GRACE!
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I'm found; was blind but now I see."
What is grace? The most common definition is: "the unmerited favor of God". This definition and others I've read seem to make it all about man and the benefits he receives from God. And certainly there are great benefits to man.
However, I believe we should look at another purpose for grace. How does it benefit God?
Recently I believe God blessed me with a "revelation" of the nature and purpose of grace. What I call a "revelation" is an interesting phenomenon. You can be thinking about words and concepts with which you are familiar and suddenly, it's like a light turned on and you see something you never saw before. It's almost too much to grasp, and yet it is so real. You begin to try to put it into words and you realize that there is no way you can adequately explain it.
Grace, as defined and revealed by the Holy Spirit, is: A manifestation (expression) of God's intense desire for the restoration of His relationship with man. Although man benefits from it, it is to satisfy God...to fulfill His desire.
To speak of a restoration means that something has been lost. What has been lost? Let's think about the question: why was man created? The scripture tells us that "God is love". Love gives and love wants fellowship with another being that can be the object of their love. God's nature is love, not a human type of love, but a love far greater and far deeper than anything we can imagine. So God wanted a family to which He could give the benefit of His love as they enjoyed family life together. In the beginning, God had this relationship with the man and woman He created. When that was lost, His grace went into action.
GRACE IN ACTION
When man sinned, he tried to hide from God, thus breaking the sweet fellowship they had experienced. Rather than abandon Adam and Eve for their disobedience, grace reached out and called, "Where are you, Adam?" Then, grace provided a covering for their nakedness. This was "grace in action". God, as well as man, had lost something of great value, but grace in action seeks to restore that valued relationship. Grace has it's source in God's incomprehensible love.
The story of the prodigal son illustrates grace beautifully. A father who had suffered the loss of relationship with a beloved son, waited and watched and hoped for the return and a restoration of that relationship.
I once was lost but now I'm found; was blind but now I see."
What is grace? The most common definition is: "the unmerited favor of God". This definition and others I've read seem to make it all about man and the benefits he receives from God. And certainly there are great benefits to man.
However, I believe we should look at another purpose for grace. How does it benefit God?
Recently I believe God blessed me with a "revelation" of the nature and purpose of grace. What I call a "revelation" is an interesting phenomenon. You can be thinking about words and concepts with which you are familiar and suddenly, it's like a light turned on and you see something you never saw before. It's almost too much to grasp, and yet it is so real. You begin to try to put it into words and you realize that there is no way you can adequately explain it.
Grace, as defined and revealed by the Holy Spirit, is: A manifestation (expression) of God's intense desire for the restoration of His relationship with man. Although man benefits from it, it is to satisfy God...to fulfill His desire.
To speak of a restoration means that something has been lost. What has been lost? Let's think about the question: why was man created? The scripture tells us that "God is love". Love gives and love wants fellowship with another being that can be the object of their love. God's nature is love, not a human type of love, but a love far greater and far deeper than anything we can imagine. So God wanted a family to which He could give the benefit of His love as they enjoyed family life together. In the beginning, God had this relationship with the man and woman He created. When that was lost, His grace went into action.
GRACE IN ACTION
When man sinned, he tried to hide from God, thus breaking the sweet fellowship they had experienced. Rather than abandon Adam and Eve for their disobedience, grace reached out and called, "Where are you, Adam?" Then, grace provided a covering for their nakedness. This was "grace in action". God, as well as man, had lost something of great value, but grace in action seeks to restore that valued relationship. Grace has it's source in God's incomprehensible love.
The story of the prodigal son illustrates grace beautifully. A father who had suffered the loss of relationship with a beloved son, waited and watched and hoped for the return and a restoration of that relationship.
So he got up and came to his [own] father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity and tenderness [for him]; and he ran and embraced him and kissed him fervently. Luke 15:20
How was the father's grace being expressed while his son was far away. This is what I call "passive grace". I believe that the son knew his father's heart well enough that he felt the pull of his father's intense desire, even while sitting in the pig pen. It could be the case in our lives that when God isn't doing anything active, just our knowledge of His heart toward us could be the grace that brings us home.
As the son arrived home, "active grace" restored a lost relationship...something only the father could do. Do you see how that father was blessed?...and his longing heart satisfied?
That is exactly why God has throughout history manifested grace toward man. He longs for a restored relationship. In God's dealing with Israel (O.T.), He continually speaks of His desire to dwell among them and be their God and for them to be His people.
Exodus 29: 45, 46 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.
And the revelation of the longing for a dwelling place with man is continued in the New Testament.
As the son arrived home, "active grace" restored a lost relationship...something only the father could do. Do you see how that father was blessed?...and his longing heart satisfied?
That is exactly why God has throughout history manifested grace toward man. He longs for a restored relationship. In God's dealing with Israel (O.T.), He continually speaks of His desire to dwell among them and be their God and for them to be His people.
Exodus 29: 45, 46 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.
And the revelation of the longing for a dwelling place with man is continued in the New Testament.
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. John 14:23
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Eph. 2:21, 22
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. Rev. 21:3
In Jesus' last words to the church, (Rev. 3:20) Jesus is pictured as standing outside, knocking and waiting for an invitation to enter. "Behold I stand at the door and knock, if any man hear my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me."
