Section
Five: The Exalted Son of God
Lesson
Ten
Lesson
Title: The Coming King
Text: Titus 2: 13, ‘Looking for
that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ;’
Introduction: Looking for the appearing of the Great
God. The hope of the believer is
the glorious appearing of Jesus.
Paul firmly declares the deity of Christ when he writes ’the Great God
and our Saviour Jesus Christ’ (Titus 2:13).
Paul is saying our Saviour Jesus Christ is the Great God
who will return again. Not this
time as a babe in a manger but as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
1) It is
the Lord Himself who will return. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 'For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: 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, to
meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.'
We shall be caught up in the clouds to be
with Him.
2)
When we see Him as He is then we shall be
changed into His likeness. 1 John 3:2 'Beloved, now are we the sons of God,
and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall
appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.'
His life is in us and when the Lord
returns His body, the Church, will be changed to be like Him.
The outward body will be changed into His
likeness, and sin will no longer have any association with us. No longer sinners but saved by grace.
3) When
we have this hope in us then we will keep ourselves from sin. 1 John 3: 3
'And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is
pure.'
The
blessed hope of His appearing will keep us from sin.
It is
the armour of the believer, the helmet of the hope of salvation. 1 Thessalonians 5:8
'But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of
faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.'
Introductory
Illustration: Royal
Wedding.
Wedding of a prince with his bride.
Joyous occasion.
Many people gather to see the royal couple.
Great national pride.
Great pomp ceremony that reflects the status of the
kingdom.
Main
Points:
1.
The great occasion - His appearing.
The time when the King of Kings, the Son of God returns for
His Church.
Everyone is invited but only the redeemed will be
there.
a)
When Jesus returns His glory will be
revealed. 1 Timothy 6:13-16 ‘I give
thee charge in the sight of God, who quickens all things, and before Christ
Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That you keep
this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ: Which in his times
he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and
Lord of lords; Who only has immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can
approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power
everlasting. Amen.
The word 'appearing'
is the Greek word 'epiphaneia' which literally means 'shining upon'.
The same word is
translated brightness in 2 Thessalonians 2:8 'And then shall that Wicked be
revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall
destroy with the brightness of his coming:' This
describes how the Lord will destroy the man of sin (2 Thessalonians 2:3) - by His word and His appearing.
In Him is that light
which no man can see.
His glory is
brighter than the sun. If we keep looking at the sun in its strength we will
soon be blinded because of the brightness. If we were able to approach the sun the heat would soon
destroy us.
Jesus is the eternal
God. No man can see God and live.
b)
When He returns we shall see Him.
We shall be changed
into His likeness, and we will have a body capable of beholding Him in His
glory (1 John 3:2).
The Psalmist wrote,
'As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when
I awake, with thy likeness.' (Psalm 17:15)
c)
The coming of the Lord is also described
by the Greek word 'apokalupsIs' which literally means the unveiling. 1 Corinthians 1:7b
'…waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:'
When the Son of God came the first time His glory was veiled. But at His Second Coming His glory will be fully revealed.
The Apostle John
knew the Lord - he had his head on His chest at the Last Supper. When He saw
the glorified Christ on Patmos he fell at His feet as dead, Revelation 1:17a 'And when I saw him, I fell at his feet
as dead.' Even on Patmos His glory was not fully revealed. But when Jesus returns His glory will
be revealed.
d) His
coming (Greek 'parousia')
will shine from the east to the west as lightning. Matthew 24:27 'For as the lightning comes out of the
east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man
be.'
Jesus said that an evil and adulterous generation seeks a
sign (Matthew
12:39) but when Jesus comes again the sign of who He is will
be given. Matthew 24:30 'And then shall appear
the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven
with power and great glory.'
2.
The higher standard - living as children
of the King.
Illustration:
A person who
is brought into the royal family through marriage is expected to maintain the
standards of royalty.
Even before the marriage, once the betrothal has been made
the person who will become a part of the royal family must be more careful than
an ordinary citizen.
Behaviour that is acceptable for ordinary people is not
acceptable for royalty.
It is out of character for a prince or princess to act 'the
fool’.
Humour must be handled carefully. Words must be used with discretion, and actions need to be
carried out with wisdom.
He or she must be extremely careful in what they do and say
because of the importance of the status of royalty.
We must daily live in the knowledge that Jesus is God and will
one day return for His people.
The people of God must be careful to live right because
they represent the King of Kings.
We must live as children of God. Living for His glory.
The knowledge of who we
are and that the Lord will soon return should make us careful in how we live
everyday. 1
Thessalonians 5:8 But let us, who
are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for
an helmet, the hope of salvation.
a) Good works that glorify the
Lord. Matthew 5:16 Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven.
b)
Holiness, righteousness, clean and pure,
doing all things diligently for His glory.
This is not legalism it is being careful
to glorify the Lord. Ephesians 4:17 'This I
say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,'
c) We must be ready for His coming because we will give an
account of our lives. This is not
a judgment of condemnation but a judgment of reward.
We have a
responsibility to use the gifts the Lord has given us for His glory.
The Bible says we
will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). The Lord will come at time we do not
expect. What we do every moment of
the day matters.
The parable of the wise and foolish virgins, Matthew 25:1-13.
The wise virgins
had oil in their lamps. They were
watching for the coming of the bridegroom.
They could all trim
their lamps - this is man's work.
But the oil had to be bought.
The oil is free to us but the cost was not cheap. It cost the life of the Son of God.
The oil of the Holy
Spirit is new life in Christ.
This is received through repentance and faith.
We must know for certain
that we are born again of the Spirit of God (John 3:3).
Only those who have
the oil of new life in Christ will be ready when Jesus returns.
3.
Giving all.
The words of C.T Studd, 'If Jesus Christ be God and died
for me then what sacrifice can be too great for me a mere mortal man to make
for Him.'
a)
Giving
all means being willing to lay our lives down for the Lord. Revelation 12:11
'And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their
testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.'
The Son of God gave
His life so that we could be redeemed.
If He gave
everything for us then how much more should we lay our lives down for Him.
b)
Giving
all for Him means being willing to lay our lives down for one another. 1
John 3:16 'Hereby
perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay
down our
lives for the brethren.
Love for one another in serving one another.
When God's people are filled with the love of God there
will be the freedom to serve one another.
There will be closer fellowship.
A church can preach the gospel and be filled with lovely
people but there is a big difference when the people are led by the love of
God. 1 John 3:17-18 'But whoso hath this world’s good, and
sees his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the
love of God in him? My little
children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.'
Summary
The deity of Jesus Christ is seen in Titus 2:13 'Looking
for the God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.'
1) The
glorious occasion - The Lord is coming back as King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. His glory was veiled but
now His glory will be revealed.
2) The
higher standard - We must live daily in the knowledge that we are the children
of God and that the Lord will soon return.
3) If
Jesus Christ is God and died for us then we should give our lives for one
another.