Series: Amazing!
“SIMPLE, YET PROFOUND”
EPHESIANS 2:4-9
This morning, we start a new message series called, “Amazing.” We’re going to attempt to grasp the meaning of grace, how it works in our lives, and how we begin to accept God’s grace and extend his grace as we live our everyday lives
Grace is a simple word – only five letters. Even though it’s simple to spell, its meaning is profound. Here are some adjectives that have been used to describe God’s grace: amazing, marvelous, wonderful, matchless, saving, all-sufficient, and mysterious.
Eph. 2:4-9 – 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 is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
We’re going to start off today by making an acronym out of the word “grace.” An acronym is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of other words and pronounced as a word all of its own.
Some acronyms have become part of our vocabulary through the years. One notable is the word “laser” which is an acronym for “light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation.” Another notable example is the word “scuba” as in scuba diving with a scuba mask and scuba tanks. “Scuba” stands for “self-contained breathing apparatus.”
As we look at the word “grace” as an acronym, we begin to see some of its complexity. We also begin to see how amazing, marvelous, wonderful, matchless, saving, all-sufficient, and mysterious it is.
GOD
In this acronym, “G” stand for God. We can’t understand grace until we understand God’s role in grace and how grace emanates from God. The whole process of grace starts with God.
What is grace? The word “grace” in the original language of the New Testament simply means “gift.” Grace=gift. A gift is not something we earn. It is not something we deserve. A gift is something we receive because of the graciousness of the person who gives the gift.
If grace is a gift, what gift does God want to give us so fervently and passionately that he would go to great length so that we get this gift? To understand that gift, we have to understand God’s ultimate desire for our lives. Some people believe that God exists to give them things – material possessions. Others believe that God wants to give them a good life. God may graces us with either or both of those two things but neither one express God’s ultimate desire for our lives.
One of the things that make birthday parties and Christmas mornings so pleasurable is that we get to unwrap our gifts. Are you ready to unwrap God’s gift and see what it is? Alright, here we go.
The gift that God wants us to have above all else is himself. God wants to give me himself. That’s what grace is all about. God wants a personal and intimate relationship with us. God’s grace arises from his love for us.
In 2 Cor. 9, Paul talks about the importance of giving from our resources to help those in need. In vs. 14, he describes God’s grace as “surpassing grace.” God went above and beyond in giving this gift. Then in vs. 15, he says: Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
REACHING
Grace is all about God reaching out to us. God takes the initiative in this grace relationship. God did not wait for you to come to Him. God pursued a relationship with you.
In fact, God created you for the purpose of having a relationship with you.
We are not here by blind chance and evolutionary processes. God is a Creator God
Gen. 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Then later in Gen. 1:26-27 – Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
We’re not accidents of nature but creations of Almighty God. When God went to the drawing board and designed you, He did it with the express intent of loving you and of having a relationship with you.
The fact of the matter is that none of us, in and of ourselves, would ever seek God on our own initiative. Rom. 3:10-12 – As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
C.S. Lewis said that when people talk about their search for God, it’s like the mouse speaking of his search for the cat. Left to ourselves, we’d do what the country song from several years ago described: We’d be looking for love in all the wrong places.
And that’s what we tend to do. We try to fill the relationship gap with the wrong things.
But God has not left us in our sin. He has sought us out!
The Bible is a collection of accounts – accounts that tells about people and the God who sought them out: Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Peter and the rest of the Twelve, and Paul – just to name a few.
The good news today is that he has sought you out and is still reaching for you today. 1 Jn. 4:10 – This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
God himself came in the flesh so that we could have relationship with him. Eph. 2:7b expresses it as the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
ACCEPTING
Grace begins with God himself. Grace is all about God reaching out to us. But it’s also all about God accepting us the way we are.
Several years ago, Kyle Idleman, one of the teaching ministers at the Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY told about an encounter with a woman at the church where he preaches. Listen to how he describes it in his own words.
She was one of those who came to be baptized last week. I don’t know her name. She
may have told me, but I don’t remember. I wish I did. I’ve been praying for her all week
long. I met her right outside the decision area after one of the services, and she looked like
she wanted to go in but just wasn’t sure if it was okay. I thought our conversation would be
pretty brief. I would ask if she was wanting to be baptized and then have her talk to one of
our decision counselors. But when I asked her if she wanted to be baptized, she looked up at
me with eyes full of tears and said, “I can’t keep living like this. I’ve got to make a change.”
And then she went on to tell me her story.
It was not a story unlike many other stories that I often hear. It was a story of regret, a
story of disappointments, a story of pain; it was a story of darkness. For the first time, think,
maybe in her life, a light shone in that darkness and it called out to her. She was drawn to it.
She asked a question. It was a very honest question. She said, “Do you think I’m good
enough to be baptized?” I could tell by the look of brokenness in her eyes that she had
already determined the answer to this question. I mean, she was quite sure that if there was
some door that led out of her darkness, she wasn’t qualified to go through it. She just
couldn’t accept that God would still have her. She couldn’t imagine that He would still want
her.
She talked to one of our decision guides, and I was thrilled a little while later when I saw
her come out of the baptismal changing room and she was ready to go. She looked a little
bit uneasy, so before we came into the water last weekend, I said, “Are you okay? This is a
big decision. Are you ready to make this decision?” And she said to me, “I’m not sure I can
change.”
