Looking for that blessed hope
Not the grace of hope; though that being a good hope through
grace, and a hope of blessedness, may be called a blessed hope;
yet this the saints have already implanted in their hearts in
regeneration, and cannot be said to look for it: rather Christ,
the object and ground of hope, who is our hope, and Christ in us
the hope of glory, who is blessed for evermore; and in the
enjoyment of whom the happiness of the saints hereafter will
greatly consist; and whom they look for, and expect from heaven,
and who is expressly mentioned in the next clause: but as this
may be something distinct from that, it may be best, by this
blessed hope, to understand the thing hoped for, eternal glory
and happiness; called elsewhere the hope of righteousness, and
the hope laid up in heaven, ( Galatians
5:5 ) ( Colossians
1:5 ) and which will lie in the beatific vision of God and
Christ; in a perfect knowledge of them, in communion with them,
and conformity to them; and in the society of angels and
glorified saints; and in a freedom from all evil, outward and
inward, and in the possession of all good: and to be looking for
this, is to be desiring it with the heart and affections set upon
it, longing to be in the enjoyment of it, and yet waiting
patiently in the exercise of faith and hope; for looking includes
all the three graces, faith, hope, and love; and particularly the
former, which is always attended with the latter; for it is such
a looking for this blessedness, as that a man firmly believes he
shall partake of it: and there is good reason for a regenerate
man so to look for it; since it is his Father's gift of free
grace, and is laid up for him; Christ is gone to prepare it by
his presence, mediation, and intercession; yea, he is gone, as
the forerunner, to take possession of it in his name: this man is
begotten again to a lively hope of it; he is called by the grace
of God unto it; he is a child of God, and so an heir of it; he
has a right unto it, through the justifying righteousness of
Christ, and has a meetness for it through the sanctifying grace
of the Spirit; and who is in him as the earnest and pledge of it:
now such a firm expectation of the heavenly glory does the
Gospel, the doctrine of the grace of God, teach, direct, and
encourage to; for these words must be read in connection with the
preceding, as a further instruction of the Gospel, as well as
what follows:
and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our
Saviour Jesus
Christ;
not two divine persons, only one, are here intended; for the
word: rendered "appearing", is never used of God the Father, only
of the second person; and the propositive article is not set
before the word "Saviour", as it would, if two distinct persons
were designed; and the copulative "and" is exegetical, and may he
rendered thus, "and the glorious appearing of the great God, even
our Saviour Jesus Christ"; who, in the next verse, is said to
give himself for the redemption of his people: so that here is a
very illustrious proof of the true and proper deity of Christ,
who will appear at his second coming; for of that appearance are
the, words to be understood, as the great God, in all the glories
and perfections of his divine nature; as well as a Saviour, which
is mentioned to show that he will appear to the salvation of his
people, which he will then put them in the full possession of;
and that the brightness of his divine Majesty will not make them
afraid: and this appearance will be a glorious one; for Christ
will come in his own glory, in the glory of his deity,
particularly his omniscience and omnipotence will be very
conspicuous; and in his glory as Mediator, which will be beheld
by all the saints; and in his glory as a Judge, invested with
power and authority from his Father, which will be terrible to
sinners; and in the glory of his human nature, with which it is
now crowned; and in his Father's glory, in the same he had with
him before the world was, and which is the same with his, and in
that which he will receive from him as man and Mediator, and as
the Judge of the whole earth; and in the glory of his holy
angels, being attended with all his mighty ones: to which may be
added, that saints will be raised from the dead, and with the
living ones appear with Christ in glory, and make up the bride,
the Lamb's wife, having the glory of God upon her; so that this
will be a grand appearance indeed. Now this the Gospel directs,
and instructs believers to look for, to love, to hasten to, most
earnestly desire, and yet patiently wait for, most firmly
believing that it will be: and this the saints have reason to
look for, with longing desire and affection, and with pleasure,
since it will be not only glorious in itself, but advantageous to
them; they will then be glorified with Christ, and be for ever
with him.