Today, we're going to begin looking at the various aspects of God's Grace - Saving Grace; Sanctifying Grace; Sustaining Grace; Surpassing Grace; and Seeking Grace. Often, when we think of people coming to Christ, we speak of those who are "seekers." Indeed, many are looking for meaning, but they are looking everywhere but to God.
"What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself." - Blaise Pascal, French Theologian
In other words, every person has a "God-shaped hole in his heart" that only a personal relationship with God can fill. Mankind is involved in a fruitless search to fill that "God-shaped hole" with everything but God. This is what Scripture tells us about the human race. That left to our own devices, we will look to anything for fulfillment but to God:
"There is no one who seeks God." - Romans 3:11b (NIV)
Scripture says the real seeker is God. God seeks to draw us to Himself.
"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." - Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)
This Seeking Grace we're talking about is referred to by theologians as Prevenient Grace. The word "prevenient" means, “to come before.” So Seeking Grace means God is present throughout our lives - from our conception to conversion. It's the love of God wooing us; it's the desire of God pursuing us; it's the gift of God freeing us; it's the will of God drawing us; and finally, it's the activity of God empowering us to choose Christ as our Savior. (READ TEXT)
"The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me - that’s the only way you’ll ever come." - John 6:44 (The Message)
1. God created us with a love relationship in mind.
"Long before He laid down the earth’s foundation, He had us in His mind and settled on us as the focus of His love to be made whole and holy by His love." - Ephesians 1:4 (The Message)
Man was made to be loved by God. God’s intent was for man to know Him in growing love relationship and lead all creation to glorify Him. But love isn’t love unless it is freely given. So God also created man with the capacity for free will. But free will is meaningless unless there's an opportunity to choose. So God told man he could eat of every tree in the garden, except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
"And the LORD God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.'" - Genesis 2:16-17 (NIV)
Adam & Eve disobeyed God and their sin was passed on to us, so every person is a sinner by birth, who eventually becomes a sinner by choice.
"Men are not sinners because they choose to sin; they choose to sin because they are sinners." - Walter J. Chantry
There was nothing magical about the fruit man partook of that made him a sinner. It was the choice represented by choosing the fruit that brought about man’s ruin. In choosing the fruit, man chose . . .
A. Bondage over freedom (circle phrase "You are free")
Mankind is in bondage to sin. We owe a debt that must be paid, that we can never pay on our own. We’ll talk more about this in a moment.
B. Anarchy over authority (circle "knowledge of good & evil")
Man chose to know for himself what was good and evil, instead of taking God’s Word for it. Thus, every man was left to do what was right in his own eyes, which has led to the chaos we see today.
"What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter." - Isaiah 5:20 (NLT)
C. Death over life (circle "you will certainly die")
Literally, God told them, "dying, you will die." Man would immediately know spiritual death, as his relationship with God would be severed, both for all time and all eternity; and would eventually know physical death. This death was passed on to all creation. But there’s good news: God has come to our rescue.
2. God came to us with a love relationship in mind.
God had a plan in place before the problem arose. What was His plan? Jesus. The Bible says Jesus is, "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," (Revelation 13:8 NKJV).
God took on human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, lived a perfect life, and ended it by paying the price for our sins. He did for us what we could never do for ourselves - He has covered our debt.
"He is the payment for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world." - 1 John 2:2 (GW)
But to benefit from the forgiveness provided through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, I must choose to accept it. If we were sharing a meal in a restaurant and you realized you didn’t have any money, but I said I had you "covered," you could choose to accept my provision or not. If you accepted it, you would benefit from my graciousness and walk out of that restaurant debt free. If you rejected it, you would forfeit benefiting from my graciousness and would end up having to pay your debt by working in the kitchen, washing dishes.
God doesn’t want us ending up in “Hell’s kitchen.” That's why He took our debt on Himself in the person of Christ. After paying the price for our sins, He proved He'd fully paid sin’s debt by being raised from the dead. He ascended to heaven; and one day He'll return to make all things new. Until then, He calls men to Himself. That is Seeking Grace.
"He isn’t really being slow about his promised return, even though it sometimes seems that way. But he is waiting, for the good reason that he is not willing that any should perish, and he is giving more time for sinners to repent." - 2 Peter 3:9 (LB)
3. God calls to us with a love relationship in mind.
Because of the cross, we can enter into a personal love relationship with God by turning to God and trusting in Christ.
"Turn to God and have faith in our Lord Jesus." - Acts 20:21 (CEV)
Until we make that choice, God pursues us. That is Seeking Grace.
Jesus spoke of this in three parables found in Luke 15. In the parable of the lost sheep, God is a caring shepherd, and we are portrayed as sheep who have wandered astray. In the parable of the lost coin, God is a woman, diligently cleaning her house, trying to find one of her coins she has lost. We are portrayed as ones that God treasures. In the parable of the lost son, God is a loving Father who is grieved over the ruptured relationship between himself and his son. We are portrayed as children the Father wants to restore to a place of blessing.
These parables teach God wants us to enjoy a love relationship with Him; and He wants to enjoy a love relationship with us. So He pursues us, calling us to turn to Him and trust in Christ. That is Seeking Grace.
In No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, Max Lucado tells of Maria & her daughter Christina. Christina left her poor Brazilian neighborhood, wanting to see the world. Discontent at with having only a pallet on the floor, a washbasin, and a wood-burning stove, she dreamed of a better life in the city. So she ran away, breaking her mother’s heart. Her mother knew what life on the streets would be like for her young, attractive daughter, so Maria quickly left to find her. On her way to the bus stop, she went to photo booth in a drugstore, closed the curtain, and spent all the money she could on pictures of herself. With a purse full of black-and-white photos, she got on the next bus to Rio de Janeiro. There, she began her search. Bars, hotels, nightclubs, any place with street walkers or prostitutes. Every place she left a picture - taped to a bathroom mirror, tacked to a hotel bulletin board, or fastened to a corner phone booth. It wasn’t long before Maria’s money and pictures ran out, and she had to go home. She cried as the bus began its long journey back to her small village. Weeks later, Christina walked down the stairs in a seedy hotel. Her young face was tired. Her brown eyes no longer danced with youth but spoke of pain and fear. Her dream had become a nightmare. A thousand times she had longed to trade what her life had become for her pallet on the floor at home. And yet the little village seemed too far away. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her eyes noticed a familiar face. There on the lobby mirror was a picture of her mother. She walked across the room and removed the photo. Written on the back was written: “Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn’t matter. Please come home.” And Christina went home.
God is the same way. Like Maria reached out to her daughter even when she didn’t realize it; God reaches out to us while we are living a life of sin and gives us glimpses of Himself in hopes we will hear the message: “Whatever you have done, whatever you have become, it doesn’t matter. Please come home.” That is Seeking Grace.
You being here today is due to God’s Seeking Grace. Will you turn to the God who seeks to draw you to Himself? Will you let that God shaped hole in your heart to be filled by Jesus? Christian, you've let Jesus fill the hole in your heart, but are you allowing His presence to fill your life? Respond to God's Seeking Grace.
