2000-11-09 - How Much Grace?

Ps 40:1-5 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. ² He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. ³ And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear, And will trust in the LORD. ⁴ How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. ⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done, And Thy thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with Thee; If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count. (NAS)

In Psalm 40, King David shows as well as anyone could with mere words, the joy and peace that comes from knowing that you are covered by the unending grace of God. David explains that the thoughts that God has for us are so good that there is nothing that compares to them and they are beyond human ability to count. There are computers that can handle some very big numbers. They are no match for the infinite creator or the universe in His power, His wisdom and knowledge or His mercy and grace.

Eph 2:4-7 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (NAS)

God, again in His almighty grace will sit us at His feet and teach us through the ages. I'm sure that many topics will be covered. I look forward to them with expectation. But look at verse 7, "...in the ages to come He might show us the surpassing riches of His grace..." There is no end of learning about the grace of God. The facets will simply go on forever. The rich tapestry of His love that sent Him to Calvary in our place, that lead Him from His throne to lower Himself to our humanity in the first place, that created us, knowing that we would rebel before time began will be rolled out before us without end.

Rom 5:10-11 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. ¹¹ And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. (NAS)

A sample of the depth of the grace of God is found in Romans 5:10. "For if while we were enemies,..." - we, as a race, were still literally at war with God spiritually when Jesus came to live and die for us. When Christ left His throne in glory, and held some portion of His deity in check (Isaiah 53:2) and put on human flesh and suffered all our temptations - he was coming to a world that didn't think needed His help. The Pharisees had the law all figured out. Jesus had to explain that if you look at a woman with lust in your heart, or if you are angry with your brother - you have already sinned. Jesus taught the people on hillsides, from boats and walking along the road. His words were filled with grace and truth, and reconciliation from the Father to man.

Rev 22:21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen (NAS)

The last word of the Revelation of John is one of grace from the Apostle that probably knew the Lord as closely as any one of the 12 disciples. He was the seeker and one of the more thoughtful. And the thing he leaves us with is the grace of Christ.

Lord Jesus - Your grace is so strongly stressed that we should not miss it. Wherever possible, help us to err on the side of mercy and grace so the world can see You instead of us. Amen.

Grace & Peace,
Mike

mhoskins@cfdevotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org