G.R.A.C.E.
Psalm 145:8 (NIV)
Complete these common American phrases for me:
If it sounds too good to be true... it is.
There is no gain without ... pain.
You get what you…deserve
There's no such thing as a free ... lunch.
We are taught these things and apply them both to life and faith. The only problem is God doesn't operate this way. Rather "God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love." The Bible says God is a gracious God and He loves to be gracious to you. God loves to bless people who don't deserve it. You can't understand the Christian faith or God unless you first understand grace. This is the foundational characteristic of God because it is rooted in His love. It is also the foundation of our faith and at the heart of our relationship to God. You have to understand grace before anything else. The more you understand grace, the more you're going to be drawn to God, the more you're going to love God, the ore you’re going to trust God and the more you're going to be grateful to God. It is through grace that God brings us to Himself.
One of the most interesting findings of our Reveal survey is that a lot of our people in the congregation don’t understand grace and the role it plays in our life and faith. As a result, we're beginning a new series called, “Great News About Grace". The hope is that this series will help you understand grace clearly so that you will experience it, feel it and live in the grace of God for the rest of your life. We are a recipients of grace. What is grace? There is no single definition of grace. One definition is "God's love in action." Another is “God’s unmerited favor.” A third is "God giving me what I need, not what I deserve." Another definition is, “The face God wears when He looks at my failures." Professor Bill Power had a friend and his wife driving through Dallas on vacation who called and asked if they could have dinner together. Bill explained that their granddaughter was staying with them that weekend and so she would be coming to dinner too. Whent hey got to the restaurant, Bill’s friend pulled in the parking lot at the same time. When they got out of their cars they waved at each other and walked toward one another when all of a sudden Bill’s four year old granddaughter brke away and ran toward his friend. When she got to him, she threw her arms around the legs of Bill’s friend. And Bill’s friend bent down and embraced this little girl with a big hug. And Bill says, in all of my years of teaching and reading about grace, that was the best definition through example of what grace is. His grandaughter had never met his friend but because she saw that Bill knew him she broke free and embraced him with the love that only a 4 year old heart can give. That's grace. What we know and see in Scripture is that God always responds in a gracious way.
We’re saved by grace. But even though many Christians know they're saved by grace, they sure don't act like it. In fact, they spend most of their life thinking and acting like they're saved by works. They spend their life trying to please God and making up for their sins by doing good things. They think they have to earn God's love and approval. The rationale is if you do a certain number of good works then God will love you, bless you and grant you eternal life. You're saved by grace but you're actually living by works. So grace not only saves us from this faulty belief that we can earn salvation but it also saves us from our sin.
Today I want us to look at five aspects of Saving Grace using the acrostic -- G.R.A.C.E.
G stands for God’s gift to me. Romans 3:24 says, "All of us need to be made right with God by His grace, which is a free gift through Jesus Christ." Grace is free. Many people think they have to earn it by the way they live. But God says that salvation is absolutely free. You can't earn it, you can't buy it, and you can't work for it. This is the fundamental difference between Christianity and every other religion. Every other faith, including Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam is summarized in one word: DO. It is based on works and what you can do to attain salvation and God's approval. And what’s curious is that each faith says different things in order to gain bliss, heaven and God's approval. Christianity, on the other hand, is summarized by the word: DONE. It’s about what God has done for you and that's grace. You can't do anything to earn it. It’s all about what’s already been done for you on the cross by Jesus Christ. He paid the price for your sins on the cross and now offers it freely to you as a gift. That's why Jesus Christ, said on the cross, "It is finished." He didn't say, "I am finished" because He wasn't. He's still alive today. He said, "It is finished." What's the "it"? Your salvation. Jesus’ death was God’s plan to provide grace for every person. There isn't anything you can do to save yourself. You just accept God's free gift of grace. That's the greatest gift you're ever going to be offered. If you really understand grace, you will accept it because it is a priceless gift . It's God's gift to me.
R stands for received by faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God." Faith is what allows you to receive God’s grace for your life. But first you have to believe in Jesus Christ as the sacrifice for your sins. And that’s where faith comes in. Romans 4:16 "People receive God's promise by having faith. [in the promise of forgiveness and salvation.] This happens so that the promise can be a free gift." It can only be received through faith in Jesus Christ. When you believe in him and accept his death on the cross as payment for your sins, you receive grace into your life. Jesus lived the life we couldn’t and died the death that we deserved as a result of our sin. And because of that, we receive faith through our belief in Him.
A stands for available to anyone, regardless of your background, your status, your past or your sin. God says it's available to anybody who opens up their heart in faith. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." There are no quotas in heaven. It doesn't say only really good people will be saved if they call on the name of the Lord, really religious people, really smart people. No. It says anybody. Anybody who calls on the name of the Lord, who has faith in the grace of God will be saved. Max Lucado says that one of the most difficult truths he has had to come to grips with is that God’s grace is big enough to extend to someone like Jeffery Dahmer. If you recall, Dahmer was the young murderer in Milwaukee who cut up the bodies of his victims. While in prison, Dahmer made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. Lucado knew that the Bible teaches that all who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will have their sins forgiven, but did that include someone like Jeffery Dahmer? Could God really forgive a man who has committed such horrific crimes? Eventually, Lucado realized that the forgiveness of Jeffery Dahmer, and people like him, is at the heart of the Christian Gospel. Jesus Christ has come to earth to bring forgiveness, not to good people, but to sinners. God’s grace is indeed for everyone.
