Our Blessed Hope

Our Blessed Hope
Titus 1:1-4
September 27, 2026

Today we are starting our study in the letter Paul wrote to Titus. This letter was written approximately at the same time as first Timothy, and Paul also speaks of Titus  as his son in the faith.

A bit of background concerning Titus. He was a gentile believer who became a trusted associate and delegate of Paul. From our studies in first Corinthians, you’ll remember that Paul sent him to the Corinthian church with a letter to address the problems in the church. He then returned to Paul with a good report on the Corinthian church accepting the correction.

He was also one of those involved in organizing the collection for the needy believers in Jerusalem with some other brothers to help oversee the offering and ensure integrity in its administration.

Scholars believe that Paul ministered with Titus in Crete after his first release from prison in Rome. He then left Titus behind to give guidance and set up leadership for the churches in Crete.

Crete was a very interesting place. One of their own revered philosophers of the 6^th century BC said of the Cretans, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” Being called a Cretan was synonymous with being a liar and greedy.

So, we find that there were Cretans who professed that they were Christians, but their lives denied the profession. They were abusing the grace of God.

It is in this culture that Titus has the responsibility to set up strong, godly leadership in the churches.

We see that Titus is almost a condensed version of first Timothy, as Paul gives direction in leadership, being grounded in sound doctrine, and how that affects the life of a believer while awaiting the return of Jesus Christ.

Paul starts off with his greeting, but in this greeting, he references the core principles of sound doctrine and the aim of this sound doctrine.

Tonight we will be looking at this as we see Paul making it clear that sound doctrine ss crucial not only for our salvation, but also how we live and our eternal future.

What we believe is crucial and affects how we live day-to-day, and also eternity.

It is in this letter that we find the well-known phrase, “the blessed hope.” We will see what this refers to and how it should shape every part of our lives.

I. You are Chosen

• This is a very important perspective to understand. Many wonder if they have been chosen or not. What if God did not choose me? God wants us to have surety of eternal salvation and not wonder if we will make it.

John 3:16-18, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

• God’s will and God’s heart is that EVERYONE will be saved. That is why Jesus came. He did not just come for some people who are better than others. Jesus came for the broken the hurting, the lost, the sinners, who, by the way we all are.

Eph 1:4-5, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will. 

• God predestined us to be adopted as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ because of His loving heart.

• And this was not a knee-jerk reaction to Adam’s sin. God wasn’t blindsided by this betrayal. God foresaw and foreknew that man would use his will and choose against God. We know this because of this passage.

Titus 1:2, based on the hope and divine guarantee of eternal life, [the life] which God, who is ever truthful and without deceit, promised before the ages of time began, (AMP) 

• Time began in Genesis 1 when God set up times and seasons, so even before the ages of time, God promised that He would make a way for us to have eternal life.

A. Chosen for eternal Life

• Even knowing that man would reject Him and be rebellious and prideful, the redemptive plan was in the works. 

• Paul says this eternal plan was manifested in Christ Jesus. Jesus came when we were still His enemies and died on the cross so we could be saved. 

• This gospel, good news, was entrusted to Paul to preach as commanded by Jesus.

• This eternal, forever, life is a very rich concept. The word ‘life’ is ‘zoe’ in Greek. It means absolute fullness of life. It echoes what Jesus said, that we will have life in abundance.’

• This is the quest the rich young ruler was on.

Mark 10:17, As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  

• Here we find a man who had riches, property, all the things people think will give life. Yet there was something lacking. It was empty.

• The theme of Ecclesiastes is that with all the money, chasing all the pleasure, building, buying acquiring, climbing the ladders of success; in the end, in the context of eternity, it is all empty IF we have no hope for eternity.

• Granted, it can give moments of exhilaration or ecstasy, but it does not continue to satisfy. There is always something missing. There is the question after the exhilaration: is this it?

Illus – I always think of this when I see the final of a big sporting event. Superbowl, Wimbledon, Rugby World cup, Grand Prix, IndyCar, whatever it is. There is the moment of elation when the victor is crowned, but what then? Then next day, it just starts all over again. Think of your own life. Successes or accolades you received.

• There is something eternal the soul is reaching for.

Illus –When you look back at pictures of your life, your family, your adventures, your vacations, they are wonderful memories, but the tinge of sadness, even while looking at it, is that it is over. There is always a longing for something that will stay eternally beautiful, eternally captivating.

• This is why Paul says that if we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But thank God, it is not where our hope ends.

• We now, through the resurrection power of Jeus have the hope, the promise, the assurance of eternal abundant ‘zoe’ life.

