Advent Words Day 8 ~ Savior

 

Day 8: Savior

“…while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13

“Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:11

The proclamation of the angels at Jesus birth is the promise of God fulfilled, the arrival of a Savior, one sent to bring God’s salvation.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.” 1 John 4:14

God’ purpose in sending His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to live as a human being, to spread God’s purpose and ways through His ministry, and ultimately, to die on the cross and rise again, was that He would be the Savior of the world.

His purpose was expressed in the name given to Him by God the Father.

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

 

The name Jesus in Greek is the translation of the Hebrew name Yeshua, which means “Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation”.  In His name is salvation. He is Savior.

Because He bears the name Savior, we call Him Lord and we, therefore, exalt His name.

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

    and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11

“…we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.” 1 Timothy 4:10

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Advent Words Day 7 ~ Glory

 

Day 7: Glory

“…the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…” Titus 2:13

Advent is a celebration of the incarnation of Christ and the anticipation of His Second Coming. He appeared the first time as God’s grace to mankind. Jesus, in his incarnation, made God’s glory visible.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

And just as Jesus promised, He will return. Authors Tom A. Jones & Steve D. Brown say in their book The Kingdom of God,

“He will return and bring all the fullness, all the wonder and all the glory of his Kingdom, his reign and his rule. And then it will be said, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15) “

Scripture tells us that this second appearing of Christ, the appearing of glory, will bring about a promise prophesied by Isaiah (Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22).

“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:13

“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:1-5

As we live as God’s holy people, trained by the grace of Jesus Christ to live godly lives, we eagerly await His future glory, as our motivation and our promise.

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Advent Words Day 6 ~ Hope

 

Day 6: Hope

“…while we wait for the blessed hope – “Titus 2:13

The traditional theme for the first week of Advent is hope. The season of Advent is about waiting, longing and hope. Just as the nation of Israel in the Old Testament waited and longed for the coming of the promised Messiah, we too, are in a period of waiting and longing ~ "we wait for the blessed hope" ~ the second coming of Christ.

Biblical hope is the assurance – the joyous expectation – of our future destiny. Hope is always the expectation of something good. Paul tells us in the letter to the Colossians that hope “is stored up for you in heaven”. (Colossians 1:5) This blessed hope includes all that goes with the gift of eternal life – God’s eternal presence, eternal glory, a resurrected body, eternal rewards.

We anticipate a time when we will see God more clearly. A time when we will be fully like the Son - pure and holy - fully transformed. This is our "inheritance kept in heaven" that "can never perish, spoil or fade". This is what we wait and long for. In this we greatly rejoice!

“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” 1 John 3:2-3

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3-5

For God's people, hope is a promise, not a wish. Hope helps us live now in expectation of a glorious future. Our hope is living because our hope is in the living God!

 

Paul shows us in Titus 2:13 that what we wait for is a person – “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ”, and in that person are all the promises of God. Augustine said, 

“Hope is that spiritual grace which sustains the heart until the promise is received.”

Hope is what enables us to wait.  We wait, living by grace, focused on glory.

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Advent Words Day 5 ~ Wait

 

Day 5: Wait

"...While we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ." Titus 2:13

While we wait…

Yesterday we looked at how God calls His people to live in this present age - we live for Christ. Notice that Paul says that we live "in this present age while we wait". The implication here is that waiting is a part of how we live when we live godly lives. Our waiting, while focused on the future appearing of the glory of the Lord, is not a passive waiting. While we wait, we live for Christ - imitating His sacrificial love and his way of life as His people.

The Greek word used for waiting has a sense of expectant or eager waiting. This word is a verb in Greek present tense. In Greek, present tense describes an action that is continuing or habitual and often describes a lifestyle. So, we live with a continual expectation of Christ's return. We are continually waiting; we have a lifestyle of waiting. The only way it is possible to live a life of continually waiting in expectation of Christ's return, is that we live with an eternal perspective.

In Philippians Paul reminds us that "our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ". (Philippians 3:20) We wait because our ultimate hope is beyond this world. If we stay focused only on what this world holds, only on the things we can see, then we will give up in despair. We will lose heart and fail to live as we are called to.

 Again, Paul calls us to live with an eternal perspective in his second letter to the Corinthians:

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Expectant waiting means we do so with our eyes fixed on eternity. We keep our eyes on God without losing sight of the fact that we live here on earth, in this present age. Our waiting is not to be passive, but active. While we wait with our eyes and our hearts set on eternity, we live with our hands active in the lives of those around us. We live in dependence upon God and obedience to Him.  This is Paul's challenge to us in Titus 2:11-14; to live in obedience now, while anticipating Christ's promised return. We don't wait for heaven to practice God's will; we pray for God's "kingdom to come and for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven". (Matthew 6:10) And we act. We live self-controlled, upright and godly lives as God's people who are eager to do what is good.

"While we wait with our eyes and our hearts set on eternity, we live with our hands active in the lives of those around us." 

"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him." 2 Peter 3:8-14

How do we "speed" the coming of the day we are waiting for? By living holy and godly lives that reveal the glory of the Lord, and by making relationships with those around us, serving them, that our holy living may enable them to come to repentance and faith in Christ. 

The Advent season serves to help us get in touch with our longing for Christ's return, reminding us that the One born to bring our salvation, calls us to live for Him, waiting expectantly for His return while living lives that glorify Him and call others to live for Him as well.

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Advent Words Day 4 ~ Present

 

Day 4: Present

"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…" Titus 2:11-12

 God's grace instructs us how to live in this present age, the age of grace in between the two Advents of Christ.

Christ appeared in grace to save us and to teach us how to live a new life. In this present age we live for Christ. Can I just tell you this has been a theme that has continually been popping up in my studies for the past year. Let me just share a few verses that just KEEP. POPPING. UP.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new is here!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

 "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Romans 6:4

 "For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:14-15.

·        Christ's love for us, demonstrated by his sacrificial love in which he died to save us from sin, is to be the compelling, motivating factor for us to live our lives for Him, not for ourselves.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

·        Our new life is empowered by the life of Christ in us, and enables us to live by faith and to die to the ways of the world - our former way of life. Paul says in Titus that we are able, by his grace, to learn how to say "No" to the ways of the world and "Yes" to the ways of Christ.

"For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living." Romans 14:7-9

"We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body." 2 Corinthians 4:10-11

·        We live the life of Christ through the power of the Spirit and that new life in us reveals the life of Christ through us!

 "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God." Romans 6:8-10

·        In our new life we imitate Christ, who lived His life for God. His life was dedicated to God's way of life, which we also are called to imitate:

 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." Ephesians 5:1-2

 "Live in order to please God…" 1 Thessalonians 4:1

 "So we make it our goal to please Him…" 2 Corinthians 5:9

Paul's letters are full of what it looks like to live for Christ, to live in step with the Holy Spirit, bearing His fruit, empowered by the life of Christ in us, revealing Christ's life in our attitudes and actions to the world around us.

This is how we are called to live in this present age while we wait for the blessed hope of Christ's return in glory - His Second Advent.

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