C stands for comes through Christ. John 1:17 "The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Why is Jesus the only way to heaven and not Buddha or somebody else? Because He paid the price for your admission on the cross. Nobody else has done that. Grace is free, no doubt about that but it is not cheap. It cost Jesus His life. Paul puts it this way in Romans 5:15, "Many people have received God's gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ." In the Bible, the favorite description for someone who has accepted God's grace and is a believer, is the term "in Christ." That phrase is used over 120 times in the New Testament. It refers to somebody who has found salvation through the grace of God, being in Christ. Let me explain it to you like this. This card represents my life and let's let the Bible represent Jesus Christ. In my life there are a lot of things I've done wrong, that disqualify me to live in a perfect place like heaven. There are things in my life that have ripped up my life, that I'm ashamed of, things that I don't want you or anybody else to know about and I wish I could do them over. There are things that have really hurt me deeply where I've hurt others and they've hurt me. I look at that messed up, broken, damaged, life and I think, "There's no chance of this getting into heaven." But the Bible says that Jesus Christ takes my life with all the scars, all the tatters, all the mistakes, all the guilty feelings and covers it with him. (place card in the Bible and close it.) When I come to Jesus Christ and say, "Jesus, I open my life up to You and I want to accept Your free gift of salvation" then God puts me in Christ. When I'm truly in Christ, you can’t my sins, the things that I'm ashamed of, the things that have ripped up my life, how I’ve hurt other people? All you can see when I'm in Christ is Christ. And because I’m in Christ, I receive grace and forgiveness. When God looks at me with eyes of grace, He only sees the perfection of Jesus Christ. Another way to explain grace is that is Grace spelled out as God's Riches At Christ's Expense. It comes through Christ and only through Christ.
E stands for extended through eternity. Romans 6:23 "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." In Christ we receive forgiveness but we also receive the assurance of eternal life. Thus, the results of God's grace are going to go on and on forever. You could say that grace is the gift that keeps on giving. God saves the best for last and the best is yet to come. Have you ever thought of what is heaven really going to be like? The Bible tells us that heaven is going to be like five things. 1. A place of communion as we spend all eternity in the Holy Presence of God. Just imagine what that will be like. 2. A place of reunion where we are reunited with other loved ones who have accepted the grace of God. 3. It's going to be a place of reward because we receive eternal life there. 4. It's going to be a place where we are reassigned to do new work for the kingdom of God. 5. It's going to be a place of release, where we're free from all pain, all suffering, all sadness, all sorrow, all grief, all depression, all loneliness, etc.
It's going to be a wonderful place. And it is the gift of God. There's one catch: You have to accept it. If you get a gift and you don't unwrap it, it's a worthless gift. You need to realize that Jesus Christ makes this grace gift available to everybody but it is also given specifically for you. Isaiah 30:18 "The Lord longs to be gracious to you." It is His nature to bless undeserving people. He's waiting for you to accept His grace. Once you do then you’ll be free to live the life God has created you to live.
J Vernon McGee told the story of the days before the Civil War in a city in the south. At the center of town, there is a commotion as a crowd gathers for a public auction to watch the proceedings. In the crowd is an uncouth, foulmouthed, loud, boisterous man who is the meanest, cruelest, most hateful man around. In the crowd is another man who stands out for his dignity, genteel mannerisms and soft-spoken tone, and is one the most kind, gentle, and gracious man. Both men, along with the crowd wait for the auction to begin. The auctioneer steps to the podium and begins rattling his words as the first item to be sold is brought to the auction block. On the block is a beautiful young black girl, about 20 years of age. Her dress is old and torn, but remarkably clean. She is obviously filled with anxiety and fear as the bidding begins. From the outset the loud obnoxious man seemed to have his evil, lecherous eyes set on this lovely, innocent, young lady. She cringed in fear as he opened the bidding. When the kind gentleman saw her fear, he too placed a bid. Soon only these two men were involved in the bidding as the price of the girl rose higher and higher. Finally, the evil man bowed out of the bidding when he realized that the price of the girl was more than he was willing to pay. When the auctioneer closed the bidding, the kind gentleman paid the price for his purchase, was handed the Bill-of-Sale and turned to leave. The young girl started to follow her new master. He then turned to her and asked, “Where are you going?” “Why, I’m going with you,” she responded; “You bought me and I belong to you.” “O! You misunderstood,” the man said, “I didn’t buy you to make you my slave, I bought you to set you free.” Then he took the Bill-of-Sale and wrote across in big block letters – FREE! – signed his name and gave it to the girl. “I don’t understand,” the girl said. “You mean I am FREE!” “Yes, you are FREE!” ‘I can go wherever I want and do as I please.” “Exactly, You are FREE!” “Sir, I don’t know who you are, but no one has ever shown such love and kindness to me. If I am free to do as I please, nothing would please me more than to go with you and serve you till the day I die.” And that day she went home with him, not as his slave but as his willing servant.
Each of us have been a slave to sin. But we have also been given the free gracious gift, at an incredible price, paid for by Jesus; not to make us his slave, but to set us free. How could we respond in any other way than to say, “If you love me that much, I’ll serve you forever!” This is the power of God's amazing grace and it is available right here and right now for you, to heal you, to free you, to forgive you and to set you free. That's why He brought you here today. You're not here by accident. He brought you here today to hear this message and once and for all, receive His grace that you might begin to live the life He created you to live. Let us pray.
