Tuesday, September 30, 2014

GRACE

“Amazing Grace, How Sweet The Sound That Saved A Wretch Like Me…” What words that moves a redeemed soul.

 I think it would be wise for every Christian to make a habit every day of their lives to start their day with a short prayer to God our Father, like this: “Father in Heaven, Thank you for your matchless grace in my life. Lord, reveal to me your grace in a way that I can understand it better” During the day, when you give thanks for the meal he has provided for you to eat this day, thank him again for this grace, and ask him once again to reveal what his grace mean to you. Just before you go to bed at night, whisper this prayer again.

When I look at our salvation, I am reminded of Ephesians 2, verses 8-10. “For by Grace are you saved…” and though I quote that all the time, I realized I do not process it properly in my life, because I lack the wisdom to fully understand what God’s grace means to me.

For one thing, it is the action of his son, motivated by his love for us, he became poor for us, that we might become rich in him. 2 Corinthians 8:9. The grace part of this is evident in how this is worded “…that ye through his poverty might be rich.” We have to ask, when and how was the Son of God ever in poverty? We tend to equate God’s grace with the “…that you might be rich” part of the passage. But what does it really mean for God’s son to be poor, and on the other hand, for any one of us humans to be rich? You really cannot use a monetary system to understand this, the analogy falls far too short to describe this grace spoken of here. So what do we use to understand this? Sin. That’s right, sin. Starting with me, I understand what sin is, I know its filth, its destruction, its spiritual poverty I know all too well. It is something I had and had no way to get rid of. In contrast though, it is something that Christ did not have. He never knew its filth, destruction, and its poverty. So this grace was an act of God’s Son, taking my sin, becoming sin, experiencing my sin with its filth, destruction and poverty, the same way every human has ever experienced it. He became poor---{Breathe} when he took my sin, I became rich when it was gone.

Secondly, still looking in the second chapter of the book of Ephesians, just after he tells us that we are saved by grace, he said this in verses 11-12 “Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh…” Being labeled as a Gentile may set on edge a little, but in the context of things, this statement is very important to fully comprehending the grace of God, to grasp the depths in your soul, in your heart of hearts, why Grace. Reading the rest of this passage helps us understand why we are labeled Gentiles. “…That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise…” A careful study of the Bible will reveal that God chose the nation of Israel, decedents of Abraham, through the line of the child of promise, Isaac, and the twelve sons of Jacob, who became Israel. They knew the one true God. They were given the law. They had the hope. The messiah who we call Christ was sent to them. We were as the last part of this passage states …”having no hope, and without God in the world…”  Think of the millions of people all through the world’s history that never heard the gospel, never heard the law, never heard about the God of Heaven. Millions of people that lived in a family, a tribe, a city, a nation that Satan had taken advantage of with lies that would turn the clear evidence of God in creation into another form of religion. Died without hope and without God, and opened their eyes in a lost eternity. But Grace says this in verse 13 “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” “Oh God my Father, thank you for your grace. Reveal to me a full understanding of your grace today!”

Dark is the stain that we cannot hide, what can avail to wash it away? Look! There is flowing a crimson tide; Whiter than snow you may be today. – Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that will pardon and cleanse within; Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin.

Mikeee

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