She was afraid of going back to the way things used to be. She was afraid that sin’s grip
on her was too strong. So she said, “I can’t keep living like this. I don’t think I’m good
enough, and I’m not sure I can change.”
God knows our story. He knows our sin and he knows our pain. He knows our fears and our uncertainties. David said in Ps. 69:5 – You, God, know my folly; my guilt is not hidden from you.
God knows everything about us yet he still desires relationship with us. Rom. 5:8 – But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
CARING
Grace starts with God. He reaches out to us and accepts us the way that we are. God’s love is the basis of his grace. Eph.2:4-5a – 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.
Grace is all about God accepting us the way we are. He accepts us the way that we are but God loves us enough not to leave us the way we are. God accepts us in the way that a dishwasher accepts a plate that is smeared with spaghetti sauce or the way the person at the car wash accepts a dirty vehicle. They accept those things not to leave them the way they are but to make them better and more useable.
How does God see our sin? Imagine with me this morning that you are going to a very important meeting. You’re dressed in some of your very best clothes. You’ve taken great pains to make sure that you look just right.
From the parking lot, you walk toward the building where your meeting is being held. On the way you meet a relative who has a three-year-old little boy who is very special to you. This child has been eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and has it smeared all over himself.
Not only that, but every piece of dirt, grass, or leaf that he has come into contact with is stuck to
his hands, face, and clothing.
As you get close to them, he puts his arms into the air because he wants you to pick him up and give him a big hug. What would you do?
That’s how God feels in the presence of sin. He is holy and righteous. But He loves us anyway.
Jesus puts it this way in Jn. 3:16-17 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
God’s grace is designed to be transformative. It’s intended to be life-changing. Tom Wright says, ““God accepts us where we are, but God does not intend to leave us where we are.”
Grace is all about God accepting us the way we are but loving us enough not to leave us that way. Titus 2:11-14 – For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
ENCOURAGING
Grace starts with God – who he is and what he’s done. Its’ about him reaching out to us. His grace demonstrates his love for us; how much he cares for us. We should be inspired and refreshed by our encounters with God’s grace. God’s grace is encouraging.
Let’s do a little audience participation Complete these sayings:
1. There’s no such thing as a free…lunch
2. No pain … no gain
3. God helps those who…help themselves
Everything we’re ever taught tells us that you get what you earn in life; that there’s no such thing as a free lunch; that you make your bed and then you lie in it. Everything in our lives is predicated on performance.
If you want a promotion, you work for it. If you want to make a big purchase, you’ve got to pay for it. If you want a sales award, you’ve got to post the numbers. If you want to succeed, you’ve got to make it happen.
Most of us become pretty good at making it happen. We earn a respectable living and live in respectable houses. We live with heat on in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. Our fridges are full of food. We think that we can make it on our own. We’ve worked for it.
But one of the common definitions of grace is: God’s unmerited favor. We can’t earn God’s approval. We can’t secure our own salvation. We can’t pay the price for our sins.
We can’t do enough good things to make God love us. But God offers us grace.
When you work an eight-hour day and receive a fair day’s pay for your time – that is a wage. When you compete with an opponent and receive a trophy for his performance – that is a prize. When you receive appropriate recognition for your long service or high achievements – that is an award. But when you are not capable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserve no award and you get something amazing, wonderful, marvelous, matchless, mysterious, and all-sufficient – that is grace.
Remember what Paul says in Eph. 2:8 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. Salvation comes by grace through faith and not by works
So, when we feel inadequate, when we just can’t try anymore, when we’re overwhelmed by our lack of goodness and righteousness, God extends His grace. Isn’t that a relief? It’s difficult to carry around all of our burdens of guilt
A fellow named George came home very late from a day of golf. His wife greeted him with a scowl on her face and said, “It’s 8 o’clock. You were supposed to be home by 4:00. Where have you been?”
George replied, “Honey, it’s been a terrible day. Poor Bob is dead. He had a massive heart
attack on the eight green.” His wife said, “That’s terrible!”
George said, “It surely was! From that point on it was hit the ball, drag Bob. Hit the ball,
drag Bob.”
When we come to know Christ as our savior, he becomes our burden-bearer. Jesus said it this way in Mt. 11:28-30 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The difference between Christianity and religion in the is the difference between two words: “do” and “done.” Religion is about doing: do this, follow these rules, practice these rituals, be good and do good. If you do enough good, then God will reward you.
The problem is that we can never do enough. Our efforts will always come up short. We can’t be good enough nor can we do enough good things to find God’s favor.
But Christianity is not about what we do but rather what Christ has done. He is the only one righteous enough to pay our sin debt. He paid that debt when he went to the cross and died for our sins. We simply enter relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ.
CLOSE
Why are video games so popular? I think there are several reasons. They’re fun and they distract us from real life. I think sometimes we let them get in the way of real life. But I also believe that video games are popular because when you mess up, you just re-start and you get to start all over again.
Fly a plane and crash? Hit re-start and start all over again. Die in battle? Hit restart and start all over again. Make a strategic mistake that causes you to lose the game? Hit re-start and start all over again.
Because of Christ, we get to start all over again. When we’ve blown it, God offers grace. 1 Pet. 5:10 – And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after
you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and
steadfast.
