What Is Grace? Series

GRACEOLOGY

Luke 15:11-32

March 10, 2019

In 1980, the movie Superman 2 came out. If you remember way back, Christopher Reeve was Superman.

Superman picked up where the first one left off. Lois Lane has discovered Superman is really Clark Kent and they are in love. But there is a small problem. Clark Kent is from Krypton, and in order to start his relationship with Lois Lane, Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers.

Superman must be purged of his superpower, to live as a mortal and despite the pleas of the spirit of his long-lost mother, he has his super-powers removed. But at the very same time, he is unaware that 3 criminals from Krypton have come to planet earth to destroy the planet as they are aided by the notorious Lex Luthor.

Superman was warned he can never ever get his powers back. Never. Never. Never. Still, he chooses to relinquish his powers and become just ordinary Clark Kent. More than ever, the world needs Superman, but it's too late!

A dejected Clark Kent hikes through a raging blizzard back to Superman's former fortress of solitude. It’s now in ruins. As Clark Kent walks through the rubble, he cries out, "Father, I have failed." The spirit of his father appears for one last time and lo and behold there is a green crystal on the ground, and this transforms Clark back into Superman.

He has miraculously regained his superpowers and he is back. Of course, you know how the story goes. Superman defeats the evil criminals from Krypton.

The writers of this film put themselves in a bit of a bind: They established a rule that if Superman surrenders his super powers he can never get them back. Then, he surrendered his super powers. If they stuck to the rule, then Superman could not have been the hero in the end. But - - the writers changed the rules in the middle of the story in order to get Superman off the hook.

We’re going to use this Superman story as a springboard for today. We’re starting a new series on Grace.

I’m calling it GRACEology. There’s really no such word, but if we were to do a study on the doctrine of Grace, then it very well could be called Graceology.

Over the next several weeks we’re going to look at different Bible stories which help us to see grace at work, and along the way, come to have a better understanding of what grace is. My hope is that this will help us to draw closer to God as we gain a better understanding of what Jesus did for us when he came into this world and ultimately died for us.

In one sense, the Old Testament teaches a way of righteousness we can never achieve. In the book of Micah, we read - -

8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you . . .

. . . but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:8

This is what the Lord requires of us. That’s pretty simple. We are to do justice. That means practice being just and fair, be impartial, never play favorites. We are to love kindness. That means practice kindness, be kind, be compassionate, not just to whom you choose, but to all people. Then we must walk humbly before our God. In simple terms, we practice the fact that God is God and we are not.

It’s all simple . . . right? NOPE!! How do we determine if we measure up to those lofty standards by God. Have you messed any of that up? Are you always just, always fair? Are you always kind and compassionate? Do you practice humility?

OK, this is not so simple, is it? None of us are.

Paul reminded us of that in Romans - -

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. – Romans 3:23

And so the Old Testament law puts us in a difficult position: it shows us the way to achieve righteousness, and it warns of dire consequences for those who don't measure up ... but none of us measure up.

10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;

11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. There is none righteous, no not one. – Romans 3:10

So what did God do?

In a sense He did what the writers of Superman did, but God did it first. We didn’t know it, we didn’t get it back then, but in that same sense, God changed the rules in the middle of the story.

God understood that on our own we can never be good enough. We can never do enough good deeds or good works to get into heaven. That would take away faith and leave us with a works righteousness. The only way to gain salvation would be to earn it. And that doesn’t fly with God. Our salvation, Paul tells us - comes