KNOWING GOD - #5
God is Gracious
Various Scriptures
Introduction
Preacher Charles Swindoll recalled his last spanking when he turned thirteen years old. Chuck said, “Having just broken into the sophisticated ranks of the teen world, I thought I was something on a stick. My father wasn’t nearly as impressed as I was with my great importance and new-found independence.
“I was lying on my bed. He was outside the window on a muggy October afternoon in Houston, TX, weeding the garden. He said, ‘Charles, come out and help me weed the garden.’ I said something like, ‘NO, IT’S MY BIRTHDAY, REMEMBER?’
“My tone was sassy and my deliberate lack of respect was eloquent. I knew better than to disobey my dad, but after all, I was the ripe old age of thirteen. Dad set a new 100-meter record that autumn afternoon. He was in the house in a flash and all over me like white on rice, spanking me all the way out to the garden. As I recall, I weeded until the moonlight was shining on the pansies.
“That same night he took me out to a surprise dinner. He gave me what I deserved earlier. LATER HE GAVE ME WHAT I DID NOT DESERVE. The birthday dinner was a matter of grace. He showered his favor on this rebellious young man. And I enjoyed grace.”
Grace defined: getting what we do not deserve. Another way to say it is that grace is the unmerited, or undeserved, favor from God.
We talked two weeks ago about compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. I mentioned that mercy is “not getting what we deserve.”
Grace follows by giving us what we don’t deserve.
Grace carries the idea of a gift. A gift is not something you deserve. That is a wage. A gift is something given by someone who loves the recipient.
Understanding the grace of God is crucial to experiencing the abundant life Jesus desires for us. You will see why as we progress through this message.
My purpose this morning is to urge you on to a deeper appreciation of the grace of God, and to a sense of urgency in extending it to others.
We begin by turning to John 1:16-17. John is the 4th book in the New Testament, and if you are using one of the Bibles in the seats, it can be found on page 750.
From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Our first point this morning is that grace is…
I. Given by God.
This passage tells us that, first of all,…
A. He is the Source.
Grace originates from God. Without God we cannot experience grace.
“Why’s that, Preacher? Can’t other’s show us grace?
Without God, the best that people can do is give out a cheap copy of the real thing.
In the office furniture business, I have to educate people on the difference between chairs or copiers, or fax machines they see at discount stores, and the ones only available through your local office products dealer.
There are two types of furniture and machines: consumer grade and commercial grade.
They might look the same from the outside, but when you open them up, it is usually a different story.
The commercial grade stuff is built to take the heavy-duty toil of daily and continuous use.
The consumer grade stuff is not. And you will be sorely disappointed if you try to get commercial grade use from a consumer grade product.
Grace from God is heavy-duty, commercial grade stuff. Human grace apart from God is a cheap imitation.
And since it originates from Him, it is perfect in all its aspects and purposes. And that is a comforting and encouraging thought to me.
And since it originates from Him, it stands to reason that…
B. He determines the…
1. Who. God’s grace is available to everybody, but nobody deserves it. That’s what grace is, remember?
My point here is that since none of us is deserving, we have no right to demand grace from God, whether for yourself or someone else.
He decides, not us. We can and should pray that God would shower His grace on us, or others, but we are in no position to demand.
He also determines the…
2. How. If you are anything like me, I have my ideas about how God should do things, sometimes.
And I pray rather specifically about how I would like God to act in a given situation.
Yet I am constantly reminded that not only does God not owe me grace at all, He does not owe it to me to act in a certain way.
I have learned that if God acted in the way I always wanted, things would be a real mess.
You aren’t saying it, but I can hear you saying, “amen” in your heads.
Sometimes God, in His grace, allows and even directs suffering in our way.
Sometimes, in His grace, He allows or even directs wonderful blessing beyond your wildest dreams.
But it is up to Him to decide, not you.
Thirdly, He determines the…
3. What. God chooses the gifts of grace to bestow. One of the biggest areas in which we can see this is in the area of spiritual gifts.
Listen to 1 Cor. 12:4-11:
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.
7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.
When you demand something, it is not a gift.
God has given me certain spiritual gifts, mainly evangelism and leadership. He has chosen to not bless me with the gift of healing, as much as I would like that, especially when I see people I love who are hurting.
And while I want all God has for me, to demand gifts is an insult to His grace.
Here’s the last point here:
*The Why – He is gracious. There is no other reason. He decides to shower grace on us undeserving sinners.
I think we need to take a moment to thank Him for that right now.
Grace is given by God.
Let’s move on to our second point. It is that God’s grace is…
II. Given to us. Romans 5:15-17
Please turn with me to Romans 5:15-17. This is a couple books over to the right of John, and can be found on page 798 of the Bibles in the seats.
But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
God doesn’t hoard His grace, He gives it away. To us. And for two main areas.
A. For salvation.
“but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification” (v. 16)
Listen to the words of Pastor Timothy Peck:
Every other religion of the world rejects the idea of grace, and insists that we must contribute something to our salvation. We must try harder, we must be better, we must live morally, and so forth. All the various religions of the world offer a self-help way to merit restoration with God, whether it’s the eightfold path of Buddhism, the karma and reincarnation cycle of Hinduism, the laws and ordinances of the Mormon church, or the four pillars of Islam. Only the Christian faith dares to suggest that God offers a relationship to people on the basis of pure grace.
The whole basis of Christianity is that the human race as a whole and individually is too far removed from God to make it on our own. We need a Savior.
We can’t earn our way. We need a Savior.
We don’t deserve heaven. We need a Savior.
God saw our need. He provided a Savior. That’s grace.
