Building God’s House
“Building a Gracious Life”
Let me start today’s message in a way that I normally wouldn’t, and that is to give the conclusion at the start, and then take the time to see how it works itself out.
And here is the conclusion, the reason for why we need to build up God’s house from the inside as a house of grace is because, if were not living in God’s growing, transforming, liberating, sustaining, restoring, and amazing grace, and then extending the same grace to others, then we’re living outside the will and way of God.
Now, that’s a mouthful.
Therefore, with that conclusion let me begin our time together in defining grace, because in truth it really isn’t all that well understood.
There are a lot of words that are misunderstood in our culture today. Take for instance the word “love.” A lot of people say, “I’m in love,” but in truth it’s more like, “I’m in lust.”
But grace is one word we cannot afford to misunderstand, and that’s because it has everything to do with our relationship with God. Most people wrongly define grace saying, “We’re under grace, so we can continue living like we want.”
And while it’s true that God forgives, we’ve totally misunderstood, misapplied, and misused God’s grace. When we see God’s grace for what it is, then our lives will change. When we understand God’s grace and rightly apply it, then our lives will undergo a dramatic upgrade.
Look at how the Bible describes this upgrade.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)
God’s grace immediately upgrades our lives from being lost to being saved. If it weren’t for God’s grace we’d all be on a downward spiral to hell, but God’s grace saves us.
The Bible says, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.” (Psalm 103:10 NKJV)
That’s grace. If God gave us what we deserved, we’d be dead. The Bibles says that the wages of sin is death, which means we are forever separated from God because of our sins. But God has given us His gift of grace through Jesus Christ and thus eternal life in heaven (Romans 6:23).
Grace is God blessing us despite the fact that we don’t deserve His blessing. It is extending kindness to those who don’t deserve it.
Now, in our conclusion, I stated a list of adjectives describing God’s grace that we not only experience through faith in Jesus Christ, but also that we need to be extending the same to others, which is a part of grace’s definition, that is, extending a blessing and kindness to those who we see as not deserving of it.
Growing Grace
The Apostle Peter tells us of our need to grow in God’s grace so we don’t fall into the error of sin.
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18 NKJV)
How do we grow in God’s grace, I think the Apostle Paul speaks to this the best in his letter to the Ephesian church.
“Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24 NKJV)
Growing in God’s grace, however, isn’t what many people think. It isn’t working hard and obeying the rules; rather it’s by taking off the corrupt former self through renewing our minds in God’s word, so that we can then put on the new person, the new creation that we’ve become through faith in Jesus Christ.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV)
Therefore, it is in God’s grace that should be continually growing, not only in our relationship with Him, but also in how we extend it to others.
Transforming Grace
God’s grace transforms us, that is, God’s grace changes us. Now in many ways God’s transforming grace is the same as His growing grace. It doesn’t depend on our working our way through it; rather it is God working His way through us.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2 NKJV)
What Paul is saying is that if we want to live in God’s good, acceptable, and perfect will, it doesn’t come through our abilities, but rather it comes through God’s grace.
To conform in the Greek language means a change based on outside pressures. Think of it like how weather changes the landscape around us. Cold, heat, wind and rain all help to change or conform the surrounding landscape.
Here Paul is saying not to let the world change us from the outside-in, that is, don’t allow the outside pressures of this world change us into its image, or what it considers a Christian to be.
Rather, Paul says that we are to be transformed, that is, an inside-out work.
The best example I can give to help us understand is how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. The ugly caterpillar spins a cocoon, and then inside that cocoon its changes into a beautiful butterfly.
That is transformation, and Paul says it happens when we renew our minds, that is, to change the way we think, allowing God’s word to change us as we begin to take it in.
In fact, a transformed mind is having the mind of Christ as Paul says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5 NKJV)
And so, God’s transforming grace should be changing us more and more into the image of Jesus Christ.
Liberating Grace
People today are in greater bondage than at any other time in history. Today people are in the shackles of alcohol, drugs (both legal and illegal), sexual immorality, and an overwhelming need for acceptance.
The good news, however, is that God’s grace can liberate us from these and other bondages that have our hearts and lives in chains. Unfortunately, most people don’t want to hear this. Instead they try to deal with these bondages in their own way and end up dealing more with the symptoms than the cause.
Acts of self-abuse and addictions are becoming more and more popular as people are trying to find new ways to drown out the emotional pain. These kinds of solutions, however, are short lived, because people, for the most part, are under the false illusion of perfectionism. And one of the main reasons people get caught up in perfectionism is because they haven’t understood God’s grace, in how God takes our sins and gives forgiveness in its place.
God’s grace liberates us from our works oriented culture and religious thinking that if we do enough good things, and keep enough rules, that God will then accept us.
To the Galatian church, however, Paul said, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3 NKJV)
Paul is saying how ludicrous it is to think that we can accomplish what only He can complete. It was the same thing he said to the Philippian church.
