WHAT MAKES GOD’S GRACE AMAZING ? 1 CHRON. 17 : 16
INTRO :200 years ago Dec. 21 1807 John Newton was laid to rest. He was an
Infidel/slave trader turned Christian/minister. His friends included the likes of
John Wesley, George Whitefield, & William Wilburforce.
*He pastored 2 different churches during his life but his most historically
recognizable accomplishment was a song he wrote, that was first published in
1779. A song named “Faiths Review and Expectation” We know this song as
Amazing Grace & it was based on the Scripture we just read.
*Some say John Nweton wrote this song shortly after his conversion in 1748.
due to a nearly fatal shipwreck,but he had other near death experiences before
that & it didn’t inspire him to sit down & write a timeless hymn.
*Truth is that this song was probably written many years later after he really
Began to understand what made God’s grace truly amazing.
*Reguardless of its particulars we must admit it’s the most popular of all
Christian hymns.
*More artists have recorded this song more than any other song.
*I’ve heard it on Tommy Boy & on Star Trek II.
*We can safely say a lot of people have heard this song. It’s the only Christian
song that some people know.They sing of God’s amazing grace but really don’t
know what it is.
*But my question today is “what makes God’s grace so amazing”
I.WHAT MAKES GOD’S GRACE AMAZING ?...SACRIFICE.
*Grace defined is “unmerited favor”
*It could include a judge granting a pardon to a guilty party , or someone buying a homeless person breakfast at McDonalds or any random act of kindness
*But God’s AMAZING grace is so much more!!!!!
*Lets go back to the period of time between the testaments.When for 400-500 years God remained silent.No prophets,no miracles,no word from God at all .
*The children of Isreal & the Gentile world…all of humanity had been disobedient to the will & word of God.
* & now God is silent…could it be that He had abandoned & forsaken His creation.
*after all because of all of the disobedience & God being a just God ….wouldnt desertion be exactly what humanity deserved……..
*but He didn’t……………
*Instead He found it in His heart to show us grace….in the form of a little baby boy…..
*When we deserved the absolute worst of hell,He gave us the best of heaven
*Romans 5:8”But God demonstrates His own love toward us,in that while we were still sinners,Christ died for us”
*God gave us His child to take the hell,the desertion we deserved!
*Now that is grace…and isn’t that amazing!!!!!!!!
*What makes God’s grace amazing???? –Sacrifice.
II.WHAT MAKES GOD’S GRACE AMAZING? –SALVATION
*What happened on the cross 2000 years ago happened,but it didn’t happen in me & it didn’t happen in you at that time.
*What happened then, gave us a chance to respond to it today!!
*If you have already responded to God’s grace, by giving you’re heart to Jesus, then you know……..and I know you know……………
*How do I know that you know ?
*Because in order to be a partaker of God’s grace in salvation you MUST first realize you need salvation & to realize that………. You must realize the total misery of your sinfulness………. There’s no reason for you to respond to God’s grace until you come to this point.
*But if you have come to this point & you have realized the misery of your sin & your inability to do anything about it & it has brought a sense of total helplessness
*Possibly a sense of panic to realize if you were to die & stand before the Creator of the universe that you would be condemned to Hell………
*You may have even wondered “How could God have created such a creature as I ?
*You feel like Paul did when he said “O wretched man that I am ! Who will deliver me from this body of death ? (Rom.7:24)
*But then amidst all this chaos & doubt & fear ………You cry out to Jesus & just in the nick of time God shows you unmerited favor …… God sheds on you …..grace
*Isn’t that amazing?!!!
*What makes God’s grace amazing? 1)His sacrifice 2)Our salvation………
III.WHAT MAKES GOD’S GRACE AMAZING? –IT IS SUSTAINING GRACE
*When we think of something that sustains us ….something that we must have to keep us going…. we probably think of food or water or oxygen …something we must have to survive physically
*But I must say that in order for us to survive spiritually,we must have God’s grace!
*If we are truly born again ,we are very aware of the spiritual warfare within.
*We know that the Bible teaches us from Gal.5:25 “If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit” & v.16 of the same chapter we are commanded to walk in the spirit so as to not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.
*But we know that with all this support ….that sometimes we miss the mark…. & we commit sin
*Sometimes very grievous sin,sometimes we allow that sin to rule over us full well knowing that God has shed His grace on us ,but yet we contine on misusing & abusing the grace of God.
*And yet because of His great grace we may go to Him in earnestness & repentance and apply the blood of Jesus & those sins also will be erased.
*For about 6 yrs after John Newton was saved he continued on in the slave trading business.
*At the time it was a legitimate business endeavor, but then he realized the business was immoral and even sinful….so he repented of it ,he quit it
*I believe it was at this point that John began to realize just how great the grace of God was….that God’s grace is greater than ALL of our sin
*And he found that AMAZING!!!!!!!
*And I too find that God’s grace is truly amazing!
CONCLUSION:
*We serve a God that is a just God ,one who hates sin and is a jealous God, He is all-knowing, all powerful & ever present & if humanity got what it deserved from God…we would have been wiped out long ago.
*But He stands more eager to forgive ………….than to condemn the sinner or to discipline the believer……….won’t you respond to that amazing grace this morning.
