Cornerstone Church 02/18/2007
WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE?
The Prodigal Son: Luke 15:11-31
Jesus has been drawing a crowd with His ministry and messages.
Multitudes are flocking to Jesus because they hear hope in His words.
Individuals like Matthew the Tax-Collector, whom Pastor Jim spoke about a few weeks ago, make up the ranks of those who are following Jesus.
Listen to these words from Luke 15:1-3 from The Message
“By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, ‘He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.’ Their grumbling triggered this story.”
Jesus is getting ready to speak again
I would imagine that those most in need of grace are sitting as close as they possibly can to Jesus. They got up early to get there. They believe that He has answers to their questions. They know they are sick or hopeless.
Farther out in the crowd are those who are trying to make up their mind about Jesus. They have heard John the Baptist teach and now they want to know what Jesus has to say. They are seeking for truth and hope Jesus is the ONE!
Way in the back – on the fringe - are the Scribes and Pharisees. They are there to spy on Jesus. They do not understand him. They do not need to see the doctor. They are spiritual in their own minds. They are more concerned with keeping their rules and religious practices than listening to Jesus.
Jesus begins to teach
The Story of the Lost Sheep
"Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it?”
When the person finds the lost sheep they gather all of their friends and neighbors together to celebrate and rejoice.
The Story of the Lost Coin
"Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it?”
When the woman finds the lost coin she also gathers together all of her friends and neighbors and rejoices.
After each story Jesus makes it clear that even more rejoicing and celebration goes on in heaven over a sinner that repents and turns to God.
At this point many would have said, “Let’s take up the offering, pray and go home.” But Jesus still hasn’t finished the lesson. He tells one more story.
The Story of the Lost Son
Then he said, "There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ’Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’
This is a shock
First – The oldest / firstborn son was the one who would receive his inheritance first (2/3 of the estate).
Second – The father wasn’t dead.
If the father slapped the son on the cheek because of righteous indignation no one would have thought less of the father.
The son is basically saying – “I wish you were dead so I could have what’s coming to me!”
Soon the whole town is aware of this family’s dysfunction. In the ancient world your riches were tied up to land and commodities like livestock. In order to give the boy the money he had to sell off a portion of his assets.
So the son leaves for a distant country. He isn’t leaving to sow his wild oats.
He is a star on the rise! He’s off to join Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
Most families would have had a “Cutting Off” Ceremony basically disowning the son!
We’ll stop here and return to the story later
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me -
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.”
Why is this song so popular worldwide?
When you sing it does your heart stir
or fill with emotion?
For me, its like when I’m watching “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” My children look over at me and say, “Dad’s crying again!”
Are you still amazed by God’s Grace?
Are you still living daily by
the power of God’s Grace?
Perhaps you are here this morning and you know you need grace. Your life is undone and you wonder if you can begin again.
Or you are here this morning and you are a Christian. You are saved but you have forgotten the meaning of God’s grace!
What’s So Amazing About Grace?
Let’s find out!
Undoubtedly, many, if not all of us, have professed Jesus Christ as our Savior.
Unfortunately as time passed we have erected our own religious system of rules, standards, and actions. We employ these lists as a means of estimating our own spirituality and to critique those around us.
Because we look on the outward part of individuals it is always easy for us to point our fingers at another. This leads to pride and boasting on our part.
Somehow, because we are so “holy” (judged by the amount of money we give, amount of times we attend church when the doors are open, teach in the church, serve on committees, etcetera) we believe we merit special favors and grace from God.
Nothing could be further from the truth!
“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?”
Gal 3:1-3 NIV
What is Grace?
God’s unmerited favor
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense
GRACE OF GOD
Heresy
Heresy
Faith plus works Faith without works
Legalism Antinomianism
lawlessness
Christ is Savior
NOT Lord!
