“…we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us…”
– Titus 2:13
In these verses, Paul’s point seems to be that the grace of God teaches us to be godly pilgrims in this life, living in the world as faithful people of God, and yet always waiting, always hoping, always looking for the appearing of our great God – Jesus Christ. I have always been struck by the beauty of Paul’s contrasts here….directly after affirming that Christ is “our great God and Savior,” he adds “who gave Himself for us.” Christ’s deity and His sacrificial death are placed side by side as a reminder of the depths of His love and the beauty of His character…..our God is the One who gave Himself for us….and the God who gave Himself for us is the One whose glory will one day dissolve earth an heaven in His appearing……how stunning it will be for believers on that day! The One whose beauty is splintering the skies and whose majesty is terrifying the nations, that same one is the one who loves us and gave Himself for us….wonderful.
In this image I wanted to show that the believer is a pilgrim and yet always lives with the “sight” (by faith) of Christ’s appearing before their eyes….He is our great hope. The wounds visible on Christ’s feet are a reminder that our Lord and God is also the One who gave Himself for us…
