrow. Jesus didn’t brave the lines on Black
Friday to buy some Christmas presents, He bore the Cross on Good Friday to
purchase the gift of life and hope. But like any gift, it must be received.
The Scripture says, whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have
everlasting life, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Have you received the Gift of Advent,
Jesus? Do you believe that He died for
your sins on the cross, was buried, and rose again the third day? Then express
your trust and thanks to Him with a prayer like this (God is more interested in
your heart attitude than the exact words you use): “God, I know that I am a
sinner, I constantly choose to do things my way rather than seeking you, please
forgive me. I believe that Jesus died for me on the cross and was raised again
the third day. I turn from my sin and I turn to you, I put my trust in Jesus
and what He has done for me. I receive Him now as the Savior and Lord of my
life. Amen.” If that is truly the prayer
of your heart you have just received the greatest Christmas gift ever: Life and
Hope in Jesus!
For you who know Him, who have received
forgiveness by grace through faith, may God open our hearts, may we be moved
with compassion, ready always to give a reason for the hope that we have in
Him. People all around us, those we cross
paths with every day, desperately need hope. Seize opportunities this month to point
others to Him. Amen.
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