What do you think your chances are of going to heaven? Have you ever consciously asked yourself that question?
About 10 years ago, USA Today had a man-on-the-street survey and interview and went out and asked several people what they thought their chances of going to heaven were.
One older fellow answered, "50-50. The older I get, the more I think my chances will improve."
Another man, somewhat younger and more optimistic replied, "Eighty-five percent. I don’t think an entrance exam will be that tough."
One lady said, "My chances are kind of slim – maybe 50-50. You have to be more than a nice person. But I’m still in the running.
This is kind of a trick question in more than one way.
One the one hand, it invites the person being asked to make a judgment on a sliding scale, as all three of these people mentioned did.
After all, if you said 0%, then people would wonder what kind of monster you were inside that you were sure that you weren’t going to heaven.
If you said 100%, then people might think you were a holier-than-thou hypocrite who thought they were perfect.
On the other hand, it’s a trick question because it cannot be answered on a sliding scale because the answer for all of us here this morning is either 0% or 100%.
How can this be true?
Well, you don’t have to believe you’re so despicable that you know for sure you couldn’t go to heaven and neither do you have to be so self-confident that you are sure you’re perfect.
In fact, to answer this question, you need not to look at yourself at all.
Paul wrote there in Ephesians that we are "saved by grace…not from ourselves, it is the gift of God."
Grace carries the idea of a gift. A gift is not earned, it is given and received.
Heaven is not a wage. It is not something we deserve.
Unfortunately, we are sometimes like those three people I just mentioned, saying to ourselves, "Well I haven’t been a very bad person. I never killed anybody; I’ve never cheated on my spouse, or beat my children. I’ve never stolen anything – anything of worth that is. So I’m not such a bad person and I think God ought to let me into heaven when I die."
Now, be honest with yourself, you’ve thought along those lines before, haven’t you?
I know, I have at times.
I’m not near as bad as the guy down the street or many other people I know, so I’m all right, right?
Well, if you want to talk about what we deserve, we need to talk not about grace, but about punishment.
Because sin isn’t something we do sometimes, it is what we are.
But that’s where God’s grace comes in. God, seeing our depraved state, looks down and showers His grace on us in the form of His Son, so that we can spend eternity with Him, not because we earn it, but in spite of the fact that we cannot.
God gives us grace for salvation. He also grants grace…
B. For life.
Verse 17 of this passage says that through God’s grace in Christ, we can “reign in life”.
We don’t have to slosh through life just getting through each day. We can live in victory. We can live in love. We can live in confidence that He will provide everything we need for life and godliness. We can live with hope for eternity and hope for today.
We have pardon for the past and power for the present. We don’t need to buckle under when the Accuser comes before us.
We’ve all made mistakes in our past. Some of those mistakes may have hurt someone. And the devil just loves to bring these up to us.
Brother or sister, if God has forgiven you, it’s forgotten by God. He will never bring it up. You can live in the knowledge of forgiveness, and that gives you the power to move on.
You can’t change yesterday. You have to live today in light of eternity.
Don’t live in yesterday. That only brings regret Live in today. Live in the power given by the grace of God to say no to sin.
Puritan theologian John Owens said that his biggest challenge as a pastor was to convince sinners they were slaves to sin, and Christians that they were dead to sin, as it says in Romans, chapter 6.
But past sins aren’t the only issue. God will help us to reign in all areas of our lives. In our work. In our family. In our relationships. In our finances. In every area of life, God offers help to “reign in life.”
Grace is given by God, it is given to us, and it is…
III. Given through us. Matthew 28:19-20
Please turn to Matt. 28:19-20.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Jesus gave us some instructions about giving of the grace God has given us. These are in the areas of…
A. Evangelism/Discipleship
“teaching them to obey everything I have commanded.”
One of the things Jesus commanded was that a person must be born again.
We need to tell people that. We extend God’s grace by telling people about it.
We tell people that God has offered us grace in Jesus.
We offer grace by helping people see how to live for Christ, yielding themselves to Him as not just Savior, but Lord.
We also show grace by our…
B. Generosity
Reflecting God’s grace means not being stingy with it. We don’t wait until someone deserves it. No one does, remember? You sure didn’t.
This has a lot of application, but let me offer just two:
First, we can give of the resources God has graced us with. We are rich by almost every standard in the world.
You may have less than a lot of people, but you have more than most, believe me.
We need to give freely of our resources, remembering that they are not really ours anyway, but God’s, to be used as He directs.
Next week we are going to take a special offering for Tim and Tracy Harms to help as they recover from the fire in their home, and the impending arrival of their baby.
This is a great opportunity for this local fellowship of the Body of Christ to shower grace on another member of the Body.
We can be generous with our time and resources in helping the poor and needy in our community who is outside the Body of Christ. What a great way to witness to the grace given to us.
The second area of application is in our attitudes to others.
As we drink deep of the grace of God, we see the neediness of other people in terms of grace.
We become less condemning in our attitudes toward sinful lifestyles and attitudes and more concerned with how to expose them to God’s grace in Jesus.
This is not to say we accept or condone the behavior, but that we look back and say, “there, but for the grace of God, go I.”
We offer grace because we know that we needed it just as badly as the next guy.
Offer it often, and offer it unconditionally.
Conclusion
Well, let’s wrap this up, shall we?
Grace is more than a little prayer at mealtimes.
It goes a whole lot deeper than that. Immeasurably deeper.
Grace makes all the difference in life. It determines where you will live in eternity and how you will live here on earth.
Grace is beyond our ability to earn or repay.
It can only be received, and it is reflected as we live lives of thankfulness to Him.
Let’s pray.
