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Heirs to Hope of Eternal Life

By Joe Boot/ December 7, 2014

Series  Advent 2014: God with Us

Context  Westminster Chapel Toronto

Topic  Salvation

Scripture  Titus 3:1-7

In the incarnation we see the full meaning of God's purpose to make covenant with a renewed humanity.

Scripture:  Titus 3:1-7

Sermon Notes:

  1. Baptism, profession of faith, the preaching of the Word, and the Lord’s Supper all manifest and express the reality of the covenant relationship that we are invited to enter into with a personal God through Jesus Christ.
  2. We are heirs of the hope of eternal life enjoying fellowship with God who is Himself the gift of eternal life.    
  3. The grace of God appeared in the person of Christ, who saves us from the futility of an empty way of life (Tit. 3:4).
  4. The persons of the Godhead are in a mutual self-giving covenant with one another.   In the gospel, God extends His offer of covenant grace to His people (Matt. 1:23).
  5. Our relationship with God was lost through sin and was restored in part with the OT temple.  But the relationship is restored finally in Christ.  Now the dwelling of God is with man, and He indwells believers by the Holy Spirit.
  6. We now have unrestricted access to God by covenant relationship through Jesus Christ.
  7. The miracle of the Christian gospel is that Christ, God the Son, comes near to us in our likeness as a man.
  8. Made in God’s image, man naturally seeks to receive a visitation from God, often resorting to pagan occultism.
  9. The incarnation of Jesus is the greatest miracle in history.
  10. In the incarnation we see the full meaning of God’s purpose to make covenant with a renewed humanity.  We are brought into a new relationship with our Creator.
  11. Christ is the leader of a new human race, and remains the God-man forever:  He is true God and true man.
  12. A series of signs announced the coming of a new covenant, and new covenant people, a new temple, etc.
  13. The impersonal Vishnu cannot make covenant with man.
  14. The ruler of the universe humbled Himself to such a degree that He took on the human condition.
  15. It is not enough to be familiar with the stories; we must personally enter into covenant with the all-personal God.
  16. Only by entering into a personal relationship with God can we know the truth about ultimate things.
  17. God has made Himself known to us, so that we may enter into relationship with Him.
  18. Having rejected covenant relationship with God, our natural condition is hating one another (Titus 3:3).
  19. We are either covenant keepers or covenant breakers with respect to our relationship to God.
  20. Christ appeared to offer a renewed covenant of grace in His own person, which He sealed by His own blood. 
  21. God’s offer is a renewed relationship of mutual indwelling: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit graciously indwell us.

Application Questions:

  1. What is God’s covenant and what are the promises and obligations of our covenant relationship with God?
  2. According to Titus 3 what is the human condition outside of God’s covenant grace?
  3. List the signs of the covenant practiced in the church.
  4. Why do people universally seek a divine visitation?
  5. Why could’t a Hindu god make covenant with man?
  6. How is knowing God personally a necessary precondition to embracing ultimate truth?
  7. What was the role of the incarnation in ushering in God’s new humanity?