Grace!

There is something that is extremely rare in our modern twenty-first century. The word that describes it is “grace”. With so many people trying to get ahead at the expense of others, it appears that grace is viewed as an ancient relic which is not useful in today’s world. When it comes to human grace, there is often some reason for extending it. If a judge shows grace in the courtroom, it might be because he saw some hope for recovery in the criminal. Many times this type of grace is extended at the expense of justice. If someone graciously forgives a large debt, it might be that the person with the debt was a good friend or relative.

          Now, however, we will look at a grace that goes far beyond the human view of grace. This higher quality of grace is very special because there is no logical reason for its existence. This grace is the grace of God. The Bible has a lot to say about the grace of God. The Bible states that this grace exists because God wanted it to exist……it was the good pleasure of His will. The Bible not only has a lot to say about grace, it says much about its source, the God of heaven. In the psalms He is also called the God of Truth. John also says that this very same God of Truth loved the world so much that he gave His only unique Son into the world that anyone who believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Peter, a disciple of the unique Son mentioned above, calls the grace of God “true grace”. Only true grace would move God to send His son into the world, not to condemn the world with His truth, but that the world through Him might be saved.(John 3:17). In this same Gospel account, the writer says he has seen the full grace and full truth of God in the person of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. As a witness to the life of Jesus Christ, he testified that “we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth”. God’s truth and His grace are found together in perfection in the person of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

          How does this amazing visitation affect you and me? The answer to this question is also found in the Bible. The Bible not only tells us about the truthfulness of God, but it reveals our condition in relation to God’s standard of truth. The resulting manifestation presents a dismal and hopeless picture of the human race. The Bible states that we have fallen short of the glory of God and that we have no strength on our own to attain to that glory. We are lost and need to be saved. It is only the grace of God that he reaches out and touches the life of a sinner without strength and far from God.

          God has reached out to us by sending His only son. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Unlike a human judge, the Saviour is the only one who can extend the grace of God without compromising His truth and justice. He bore our sins in His own body on the cross and laid down His life there to pay the unspeakable debt of sin which we cannot pay. Through His death we have eternal life, for He was raised from the dead.

          We can’t understand this kind of grace, because any kind of grace we are knowledgeable about has a reason. God’s grace has no strings attached. It truly is divine favour without a trace of merit on our part. Without it we have no hope. God does not require that we understand this grace, so freely provided by Himself! All we can do is to accept His gift and thank him for it.

          “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8,9.)

          God’s infinite grace provided by His Son at Calvary is sufficient for all!