Ephesians 1:3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

• We will be with God forever in eternity, outside time. It will not end.

1 Peter 1:4-5, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

• We will be experiencing perfect love and acceptance, perfect peace, and fullness of joy, for in His presence is fulness of joy. No ups and down in joy, peace and love, but FULLNESS of joy, peace and love.

• We will never feel dissatisfied again, never feel inadequate again, never feel rejected or unloved, or shunned by people again, never feel not good enough again.

B. This is promised by God

• God cannot lie. He is truthful, without deceit. God promised. It is a Divine guarantee. You can take it to the bank.

• And nothing can snatch you out of His hand.

John 10:28-30, and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” 

2 Timothy 1:12, For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

II. You have to Choose

• This is the good news of the gospel, but it is not a universal salvation. It is not automatic. There is a condition. God has chosen you. In fact, God has chosen everyone, but you need to choose Him in return. God has made salvation available to everyone, but every person has the choice of their will if they will respond.

John 3:18, He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

• Jesus said he came for those who need a healer. Not those who are healthy. This is an ironic statement because no one is healthy. Yet there are those who stand in their pride and say they do not need a savior. There are those rejecting the provision God made.

• God gave a glorious offramp to get off the road to hell, but one must choose to take it.

A. Have the heart of a bond servant

• This is where this phrase comes into play. Paul describes himself this way and it is a beautiful picture and description of the heart of a follower of Jesus.

• The truth is that everyone serves something or someone. People rebel against God because they have the illusion that they are masters of their own destiny, but every funeral testifies that no one has control over his own life, because they cannot even choose to live one day extra, not to mention eternity.

• A normal servant only works because he is or feels forced to, or gets paid. But a bondservant has a different heart. He chooses to stay with the master. He is not forced.

• God doesn’t force us to follow Him and serve Him. We have a choice. And knowing the full story, you can choose with full foreknowledge of what the result of your choice will be, all the way into eternity. It always stays a choice.

• But the moment you have the revelation of what Jesus has done, what He saved us from, and what wonderful blessings He unlocked for us, it should be a no-brainer.

• Being a bond servant is a title of humility, but also a title one can proudly carry. It declares that you follow the master because He is the best and knows the best.

• In response to the goodness of the master, a bondservant manages what master puts in his hands. He puts the master’s interests above his own. He serves at the pleasure of the master.

• From an earthly point of view, when we think of a master/slave relationship, we might have the perception that it is a clinical relationship with a haughty master lording over a beggarly slave.

• And knowing what we know about ourselves in comparison to the awe inspiring, incomparable holiness and almighty being that God is, it is understandable that one might perceive our relationship to God that way, that being what we deserve.

• But Jesus, shockingly, even redefines this relationship.

John 15:13-15, Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

• This almighty, eternal, all-powerful God calls us His friends. This is, and should be a deeply humbling revelation.

• Because if this, and in light of that, Paul still chooses to say,’ I am God’s bondservant’, even if, and while He calls me friend. I will always worship and Honor Him with deep love, respect and gratitude.

B. Truth leads to godliness

• It is important to understand that faith has a past, present, and a future. It is not a one-time event. Faith in Jesus brings us to salvation (past), but it also makes and leads us to godliness(present) and it gives us hope for the future.

• As we grow in truth, it should lead to godliness. We will be transformed. We don’t want to wallow in the filth of this world anymore. We don’t want to stay Cretans.

• If you want to stay in the mess of this world, you have not had a revelation of the destruction sin brings and the beauty of God’s unbelievable grace yet.

• We don’t walk like we used to, we don’t talk like we used to. It is continual change and growth.

2 Corinthains 3:18, But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

• The Greek word used here for transformed describes metamorphosis. Just like a caterpillar transforms into butterfly. Just like a seed transforms into a beautiful tree.

• We cannot fathom what our eternal metamorphosis will look like.

• While we are in this body, there is always potential for weakness and corruption, but God keeps us.

1 John 5:11-12, And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life;

• In Jesus we HAVE eternal life.

C. This is our eternal hope

Titus 2:11-12, For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, 

• Looking to this blessed hope brings perspective in the now. It exhorts us to live sensibly, denying worldly desires. BECAUSE OF OUR BLESSED HOPE.

Illus – Bride prepares for her wedding day because of what is put before her. 

• It is not hard work. It is drawing us forward into our blessed hope, knowing that we are secure in the love of our Savior. And we don’t have to do this alone. We are changed by the revelation of His love and His goodness. We are lead, directed, and changed by His Spirit dwelling in us.