“AMAZING GRACE”
Ephesians 2:8:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”
Have you ever received something that you did not deserve? Have you ever received something that you truly did not merit? You got it, but you did not deserve it! The doctor told you 30 years ago that you had 5 years to live. You are still here. According to the doctor , you did not deserve to live the past 25 years, yet you have outlived the doctor. A college student with low grades and no money does not deserve to be accepted into a prestigious university. Yet, the student gets the acceptance letter with full tuition paid. The student did not deserve it, but the student got it. A hard-working mother of two children trying her best to make ends meet has driven her car to work all week with the gas hand below E. She did not deserve to make it to work, but she got to work all week until payday. A tornado ravages a small community. Every house on the block is completely destroyed. Somehow your house is the only one standing. Your house was saved. You did not deserve your house, but you still got it. Your utility bill is a week past due. The first customer service representative would not give you an extension, but the fifth one did. You did not deserve power, but you got it. You ran a stop sign. The police officer pulls you over and tells you he will be right back with your ticket. He comes back and tells you to go on and not to run a stop sign again. You did not deserve to go free, but you did.
My friends, these stories give us a true and real life interpretation of the text. Grace is not something you can buy, invent, or earn. Grace is a true unmerited and undeserved gift from God. The biblical definition of grace is: a good-will, loving-kindness, favour from God. A loving God who shows good will towards us by giving us a favour. In the examples above, God gave favour to the sick person, the college student, the mother, the tornado survivor, and the stop sign runner.
Notice, grace in this passage of scripture is a noun-a person, place, or thing. Grace is not an adjective such as to be gracious, but a noun. Grace is a person. Grace is Jesus Christ! Simply replace grace in the text with Jesus: “For by JESUS are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: JESUS is the gift of God.” That's right. God gave us the unmerited, undeserved gift of Jesus Christ. For John 3:16 states: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Yes, on Mount Calvary, God ushered in the season of Grace. We got Jesus and did not deserve Him. We deserved the shackles, penalty, and punishment of the law. We deserved the law's justice. Let me repeat that: we deserved justice!! We deserved the marching from judgment hall to judgment hall. We deserved to be beat with many stripes. We deserved the piercing in our side. We deserved the nails in our hands. We deserved crowns in our head. We deserved the mocking all night long. We deserved the pain, agony, and suffering. We deserved to be crucified on that cross. We deserved to be wounded for our own transgressions. We deserved to be bruised for our own iniquities. We deserved our own chastisement. Yet, Isaiah 53:5 states: “ But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
God's grace heals us. God's grace saves us. God's loving grace gives us the opportunity to renew our covenant relationship and fellowship with God. God's grace gives us a new lease on life. Real life. Eternal life. We have the opportunity by faith to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Our faith in Jesus guarantees us an everlasting and eternal covenant with God.
God's grace not only heals us and saves us, but grace keeps us, strengthens us, and sustains us. Grace is right there with us. Grace comforts us. Look what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:9: “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” The power of grace is right there with us in our daily walk with Jesus. We see the power of grace in the Gospels. Jesus gave sight to the blind. Healed the sick. Made the lame walk. Fed the hungry. Gave water to the thirsty. Gave hearing to the deft. The story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11 is a wonderful experience of Jesus sprinkling grace on the law. 1 Peter 5:10 states: “ And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
That's right. God's grace-Jesus Christ establishes us eternally. Look what Paul writes in Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
There is a hymn that is song and played in millions of congregations. We do this hymn no justice. Some congregations don't even play it anymore. We use selected verses from the hymn. Many of us don't even know all of the verses to the hymn. We recite the verses. We sing the verses. We silently listen to the verses through organ, piano, harp, and flute. It is the most famous hymn on Earth. It is the hymn of sermon preparation for many preachers. The hymn is Amazing Grace. My friends, let us take a few moments out of our lives and meditate and reflect upon the true meaning of this hymn. Mediate upon all the verses of the hymn. Only then we will get the true meaning, revelation, and have a great appreciation for what makes God's grace so amazing. The hymn Amazing Grace gives us a small glimpse into just how much and how deep God loves us, favours us, keeps us, strengthens us, and sustains for now and forever more. Listen carefully as I read the words to the hymn:
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.
T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.
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.
AMEN
