Eagerly Awaiting Him

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

- Hebrews 9:27-28

I've been meditating on this verse for the past week. I love the last part (not that I don't love the first part about Christ offering his life for us). Christ will appear again to save those who eagerly wait for him. As this year long journey through the Bible draws to a close, I can honestly say that I await Christ more eagerly than I ever have before. As we know Christ more, we love him more, and the more we love someone the more we long to see them and enjoy their company. Although I commune with Christ daily, I eagerly wait for the day I will see him face to face.

A Favorite Verse

Yesterday, I got to read one of my favorite passages in the Bible - Titus 2:11-14. This passage has been such an encouragement to me over the past three years or so, and it was read at our wedding this past summer. It's such a beautiful, concise example of what it truly means to live a gospel life. I've always gotten so much out these four short verses of the Bible, but the ESV editors give it even more meaning.

For 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, 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.

~Titus 2:11-14~

Grace - "One cannot truly claim to be a recipient of saving grace without also being a pupil of 'training grace'." This is one of the biggest changes in my life in recent years. I have always claimed to know God's saving grace, but only recently have I come under his "training grace" - where my life daily reflects my love of Him above all other things. This verse is all about what life actually looks like in the day to day for those who have been touched by God's gospel of grace - Jesus Christ.

Eager expectation - The Greek for the term "waiting" in this verse is "prosdechomai" and it carries the connotation of eagerness. As I get to know my great God and Savior Jesus more and more, I eagerly wait for the day I will see his face and know Him more than I do now.

Holiness - "To forsake Godliness is to despise the sacrifice of Christ." The purpose of Christ's sacrifice was to make his people holy, so that we can appear before our Father in heaven. If I don't strive to be holy and obedient to Christ, I am despising what he did for me on the cross. Because Christ died, I have His Spirit, and therefore I have the ability to say "NO" to ungodliness and "yes" to righteousness.

A Prized Possession - Does it ever strike you as amazing that God loves us? I mean, He actually treasures us, even though we are defiant, needy, dirty failures. God wants us to be his possession, and the connotation in the Greek is a "prized, treasured possession." God enjoys His people. God enjoys me and loves me and values me. It humbles me each and every day.

Zealous for good works - Because of Christ's example of service and ultimate sacrifice for us, we should be doing good works for others. There is no excuse not to live a life of service. My life is completely lacking in this area. I cannot believe how little I serve when I have a servant God who gave everything for me. This quote from the ESV editors is convicting: "There is no room for claiming to be redeemed while providing no evidence of practical transformation." You should be able to see my redemption in the good works I do every day. I have so much to learn...but I have a God who has already saved me and keeps me in training day after day.



Pleasing to God

How crazy is it that we can please God? That the God of the universe, who created us, and whom we have failed time and time again, can still take pleasure in us? That we can actually behave in ways that bring him joy?

I think that's what so much of this journey through the Bible this year has been about for me. How can I everyday acknowlege my own sin, my shortcomings, be transparent about my failures before God and before man, and still strive to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord? It seems like a strange juxtaposition, yet the Bible makes it clear that those who are in Christ CAN live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Because Christ's righteousness has been given to us, and through the power of the Holy Spirit to fight the sinful tendancies of our flesh, we can bring God pleasure with the way we live our lives in this fallen world.

As he encourages believers, Paul's epistles nearly always touch on this idea of living to please the Lord. II Corinthians 5:9 says: "So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him." Paul also commends the Philippians on their thoughtful gift to him (they sent him money during his imprisonment in Rome), calling it "a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God" (Phil. 4:18). And Paul tells the church at Colasse to "walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in knowledge of God" (Col. 1:10).

So whether in life or death, with the gifts I give, with the works I do, in my devotion to learning God's word, my aim is to please the Lord. And because of Jesus, who sits at the right hand of God advocating on my behalf, my life, though imperfect in so many ways, is genuinely pleasing to the absolutely holy and perfect God who made me and loves me.