“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6 NKJV)
And so God’s grace liberates us and gives us the ability to break free from the prison of perfectionism, along with other hurtful and destructive behaviors and addictions.
Sustaining Grace
People are going through so much. It’s really unbelievable. It ranges from those with a wide variety of illnesses to those whose stress levels have reached so high they’re one tick away from a heart attack.
And let’s not forget about those whose emotions are so out of control that they are turning to drugs or alcohol for relief, or so they think.
People today are going through what some have affectionately, or not so affectionately, call, “The Ringer.”
What we need to help get us through to the end of this race, this journey called life, is God’s sustaining grace.
This is something Paul knew well and used the analogy of a fight and race to reveal its truth.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8a NKJV)
Like Paul, we too can depend upon this promise, that when we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we’ll cross the finish line with heaven and an eternity with God on the other side.
What’s important to remember is that it is God’s sustaining grace that gives us the strength to finish the race. It’s God’s sustaining grace that keeps us going when we feel like quitting. And it’s God’s sustaining grace that helps us do what is right, when doing wrong is so much easier.
Therefore, let God’s sustaining grace see you through. This is what Paul counted on to get him through.
“Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’” (2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NKJV)
God’s grace is sufficient to meet our every need, so when we find ourselves going through “The Ringer,” through something that has got us down and out, or that we just can’t fix, let’s not give up; rather let’s look up, because God’s grace is waiting.
Restoring Grace
As I thought about God’s restoring grace, what came to mind is the promise Jesus gave to His disciples.
“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49 NKJV)
Jesus knew that our relationship with Him would probably end like most human relationship if someone didn’t intercede. So He promised that another like Himself would come and pick up the slack after He left.
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:16-17a NKJV)
It’s the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit within us that helps our relationship with Jesus grow and mature, because no relationship ever remains the same. And here’s the point; we’re either growing closer to Jesus or we’ll find ourselves drifting further away.
But God is in the business of restoring this relationship by His grace, and so when we blow it, when we walk away, when we stumble and fall, Jesus holds his arms wide open saying, “You can come back to Me.”
This is God’s restoring grace, and it’s what the prophet Jeremiah prayed for.
“Turn us back to You, O Lord, and we will be restored; renew our days as of old.” (Lamentations 5:21 NKJV)
God desires to restore us and renew our days, and He wants to give back what has been taken, and He wants to give back so much more.
Conclusion
And so now you see why it is so important to build our lives based upon God’s grace, and why I said at the beginning, “If were not living in God’s growing, transforming, liberating, sustaining, restoring, and amazing grace, and then extending the same grace to others, then we’re living outside the will and way of God?”
And so it is important for us to get back to God’s grace, or should I say, “Reboot to God’s grace.”
I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been working at my computer when everything freezes up. I try just everything to get it working again, from clicking every possible button to yelling at it threatening it within an inch of its technical life.
Finally I ask Michaela to help, and the first thing she usually asks, “Did you try restarting it?”
I think there is an adage in the computer industry that says, “When in doubt, reboot.” When nothing else seems to be working, reboot. When you can’t seem to identify the problem, reboot.
Rebooting seems to have miraculous healing powers for our computers. What it does it that it shuts down programs or functions that may be running in the background that is slowing our computers down. Further, it allows the computer’s automatic defense systems to identify and deal with unwanted viruses and malware.
This is what grace does for our lives. Grace reboots our lives. Grace has miraculous healing power when combined with the operating system of the Bible. It allows us to shut down hurtful programming like guilt, shame, fear, legalism, and the ever-malicious virus of sin that is sapping our energy from living the life God has designed for us.
The problem many people have when it comes to God’s grace is that they have a hard time accepting it, receiving it, and giving it. And that’s because grace shocks us in what it offers.
Grace teaches us that God does for others what we would never do for them. We would save the not so bad, but God starts with lowest and then works down from there to you and me. Grace is a gift that costs everything to the giver and nothing to the receiver. It is given to those who don’t deserve it, barely recognize it, and hardly appreciate it.
What I can say is that God’s grace is greater than our sin, which is why we need to be extending it so readily to others, rather than condemning them. What I could say is that just as God extended grace to us for the awful, no good, terrible things we’ve done, shouldn’t we be extending the same grace to others.
How many need God’s grace? Well, God surrounds us with His grace when we extend His grace to others.
“(God) comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:4 NKJV)
When we minister to the needs of others, and one of the biggest needs is for God’s grace, then God ministers that grace back unto us. And so, God surrounds us with His grace when we help others with what they are going through, with that same grace.
God’s grace gives us all a brand new start. So today, let’s all reboot to God’s grace, and allow his growing, transforming, liberating, sustaining, restoring, and amazing grace make that difference in our lives and in the lives of those around us.
