Does God ever change your plans? I had planned to preach something different today. But as I prepared, God gave me a different word. I sensed Him saying: “Speak about grace. It’s all about grace.”
Grace is something many Christians associate with Jesus and
the New Testament. But Jesus is God and the God of the New Testament is the same as in the
Old Testament. God is God. And God is love. And God is full of grace in both the Old and
New Testaments. And today the message is all about God’s grace.
In the Old Testament, it was God’s plan that the Israelites leave slavery in Egypt and travel to the
Promised Land. In Deuteronomy, Moses gave his final instructions to the Israelites before he
died.
Moses makes it clear that God is full of grace—even in the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy
9:1-6
1 “Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan
River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful
than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! 2 The people are strong and tall—descendants of
the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the
Anakites?’ 3 But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a
devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer
them and drive them out, just as the Lord has
promised.
4 “After
the Lord your
God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we
are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations
that he is pushing them out of your way. 5 It is not because you are so good or have such
integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only
because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 You must
recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you
this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people.
God's Grace is in Both Testaments
God is full of grace in both the Old and New Testaments. It was God’s grace that gave the Promised Land to the Israelites. He overcame giants for them. It was not because they were such good people. They were not good people. They were stubborn and rebellious. But God is full of grace and power.
God came as Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus came to deliver people from slavery to sin. What God did in the Old Testament for Israel foreshadowed what Jesus does in the NT. Jesus leads His people into the true Promised Land. When we put our faith in Christ and follow Him as Lord, we have eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. And it’s all about grace.
Ephesians 2:8-9
8 God saved you by his
grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from
God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good
things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Grace is God’s undeserved kindness doing for us what cannot do for ourselves. On the cross, Jesus atoned for our sin. Those who trust and follow Jesus are no longer guilty of sin. If you trust Jesus, turn from your sin and follow Him as Lord, you are no longer guilty of sin. You are no longer slaves to sin. You are set free. You are part of the Kingdom of God.
God’s Glorious Standard
Grace is hard to fathom. Christians often struggle to comprehend the amazing grace of God.
We sense that God
is Perfect and Holy. We know it
intuitively and from the Bible.
God’s obviously has a high and glorious standard. He is perfect and holy.
Romans 3:23 tells us, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s
glorious standard.”
And Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God
is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” So everyone has sinned and the consequence is spiritual death.
Since we fall short, many try to add other things to make up for it. We add rules trying to earn God’s love and favor. So some will live rather austere lives thinking it will impress God. They will not drink, or smoke tobacco. They will go to church every Sunday (and maybe even more). Some may even abstain from sex or marriage, pray 5 times a day or live as monks devoted to holy living. If someone is doing this to earn God's favor, we call it self-righteousness. It's a righteousness that we try to manufacture ourselves.
Others may go the opposite direction. They may reject God altogether and just live however they please. Their lives become selfishness, full of greed and indulgence. A life that rejects God makes the self its own god and quickly degenerates into depravity.
The world is always full of people living on both ends of this spectrum between self-righteousness and rejecting God. Even church people struggle with this.
God has a different plan. John 3:17 says, “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” Jesus came as an ambassador of God’s grace. His death on the cross saves us. His blood is our atonement. Our sin-debt is canceled. Our ransom is paid.
God’s Grace Saves
It is God's grace that saves us. We cannot save ourselves. Self-righteousness cannot atone for our sins. Rejecting God only compounds the problem. The only answer is God's undeserved, unearned grace received through faith in Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:9 reminds us, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.” It is God’s grace—not our own self-righteousness—that saves us.
Guess what that
means. You don’t have to feel guilty
anymore. You don’t have to be ashamed.
You don’t have to worry whether God loves you.
When God looks at you, He sees Jesus in you. And God says, “This is my beloved son/daughter, in whom I am well pleased!”
You don’t have to
fear death. You don’t have to fear hell
or punishment. You are saved! You are already a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven—both now and for eternity! So now you can live without fear or shame or regrets. Live as royalty, BC that’s what you are!
Unfortunately, sometimes even after
a person starts following Jesus, they slip back into another form of
self-righteousness where they try to justify their behavior. They say, “Well, Jesus has already forgiven my sins, so I can live however I
want…” And so they go one sinning or they go back to sinning. In doing so, they become slaves to sin. God loves us and doesn’t want us to be slaves.
God wants His sons and daughters to be free. And not just free in principle, but actually really free. In other words, God wants you to be free from the power of sin. Sin no longer has the power to keep you captive.
Jesus’ death on the cross ripped the gates of our prison cells clear off the
hinges!
So many people who decide to follow Jesus are actually still sitting inside a figurative jail cell. They think they're still trapped and unable to leave the prison. But the jail cell is wide open. All they have to do is listen to the Holy Spirit, get up, and walk out of the cell. But they never leave their sin and it still has power over them either because they don't want to give it up or they are afraid to.
That’s not what God wants for His children. God’s Holy Spirit lives inside everyone who believes in Jesus. The power that raised Jesus from the grave can raise you out of your sin. But you have to trust and receive God's grace. God gives us the power to break free from sin.
So get up and walk out of your prison!
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for amazing grace. We don't deserve it. We can't earn it. But You freely give it. Thank You! Lord help us to trust Jesus. Receiving His grace, assure us that we are saved and no longer need to be guilty or ashamed. We are set free and we can live holy lives for You by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank You for setting us free! Now help us to live free, all for Your glory. Amen.