Grace is involved in our election
Grace is involved in our justification
Grace is involved in the gospel message
Grace is involved in our salvation
Grace is involved start to finish in the Christian life
Phil. 1:6 NIV “…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Hebr. 12:2 NIV Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Sola Gracia (Grace Alone!) was one of the tenets of the Reformation.
The others tenets were:
Sola Scriptura (Scriptures alone)
Sola Fides (Faith alone)
Soli Deo Gloria (for God’s Glory alone)
The doctrine of God’s grace has been diminished in many people’s thinking. Those who hold to it often are imbalanced in their view.
Reasons for this:
1) The sin of man
Because individuals are complacent about their spiritual condition they assume that God is, likewise, complacent.
2) The judgment of God
Individuals have forsaken concrete/logical thinking. We have forgotten cause and effect relationships. Without grace, sin will be judged.
3) The spiritual inability of man
Because we have become captains of our soul and masters of our own destiny, told that “all things are possible for us if we try harder” we have forsaken the need for God’s grace.
4) The sovereign freedom of God
He reigns and sets His standards. We forget that He may or may not show His Grace to guilty sinners.
Exod. 33:19 NIV And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
GRACE DEFINED:
Grace is... “God’s free and sovereign act of love and mercy in granting salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus, apart from anything men are or can do, and of His sustaining that salvation to glorification. It is absurd to accept a gracious salvation and then endeavor to maintain righteousness through human efforts, ceremonies and ritual.”
John F. MacArthur, Commentary on Galatians, pg. 13
“Grace is God’s riches to us. Grace is the unsought, undeserved and unconditional love of God. Grace is God pursuing us until He found us and persevering with us ever afterwards.”
Kent R. Hughes, Commentary on Romans, pg. 107
GRACE NEEDED - OUR SITUATION
THE FALL
After Adam and Eve fell it appeared that all continued as normal in the garden. Soon all sorts of sins began to be manifest: there was the first murder, jealousy, disobedience, etcetera. The most evident feature can be found in Genesis chapter 5. All sorts of people are listed and then those words, and then he died!
We are all sinners because of Adam. No exceptions! Sin is not external to us and something that acts upon us. Sin is within. With us always.
Rom. 5:15-19 NIV But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
God’s Grace to Adam and Eve
1. They didn’t die immediately
2. He promised a Savior Genesis 3:15
3. He saved them (innocent blood for the guilty)
Just how bad off were we after the fall?
Bankrupt!
Dead!
Somehow we have forgotten this. We struggle and strive to perfect ourselves in the flesh. Like the foolish Galatians we attempt to please God by our actions.
Two types of bankruptcy
Chapter 11 Temporary (restructuring, bill paying / budget plan)
We are still trying to pay.
Our debt remains always upon us as a weight.
We struggle
Chapter 7 Deeply in debt
No way out
No future viability
Inability to pay/no assets
Perhaps the Apostle Paul can illustrate this point:
Phil. 3:2-6 NIV Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh — though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
Paul had quite a resume!
I would imagine that even Donald Trump would hire him without appearing on the Apprentice!
Circumcised the eighth day
From the tribe of Benjamin
Hebrew of the Hebrews
With regards to the law - a Pharisee
Zeal - persecuted the church
As to keeping the Law - BLAMELESS!
Phil. 3:7-11 NIV But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ —the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Illustration: The folly of our own righteousness
Grand Canyon 9 miles
We might all attempt to jump across.
Some jump 10’
Others 15’
The best among us – maybe 30’
In the end no one jumps far enough and all perish.
We deceive ourselves by believing the gap is actually narrower and can be bridged by human effort.
As it is written:
“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one.”
“Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Rom. 3:10-18 NIV
Ps. 51:5 NIV Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Before knowing Christ as our Savior each of us were as dead as Lazarus was.
We had as much opportunity of coming forth from the grave on our own as did Lazarus.
