Amazing Grace
Ephesians 2:4-10
February 18, 2007
Morning Service
Introduction
William Wilberforce led the charge to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire. He battled with the British Parliament for over 45 years and one month after his death the tyranny of slavery came to an end.
One night in the early 1790’s Wilberforce had suffered one of his worst defeats and was ready to move to another issue. A minister heard of the decision that Wilberforce had made and wrote him these words in a letter.
"Unless the divine power has raised you up... I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that (abominable practice of slavery), which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Oh, be not weary of well-doing. Go on in the name of God, and in the power of His might."
These words were written by John Wesley a few days before his death. Both Wesley and Wilberforce understood that the issue of slavery was an issue of grace. God had bestowed upon us freedom from the power of sin.
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—Romans 6:6
The issue of grace is one that we tend to wrestle with because we fail to understand it. Jesus loves us enough to bless us by rescuing us. This is the mission of grace and salvation, to rescue us from those things that would destroy us.
So let me ask an important question, what is so amazing about grace?
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
What is so amazing about grace?
The motivation behind grace is amazing
But because of his great love for us
It shouldn’t be a great surprise to you that everything that God does is because of His love for us. At the very center of grace must be love. All of the riches of God come to us because of His divine love. God loves us so much that he went to the ultimate extreme to bring us back to Him, He died for us. Paul’s desire was that the Ephesians understand just how much God loved them. Love becomes the motivating factor in the act of grace.
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19
God laid his love on the line when Jesus came to this world and died on the cross. It is truly impossible to see just how much God loves us. But through Paul’s words we get a small glimpse of it. The truth Paul gave the Ephesians was simply this: without love there would be no grace.
God’s love is shown in the fact that He is rich in mercy. The word mercy literally means to compassion on another, a desire to help them. Compassion consists of two key actions: seeing a need and being able to meet that need.
The method of grace is amazing
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Compassion means to see a need and then meet that need. God has done both for us through his divine grace. It is through his grace that He meets the deepest needs of our hearts
1.) God made us alive
God made us alive when we were still dead in our transgressions. The greatest need for a person who has died is to be made alive. We are all in need of a serious spiritual resuscitation, to be brought back to life.
In our sinful living we were dead. Sin leads to nothing but a dead life. The wages of sin is death. The rightful payout for sinful living is death. By all rights, we should die for what we have done.
2.) God raised us up
The same power that raised Jesus from the dead can be applied to your life today. God lifts us out of our dead life and gives us a life that is worth living. There are many people who are alive but never really live. Just because you are breathing and have a pulse doesn’t make you alive. God wants to move us beyond mere existence into an amazing life.
3.) God seated us with Christ
God gives us life and lifts us to a higher level of living to give us a place with Him. Jesus promised the disciples that he would go and prepare a place for them. It would be a place in his Father’s house. This promise holds true for us as well. We have been offered a place with Jesus and what a place it will be. God created everything in just six days. Jesus has been preparing our place in Heaven for 2,000 years.
The Manifestation of Grace is amazing
God allows His grace to be manifested in us. He reveals to a lost world the wonders of His amazing grace through us. As our lives are connected with this grace, we are transformed. If anyone understood this, it would have been the Apostle Paul. Paul’s life was transformed by the reality of God’s grace. He went from persecuting the church to promoting the church.
There will come a day that all doubt about God’s eternal grace will be removed. It will be revealed for all to see. Everyone and everything will bring praise and honor to God because of what He has done for us.
The fact that grace is a gift is amazing
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—
Paul states it clearly that the only way that we can ever be saved is because of God’s grace. Without grace there is no salvation. It is because of God’s undeserved blessing that you can be saved. The word saved means to be rescued from danger or destruction. Sin was causing havoc in our lives and God stepped in to rescue us from it
Rescue by Jared Anderson
I need you Jesus come to my rescue Where else can I go? There’s no other name by which I am saved capture me with grace I will follow you.
The truth is that salvation is a gift. God offers salvation not because we deserve it but because He is so good. The understanding behind the word gift was a sacrifice or an offering given to God. Grace is the act of God which He satisfies His own requirements. The sacrifice that God uses to meet His own requirements was found in Jesus.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
The goal of grace is amazing
Several years ago, Hillary Clinton was taking questions on a live radio show in Rochester New York. She was taken back when she was asked the question: “if you were to die tonight, would you spend eternity in heaven or in hell?”
Here was her response: “I consider myself like any person of faith to be doing the very best I can. I hope that I will be someone who will live a life that is worthy of my strong Methodism and my Christian faith and my commitment to doing the very best I can as a human being to live up to the example of our Lord and savior. But I cannot tell you where I will be. I can only hope and pray that I will find favor in God’s eyes.” (United Press International 5/25/00)
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
The goal of grace is to help you understand that you cannot be saved by your efforts. There is no way that you can earn salvation. No amount of good deeds will ever make you good enough to get a place in heaven. Not one person will make it into heaven by their performance, position or pedigree.
Notice what Paul says here, we are God’s workmanship. Do you realize what this means? The work of salvation is finished but its impact on us is a work in progress. The only way to heaven is through the compassion of God meeting your need through Christ on the cross.
Conclusion
Over two hundred years ago, the grace of God impacted the life of a man who had made himself wealthy through the slave trade. He was so touched by grace that not only was he saved, he became a minister in the Church of England. The man’s love of music led him to write hymns for the church. His name was John Newton and his most famous hymn is still sang today, Amazing Grace.
Grace is receiving a blessing that we do not deserve. The ultimate blessing that God wants to give us is rescuing us from sin and death. He breaks the chains that hold us in bondage.
What do you need to be set free from this morning? What chains are holding you back in you walk with God? What shackles are around you today?
As we sing this morning, open your heart today and let God rescue you. Let him step and save you from your bondage. The altar is open, come and find the grace you need.
