Grace.

John 1: 16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

Grace.  Some would say it’s a Christian, coined term - almost a cliché.  You know, “amazing grace how sweet the sound”, saying “grace” over the food, “grace be to you”, “His grace is enough” and the list goes on.  It is said at least once at every church gathering, and time after time eyes glaze over and thoughts turn to what will be eaten at the next meal.  The word gets tossed around with other “Christianese” words like mercy, faith, compassion, and forgiveness. It is mentioned so much that it must have significance.  So what exactly is this “grace”?

The textbook definition of grace is the freely given, unmerited favor of God.  Let’s pick this definition apart.  First of all, grace is free.  There is no price.  God gives it to us out of shear love, and real love – real love being a choice, not a feeling.  He chose a long time ago to love us, as a Father loves his children, before we even knew who He was. The second part of the definition is the unmerited favor of God. “Unmerited” means it is not received by our merit, or good deeds (such as “I’m a good person,” etc.  See Galatians 2:21). His favor is on us. Another word for favor is preference. God still prefers us, even when he knows every sin we have committed, and every sin we will commit against Him.  God chooses to love us unconditionally (Ephesians 6:24).

Christ loves us so much that He died for us out of grace - His freely given, unmerited favor.  It is because of grace that He wants to have a relationship with us.  How amazing is it that the creator of the universe wants to be our Father, and we get to be His cherished child.

As God’s children we want to be just like Him in every way.  God lavishes his grace on us (1 John 3:1), when we are repentant from that which is not of him (Jonah 2:8).  Therefore, we are to lavish this grace on others.  If Jesus died on the cross for us even when He knew we would lie, steal, give in to addictions, and sin in every other way that humans do, then we can forgive a sibling for spilling coke in the back of the car or forgive a classmate/co-worker for talking about us behind our backs.  Our relationships should not be based on merit (the good deeds a person does for us) but on grace.

Only God’s immeasurable grace makes us truly alive with a purpose (2Timothy 2:9, Ephesians 2:4-6). Through this grace alone we have the opportunity to join Him in a relationship and receive His blessings (Ephesians 1:3-10, John 1:16).  It is solely this grace that saves us (Ephesians 2:8-9), and because of this infinite grace, we will bask in His presence for eternity (Romans 5:21).

  

...and the shape of an 'L' on their foreheads.

Hard to believe there are only six weeks left in the semester! Where does the time go!? God has done incredible works in this past school year and just in the spring semester. One area that I have been challenged in is evangelism.

 The very first day of class, Dr. Alvin Reid, a professor at Southeastern Seminary said, “Christians today take themselves way to seriously, however, we do not take the gospel seriously enough.”  How painfully true! Time after time Christians get bent out of shape because “the music just wasn’t right for me today,” or “I wish that pastor would stop going over time.” Yeah, how inconsiderate that he would rather preach out of God’s holy, perfect, and life changing word, rather than stop on time so that we can get to Cracker Barrel before the lunch rush. Excuse my blunt words. But in reality this is how we think and act.

How different the world would be if we lived each day burdened for lost and perishing souls! John Wesley is a noteworthy example of this lifestyle. He envisioned every person he encountered with an “L” on their forehead, which stood for lost, until either they proved him wrong or he shared the gospel with them. Let’s give an answer for the hope that is within us (1Peter 3:15). Get bent out of shape due to the fact that people are dying and suffering for eternity! Be as excited about sharing Jesus as you were the UNC championship, or the ‘A’ you earned on that big test, or that awesome summer job you just scored. 

Let's set our minds on things above (Col. 3:2), things with eternal impact. Show others the Jesus in you, and tell them of the great things He has done. His news is life saving; and by far the most life impacting story of all.