A God of Grace John 1:14-18 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. 15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. 16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. 18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Imagine receiving a big beautifully wrapped gift when there’s no particular occasion — the sender simply chose to do this for you. Inside the package is something very special. Eagerly, you read the card to discover who could have been so generous. To your amazement, you learn that the giver is someone you have been avoiding — and to whom you have been unkind! What do you do? This scenario is a picture of the Father’s grace in sending His Son Jesus to earth for us. There was no special occasion; God simply had the desire to do it. The present arrived, despite the fact that we were either passively ignoring the Lord or actively rebelling against Him. This is grace — God’s goodness and kindness extended to those who do not deserve it and have no possible way to earn it. In the Son, we see the fullness of God’s kindness revealed. Jesus fully met all the requirements of divine law by living a perfect life on earth; because of His sinless life as a man, He was qualified to pay the price for our rebellious ways. He did this by sacrificing His life on the cross to pay for all our sins — past, present, and future. So, when we receive Him as our personal Savior, God counts Jesus’ death as payment for all we have done wrong. What’s more, upon our salvation, Christ’s perfect life is counted as our own; His righteousness becomes ours through faith (Romans 4:5). What will you do with God’s gift of grace — refuse it, or say “thank You” and make an effort to get to know Him? And if you already do know Christ, have you been taking Him for granted?
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 00:28:50 +0000
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