“in the hope of eternal life” – Titus 1:2a
One of the greatest tragedies for people would be to live in darkness when they could live in the light…
Rose Crawford had been blind for 50 years. Then she had an operation in an Ontario hospital. She said, "I just can’t believe it," as the doctor lifted the bandages from her eyes. She wept—when for the first time in her life she saw a dazzling and beautiful world of form and color greeted her eyes and she could now see.
The amazing thing about her story, however, was that 20 years of her blindness was unnecessary. She didn’t know that surgical techniques had been developed, and that an operation could have restored her vision at the age of 30.
The Dr. said, "She just figured there was nothing that could be done for her condition. Much of her life could have been different."
For scores of people even within Christ's church, hopelessness is a condition most are willing to endure because they don’t know any better. Through so many avenues, Satan has convinced Christians that there is no hope for their spiritual condition and that they are better off not trusting God.
Paul knew differently. He had been beaten, forsaken by those who claimed to be his friends, stoned, put in prison and placed in shackles, yet he never stopped believing in the “hope of eternal life.”
After informing Titus that God has bestowed on him a great mission, Paul informed his young pupil what that mission entails. He mentions three awesome tasks: Titus 1:1-2
1. Reading Out (Evangelism): “for the faith of those chosen by God”
2. Reaching In (Edification): “and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness”
And now the third great task specifically for any pastor, and generally for all Christians –
3. Reaching For (Encouragement): “in the hope of eternal life.”
Eternal life is not a “hope for” sort of a wishful thing, it is a “hope of.” It will happen and it will come to those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
Eternal life is the pervading reality of salvation, and the hope of that life gives believers so much encouragement to boldly fight on in this life and not throw in the towel of surrender.
You see, God has given to each of us a mission. It is not that complicated. It involves three primary tasks:
First, we are to reach out to the lost. We are not to expect the unsaved to come to us, we must go and find them and share the gospel.
Second, we are to reach in and build up the saints. Each true believer has an insatiable hunger to know God more. Such hunger cannot be fulfilled any other way then by the on-going intake of God’s Word.
Third, we are to reach for those who are in despair, discouraged and hurting and remind them of the hope they have in knowing Jesus.
With the lost, we SHARE the gospel; with the saints, we SERVE the gospel, for it is the main item on God’s menu; and with those who are feeling hopeless, we STAND on the promises of the gospel together, encouraging one another along the way.
Those hurting in the church are in some ways similar to those who are lost – they won’t come to you, instead you must “reach for” them whenever possible and take the time to encourage them in the “hope of eternal life.”
The hope the bible speaks of is very practical. For instance, having such hope for the future, we can encourage others:
1. Toward a greater degree of holiness – 1 John 3:2-3: 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
Notice how knowing this hope causes believers to purify themselves, since they are already pure in Christ. The idea is that we are to strive with God’s help to match our walk with our position. Our standing or position as believers in Christ is one of absolute purity. Jesus has taken away and forgiven us of all our sins – past, present and future (1 John 1:7). So then, we are to walk in a manner that corresponds to our glorious position.
2. Toward a greater degree of service.
One day we Christians are all going to stand before God and give an account of what we did with Jesus and the gift(s) He gave to us to steward. If we build our service on the sure foundation of Christ, “we shall receive a reward” (1 Cor. 3:12, 14). No doubt the greater encouragement for each of us should be to hear our Lord say back to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matt. 25:21). I think this is what compelled Paul to “press on in order that he might lay hold of that for which he had laid hold of by Christ Jesus,” which was the fulfillment of his God-given “upward call” (Phil. 3:12, 14).
Here is my point: We often get whacked by the world and when you see follow believers who need to be set upright again by a word of encouragement – REACH FOR that person and love on him or her and offer them hope through words and deeds of encouragement.
Encourage each other toward greater degrees of holiness, greater degrees of service, and please do not forget this one:
3. Toward a greater degree of suffering.
I know this is the tough one, but it must be remembered, “if we endure [for Him] (i.e. suffer), we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). Like Paul, each of us should come to the place where we can say without any hesitation, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things. . .that I might know Him. . .” (Phil. 3:8, 10-11).
Whatever we face in this life, we know “that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). Whomever the Lord saves (i.e. justifies), He will one day "glorify" (Rom. 8:29-30).
So then, God has given to each of us our marching orders. Our mission on earth has been given by the authority of God. It entails three great tasks:
1. We are to Reach Out in Evangelism to the Lost by Sharing the Gospel with them.
2. We are to Reach In to the Saints and build them up in their faith. This is called Edification and we do this by serving them the gospel as their main meal.
3. We are to Reach For those who are hurting and encouraging them in the hope and theme of eternal life. We do this by standing on the promises of the gospel so together we can help one another endure for the cause of Christ.
Now having reminded Titus about God’s absolute authority and how he was accountable to Him, and as a result of God’s authority, he was commission by God with a divinely important mission, Paul will then inform Titus about the importance of God’s message in 1:2b-3a: “which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, 3but at the proper time manifested, even His word. . .”
We will look into this more in detail later during the week.