This is grace in action. Whoever it is inside that door, is unworthy of a visit from the living Christ, and yet He stands outside, knocking, waiting and longing for a restoration of fellowship. It is obvious that grace requires a response on our part. That is how we can bless the Father and be blessed by Him.
Since I've been thinking more about this subject, I have found that if I have a busy day with lots of distractions, I really miss the communion of my spirit with God. As I've meditated on the content of the passage in Revelation 3:20, I've wondered what are some things that would keep us from hearing God's voice and inviting Him in for fellowship. Earlier today, I listened to a sermon that talked about how busy our lives were and how many of the interests of life demand our attention. In thinking of my own life, I could see how I was so often attracted to doing many things other than just meeting with God. Television, the internet, books, magazines, hobbies and so many other interesting things in life seem to occupy our time and attention.
IMPORTANCE OF SOLITUDE
I now begin to see the need for the disciplines of solitude, quietness, reading the Word and meditating thereon. I see more clearly how many "good things" have replaced the best. As Jesus said to Martha,
"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
I am too often like Martha...careful (care-full) and troubled about many things.
If we try to practice solitude and quietness for even a short time, I believe we would find how bound we are to many things that hinder us hearing the Father. And yet His word is my life. Without hearing Him, I am like a boat adrift with no rudder...no direction...no destination...no purpose in life except to please myself. And when the emptiness of such a life hits us, we are like the prodigal son, alone in a pig pen.
In Adam, the intimate relationship between God and man was broken. Since then, God has repeatedly manifested grace, hoping to restore that relationship.
The ultimate expression of grace was in the giving of His Son, at Calvary, so that reconciliation and restoration could be offered to us. Relationship can only be restored, however, if we respond to His grace so freely offered. The prodigal son, one day had to reach the decision to say, "I will arise and go to my father". When we recognize that He is knocking at our door, we must hear and open the door.
The restoration of a right relationship between man and God is His passionate desire. All of His grace has that end in mind. That restoration is to become the beginning of a life of fellowship with Him. In that life, we will come to know Him better and in knowing Him, we will become like Him. This is the only way our lives will become an expression of His nature. It does not occur by us trying to keep all the rules.
A favorite book I've read several times is entitled, "The Pursuit of God". Initially I thought that this had to do with my pursuing of God and then one day it hit me. The pursuit of God is all about His pursuit of me. Why? Because He loves me...and He loves you...and He longs for an intimate relationship with us...and so He reaches out to us, by His grace, over and over and over again.
As long as any man is separated from God, that is, an intimate relationship with Him, His grace continues to flow out of His loving heart. Grace just flows and flows and flows. This world is filled with His grace.
And there's more. Additional articles here.
This is grace in action. Whoever it is inside that door, is unworthy of a visit from the living Christ, and yet He stands outside, knocking, waiting and longing for a restoration of fellowship. It is obvious that grace requires a response on our part. That is how we can bless the Father and be blessed by Him.
Since I've been thinking more about this subject, I have found that if I have a busy day with lots of distractions, I really miss the communion of my spirit with God. As I've meditated on the content of the passage in Revelation 3:20, I've wondered what are some things that would keep us from hearing God's voice and inviting Him in for fellowship. Earlier today, I listened to a sermon that talked about how busy our lives were and how many of the interests of life demand our attention. In thinking of my own life, I could see how I was so often attracted to doing many things other than just meeting with God. Television, the internet, books, magazines, hobbies and so many other interesting things in life seem to occupy our time and attention.
IMPORTANCE OF SOLITUDE
I now begin to see the need for the disciplines of solitude, quietness, reading the Word and meditating thereon. I see more clearly how many "good things" have replaced the best. As Jesus said to Martha,
"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
I am too often like Martha...careful (care-full) and troubled about many things.
If we try to practice solitude and quietness for even a short time, I believe we would find how bound we are to many things that hinder us hearing the Father. And yet His word is my life. Without hearing Him, I am like a boat adrift with no rudder...no direction...no destination...no purpose in life except to please myself. And when the emptiness of such a life hits us, we are like the prodigal son, alone in a pig pen.
In Adam, the intimate relationship between God and man was broken. Since then, God has repeatedly manifested grace, hoping to restore that relationship.
The ultimate expression of grace was in the giving of His Son, at Calvary, so that reconciliation and restoration could be offered to us. Relationship can only be restored, however, if we respond to His grace so freely offered. The prodigal son, one day had to reach the decision to say, "I will arise and go to my father". When we recognize that He is knocking at our door, we must hear and open the door.
The restoration of a right relationship between man and God is His passionate desire. All of His grace has that end in mind. That restoration is to become the beginning of a life of fellowship with Him. In that life, we will come to know Him better and in knowing Him, we will become like Him. This is the only way our lives will become an expression of His nature. It does not occur by us trying to keep all the rules.
A favorite book I've read several times is entitled, "The Pursuit of God". Initially I thought that this had to do with my pursuing of God and then one day it hit me. The pursuit of God is all about His pursuit of me. Why? Because He loves me...and He loves you...and He longs for an intimate relationship with us...and so He reaches out to us, by His grace, over and over and over again.
As long as any man is separated from God, that is, an intimate relationship with Him, His grace continues to flow out of His loving heart. Grace just flows and flows and flows. This world is filled with His grace.
And there's more. Additional articles here.