Our God Of Infinite Grace Series

Knowing God Series #15

“Understanding His Amazing Grace”

Review

I. The nature of God

II. The Attributes of God

A. God is infinitely GREAT in His ability / capacity

B. God is infinitely and perfectly PURE in His morality and judgments

C. God is infinitely GOOD in His relationships

1. God’s infinite LOVE

Jesus communicated the depth of God’s love for us in three pointed parables. (Luke 15)

The Lost Sheep – the priority of meaningful relationship

The Lost Coins – the passion or intensity of meaningful relationship

The Lost Sons – the Patience of His passion to establish relationship

The parable of the lost sons never ceases to move me.

The one son rejected relationship with His father and demanded independence.

The other son rejected relationship with His father and demanded affirmation.

The parable powerfully illustrates the heart of the father toward the sons in the face of rejection.

The rebellious son came to his senses. The father never stopped loving or looking for his return.

I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men. So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. Luke 15:19-20

Out of God’s goodness also flows grace.

2. God’s infinite GRACE

This term appears more than 120 times just in the New Testament. The Old Testament employs terms similar in meaning but grace finds its highest demonstration in the New Testament. This aspect of God’s goodness relates to undeserving creatures with undeserved blessing. Failure to understand this aspect of God’s goodness condemns us to a life of fear and misery. You cannot go deeper with God until you learn to live in confidence of His love and grace. Many grow up with the view of God as a policeman looking for infractions of the law. The last thing you want when you see the lights flashing behind you is to establish a meaningful relationship with the policeman. You know the only reason he signals a desire for connection is to tell you what you did wrong. The word grace comes from a word that means gift. A gift cannot be earned

Wages come from required service. A gift is something given to us from the heart of the giver apart from the merit of the receiver. Various phrases have been offered to aid our understanding of this concept. “God’s unmerited favor” OR “God’s riches at Christ’s expense”

There are at least two absolutely necessary core concepts that cannot be overlooked in this truth.

1 – It is totally disconnected from merit.

2 – It is utterly needed favor from a powerful benefactor.

I like another variation. “God’s Resources At Christ’s Expense.” God freely opens His unlimited warehouse to all those who ask.

The Bible makes it clear that all our attempts at earning status before God are like filthy rags.

The Bible also makes it clear that what we really deserve is judgment.

The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

The only reason God can pour out blessing on undeserving law-breaking rebels is because Jesus died in our place. Because Jesus gave Himself not only for our insidious infractions but our insufficient righteousness, God is legally and morally free to forgive sin and pour out blessing (grace) on us.

In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed (graced) on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. Eph1:3-8

Paul uses words from the “grace” family three times in this short passage. “the glory of His “grace” which He freely “graced” on us in the beloved.” “riches of His “grace which He lavished on us.”

Lavished means “to superabound (in quantity or quality), be in excess, be superfluous; to cause to superabound or excel :- (make, more) abound, (have, have more) abundance, (be more) abundant, be the better, enough and to spare, exceed, excel, increase, be left, redound, remain (over and above). Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.

But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. Rom 5:15

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Rom5:17