Grace in the Spotlight

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people” (Titus 2:11).

I absolutely love the excitement just before a great concert. Some legendary rock act has rolled into town. You’ve paid WAY too much for your tickets. But in the moments just before they take the stage, that simply doesn’t matter anymore. The house lights suddenly go out. The crowd cheers with anticipation. Suddenly the spotlight pierces the darkness to illuminate the lead singer and the place goes bananas! That’s exactly the scene that Paul’s describing here in his letter to Titus. No, this isn’t his take on the later tour by the Stones, the Who, or Maroon 5. The apostle reminds us how the place went crazy when God shined His divine spotlight on His Son Jesus in the middle of our dark world. 

It’s grace in the spotlight. And the crowd goes wild!

In many ways, this verse sums up God’s VERY Good News. Period. Grace is God’s absolutely undeserved goodness. We can’t earn it. We can’t buy it. It’s only out of His overflowing love and mercy that we’re on the receiving end of this mind-blowing blessing. God saves us just because He’s so incredibly awesome. One of the mega-ginormous themes of the Bible is that God is an amazing Giver. That’s why we call it amazing grace. He offers His unthinkable blessing to a world full of rebels and rejects. Why? Because He’s good and because He’s God. 

Paul tells us our incredibly good God cut on the spotlight to reveal His grace. When the apostle writes “the grace of God appeared” (v11), he uses the Greek verb epiphaino. It means to give light, illuminate, shine on something for everyone to see. It literally means “to shine light upon.” Check out its three other appearances in the New Testament. God uses the father of John the Baptizer to announce to the world that his boy would “give light (Gr. epiphaino) to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Lk 1:79). When the freighter carrying Paul and Dr. Luke to Rome got caught in a massive hurricane, “neither the sun nor stars appeared (Gr. epiphaino) for many days” (Acts 27:20). Just down the page here in this letter to Titus, the apostle once again describes how “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared (Gr. epiphaino)” (Titus 3:4). When God’s spotlight hits the stage, His grace shines in the darkness.

It’s grace in the spotlight. And the crowd goes wild.

So just what do we see when God hits the lights? Who is standing at center stage? It’s none other than Jesus! When the Trinity pulls back the curtain, Christ is front and center. You see, Jesus is Grace Incarnate. He is God’s ultimate gift of grace to our horribly undeserving world. Grace isn’t so much an abstract concept but a Person. When Christ made the ultimate rescue mission to earth, He was “full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14). The crazy thing is that Jesus is both the Light that shines in the darkness (Jn 8:12; 9:5) but the One it reveals. What does God’s grace look like? The better question is WHO does God’s grace look like? Jesus, the resurrected Rabbi/Carpenter.

It’s grace in the spotlight. And the crowd goes wild.

The purpose for focusing the attention of God’s goodness on Jesus is because He’s “bringing salvation for all people” (v11). So just what is salvation? For a lot of us, this is a Bible word that’s lost a lot of its oomph over the years. The word in the original language here is soterios. In its most basic sense, the term describes rescue and bringing safety. Think Superman or the Dark Knight coming to save the day just in the nick of time. Simeon had waited expectantly his entire life for God to send His Messiah. When he took one look at the baby Jesus, he knew without a doubt that his “eyes have seen Your salvation (Gr. soterios) that You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation for the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Lk 2:30). A huge part of John the Baptizer’s prepping the way for the coming of Jesus was announcing that “all flesh shall see the salvation (Gr. soterios) of God” (Lk 3:6).

Here’s what we need to constantly remember. Jesus left the comforts of His heavenly paradise to make the most breathtaking rescue mission the universe has ever seen. It’s the ultimate dumpster dive. He willingly jumped into the most disgusting pile of sin and filth to save us. To save us from our own sin. To save us from God’s wrath. We desperately needed saving. Jesus told His new buddy Zaccheus, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Lk 19:10). He’s talking about you. He’s talking about me. We needed a Hero. We needed a Savior. Can we get a spotlight on our Rescuer?

It’s grace in the spotlight. And the crowd goes wild.

Who else is on the receiving end of this rescue mission? According to Paul, that would be “to all people” (v11). In the immediate context of this letter, he’s talking about old men, young dudes, old women, young ladies, and slaves. In other words, EVERYBODY! Jesus’ last words before He headed back home to heaven was for us to take this marvelous message of rescue to every people group on the planet (Mt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). The invitation isn’t exclusive. You don’t have to be a member of any particular club or organization. You don’t have to belong to a specific family. You don’t have to live in a certain part of the world. You simply need to know you need to be rescued. 

It’s grace in the spotlight. And the crowd goes wild.