This morning I did a study on Ephesians 1:1-2 and I was impacted by all, but wanted to share what I learned about grace!
Grace-one word in which God speaks forth all that was and is in His heart! He is such a personal God. His heart is toward us! Charis (K-ah-ris) the Greek word used in this verse means a favor done freely without expectation of anything in return. That so grabs my heart! God loves us so much that HE favors us with this gift without expecting us to accept or even be grateful! And act beyond the ordinary course of what might be expected by anyone or of anyone. This makes me think of Ephesians 3:20 in a new light.
All any of us really deserve of God is His wrath and banishment from His presence. Instead He sets aside His robes of splendor, steps down from His kingly throne from His place of judgement. He takes upon Himself the guilt and the penalty of our sin satisfying His justice and making way to pour out His mercy on us. And He did this not for His friends but for His bitter enemies.
The only motive God has for handing us this wonderul GRACE is His bounty and free open heartedness. It was never a manipulation to make us respond. 1 John 3:1...Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us... What manner of really means "what foreign kind of act?" The kind of love God shows from the cross is foreign to the human race--to die for your enemies?
Because this gift is so beyond the capabilities of man there is no room for good works to earn or pay for our salvation. In fact wouldn't you agree that it would be an insult to Him even try and earn this gift. Grace and works are absolute opposites of each other and yet good works are a result of and requirement of grace.
All we can do is collapse before Him in wonder and awe of such love. We can live our life in such a way that we bring honor to His name in gratitude for such a magnificent gift!
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Another example of grace: This weekend David Loveless was preaching and spoke of a man who, when his wife was undergoing chemotherapy and losing her hair, gently and lovingly shaved her head for her and then handed the clippers to her and asked her to shave his as well. He told her that she had the most beautiful bald head he'd ever seen and that if she was going to be bald, he wanted to be as well. (This was the true account of David Loveless's uncle- and aunt-in-law.) While he was listening to this story and crying, he realized that this is exactly what Jesus did for us: if we are to be rejected, so would He. If we are to experience pain, so would He. He, out of His love for us, wanted to experience and identify with us in every way. We are not walking this path alone!
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