No matter how long people could have shouted at us, tried to convince us and tried to persuade us of our need of salvation we could not have responded if it were not for the grace of God to regenerate us so that we would respond in and by faith.
Eph. 2:1 NIV As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
John 6:44 NIV “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
UNDER LAW UNDER GRACE
God demands
righteousness God imputes
righteousness
Righteousness is based on
keeping the Law of Moses
good works Righteousness is based on
on Christ and His character
Blessings accompany
obedience God bestows
blessings
Righteousness is impossible Righteousness made possible
Listen to God’s Gracious Invitation:
“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Isa. 55:1 NIV
Gal. 2:21 NIV I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
1Cor. 15:10 NIV But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them —yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Is God that Gracious?
Let’s return to the story
Circumstances aren’t going well for our rising star. He wasted all of his money! Having an entourage is expensive! On top of all of this a famine hit the land.
He finds himself feeding pigs in the field – hungry – wishing someone would give him even the corncobs to eat.
That brought him to his senses. He said, ’All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father.
It is here most want us to focus on the son. We want to read into this that he has repented and is returning home to ask for forgiveness.
Modern scholarship says we must focus our attention on the father. He is the most mentioned individual in this story.
The best we can say is that the son is exhibiting remorse. He is not much different than those who want to come to God by their own works of righteousness.
Look at the love of the Father
"When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ’Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’
The father didn’t follow Ancient Near Eastern customs. He ran to his son! He allowed his bare legs to show. He has been watching, seeking and looking every day for his son to return.
"But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ’Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.
All is going well until the older brother hears a party going on as he returns home. The servants tell him his brother has returned!
He’s ticked!
He won’t go into the party!
The father reaches out to his oldest son as well and pleads for his son to join them.
The son said, ’Look how many years I’ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!’
Certainly this is the attitude of the Pharisee and Scribes!
I wonder if we are like the older son at times! We have lost our sense of amazement concerning the grace of God.
We are here at church
Serving God
Putting in our time
Keeping the rules
Inspecting the fruit of other Christians
Hoping the Father will notice!
Then God reaches down and saves someone we think is a low-life – a wretched sinner and we get ticked off.
Someone has been living a sinful life as a Christian and they experience His grace and are walking fervently with the LORD.
We need to remember the grace of God!
Jesus wanted the Scribes and Pharisees to know, and for us to know, He is about finding lost souls!
A Lost Sheep and a Lost Coin reveal our concern for material things!
But the value of one lost soul is worth more to God than a Billion Galaxies! The Father is looking, seeking and watching for people to shower His grace upon!
When He sees that individual He runs! He saves! He restores!
Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.
Jesus Mission Statement:
Luke 19:10 NIV “…For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."
GRACE SUPPLIED - OUR SALVATION
Eph. 2:8-10 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Rom. 6:23 NIV For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Other Key Verses:
Romans 5:1-2
Romans 8:1-4
Titus 3:3-7
GRACE OVERCOMES - OUR INIQUITY
1) Our sin is removed as far as the east is from the west.
Ps. 103:12 NIV …as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
2) Placed our sins behind His back. He doesn’t overlook them. We just do not get what we deserve.
Isa. 38:17 NIV Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.
3) Hurled them into the sea
Micah 7:19 NIV You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
4) Blotted out! Forgotten! Actively remembers them no more.
Isa. 43:25 NIV “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
“Grace ceases to be grace if God is compelled
to bestow it in the presence of human merit...
Grace ceases to be grace if God is compelled
to withdraw it in the presence of human demerit.”
Dr. C. Samuel Storms
CHEAP GRACE
Rom. 6:15 NIV What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
May it Never be!
God Forbid!
RESPONSES OF GRACE
Admiration of God
Reverence
Humility
Submissiveness
Worship
WHAT’S SO AMAZING ABOUT GRACE?
God reached down to Amazing Depths, to translate us to Amazing Heights by His Amazing Grace to create an Amazing Work of art for His glory.
