The Blessed Hope

“The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:11-13).

My head may be filled with prophecy, and I may think and say that I am “looking for that blessed hope,” but unless divine grace is teaching me to deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts” and to “live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world,” then I am deceiving myself. Make no mistake on this point. To be truly “looking for that blessed hope” is a spiritual attitude—it is the longing of those whose hearts are right with God.

Now our “hope” is something more than a future event; it is more than the next item on God’s prophetic program. It is something more than a place in which we are going to spend eternity. The Christian’s hope is a Person. Have you noticed how prominently and emphatically that fact is presented in the Scriptures?

• “I will come again and will take you to Myself” (John 14:3).
• “We await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).
• “Serve the living and true God, and … wait for His Son from Heaven” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).
• “The coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:8).

Our focus should not be, “The great Tribulation draws near,” nor “the Millennium draws near,” nor even “the Rapture draws near.” Rather, our hearts should be occupied with His own blessed Person. The “blessed hope” for which the Christian is to be looking and longing, is not an event, but a Person—Christ Himself. He alone is our peace (Ephesians 2:14), our life (Colossians 3:4), and our hope (1 Timothy 1:1).

“Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

—Arthur Pink, condensed