Titus 2:13

‘Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ,’

And we are to do this in the light of His coming and what will come about then. For we are to do it looking for our blessed hope. And what is that blessed hope, it is the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, that wonderful time when He will come in His glory, and all that is wrong will be put right, with every man receiving His God-appointed status, whether it be good or bad (Matthew 16:27; Matthew 24:30-31; Matthew 25:31-46; Romans 14:10-12; 1 Corinthians 3:10-16; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:10). We are to be like servants busy about the house, with sleeves rolled up and light burning, ever expectantly awaiting their Lord’s return (Luke 12:35-46). This was Jesus’ theme in the Sermon on the Mount, where all His injunctions were given in the light of His coming, and He required of us, in the light of that, that we do the will His Father Who is in Heaven (Matthew 7:21-27). It should be the expectant hope of every believer.

Our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ For the One Who is coming is the Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6), and He is the One Who has become our Saviour. God our Saviour (Titus 2:10) and Jesus Christ our Saviour, are as One. Our God is our Saviour, coming to set us free from sin. The construction ‘the great God and our Saviour’ indicates one and the same person (compare Romans 9:5). This is confirmed by the early Greek fathers, although not by the versions, and a similar phrase is found of the deification of the Ptolemies where the oneness cannot be in doubt. A similar construction is also found in Plutarch, for nouns linked by the same article generally designate the same subject unless they are proper names. Furthermore we never find in the New Testament the idea of a coming epiphaneia of God as such, and to speak of ‘the great God’ would be unusual if it simply referred to God Himself. It is because he is linking Jesus with God that he calls Him ‘the great God’ (Isaiah 9:6)

‘Appearing (epiphaneia).’ Compare 2Th 2:8 ; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2Ti 4:8 ; 1 Peter 1:7. The word indicates appearing in divine manifestation, and in the same way as a great King making a ceremonial royal visit. It points to the open revelation of His glory.