Titus 2:13 (ESV)
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great
God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Depending on how the translators choose to translate this verse from the original
Greek, we are either waiting for his appearing, which is glorious, or we are
waiting for his glory to appear. Either way, glory is associated with Jesus. When
Jesus walked this earth no one saw his glory. It was shielded by his humanity.
On the cross no one saw his glory. It was hidden behind his humanity. But when
he returns it is his glory that we will see. A case could be made that three of
his disciples saw him in his glory at the transfiguration recorded in Matthew
17, Luke 9, and Mark 9. But even there I suspect that they only saw a hint of
his glory. His appearance was not substantially different from that of Moses or
Elijah. When he returns, we will see Jesus Christ, Savior, our great God. We will
behold him in all of his God glory.
We are awed by the beauty that surrounds us in this world. The changing
colors of trees, the majesty of a waterfall, the beauty of a lake reflecting
the trees that surround it on a calm day, all of these fill us with wonder and
awe. I was at a Christian camp recently and as I was leaving the camp host
said, “I was hoping you could stay to see the sunset. It is so amazing here.”
Yet as awesome as these things are, they are but a poor reflection of the glory
of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ. How we respond when he returns in all
his glory largely depends on how we respond to him now. If we have trusted his
as our Savior and walked with him as our Lord, my guess is that we will fall on
our faces in worship, joy, and awe. If we have failed to trust him, if we have
rejected the truth of his gospel, my guess is that we will flee in terror. Yet there
is nowhere to hide from an omnipresent God. Do you live in anticipation of his
return?
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