|
What’s So Amazing About Grace? Rod Halliburton
We sometimes sing the song, “Amazing Grace.” Consider these words from the first verse of that song, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” Yes, the sound of grace is sweet! The apostle Paul wrote, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8-9). None of us can ever do anything that will make us deserving of heaven nor make God obligated to us. We are saved by God’s grace!
But, have you ever stopped to consider what makes God’s grace so amazing? First, it is amazing that God would offer His grace to a sinful man. In Noah’s day, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth; and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). Mankind had turned its back on God in spite of God’s goodness. God was grieved because of man’s sin and subsequently destroyed man from the face of the earth (Genesis 6:7). Yet the Bible tells us that Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8).
Second, it is amazing that God would offer His grace to man through the death of His Son. God gives His grace only to those who are in Christ Jesus. “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Our obedient faith allows us to have access to God’s grace through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1-2). Christ’s blood, shed when He died on the cross, makes the cleansing of our sins possible – something nothing but the blood of Christ can do.
Third, it is amazing that God’s Son would die for man, thereby making it possible for man to receive God’s grace. It is amazing that the Son of God would leave heaven, live in this sinful world, and eventually offer his own life for us. Consider the following from Romans 5:6-8, “For when we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Without a doubt, this is the greatest sacrifice any man could ever make for another.
What was God’s motivation for making all of this possible? Love, of course! It was God’s love that motivated Him to extend His grace to Noah and his family. It was God’s love that motivated Him to give His Son as a sacrifice for man. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). It was love that motivated Christ to die for all mankind. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:13-14).
Yes, God’s grace really is amazing! |
