The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
The Great Creator God made all things and is a God of grace. From the beginning of the ages, He has planned to bring forth a bride for His Son, the Lord Jesus. This bride comprises people from all nations who will bow their knees to receive God's gift of a complete pardon for rebellion and sin. This bestowal of forgiveness is full of grace when considering humanity’s rebellious nature and our corrupt hearts before God.
To understand the meaning of grace, we need to turn to its usage in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word Chen means "to bend or stoop." It has the idea of "condescending favor," a King's favor for one of his people.
Queen Victoria of England, when she was a girl and had just become queen, was asked to sign a death warrant for a person who, by court-martial, had been condemned to death. She told the Duke who brought her the warrant, "Can't you find any reason this man should be pardoned?" The Duke said, "No, it was a great offense; he ought to be punished." "But was he a good soldier?" The Duke said he was a shamefully bad soldier and was always noted as inadequate. "Well, cannot you invent for me any reason?" "Well," he said, "I have every reason to believe from his testimony that he was a good man, although a bad soldier." "That will do," she said, and she wrote across the warrant, "pardoned"—not because the man deserved it—but because she wanted a reason for having mercy.[1]
God has stooped down to us in grace and mercy and bestowed His favor upon us, writing across our warrant, "pardoned." This grace He did not give grudgingly but lavishly and joyfully. It was what He purposed in His heart to do. That which we couldn't do, that which was impossible for us, He has accomplished in Christ. This kind of love is self-sacrificing agape love. Justice demanded that the soul that sins must die (Ezekiel 18:20), but in His love for us, God came in the person of His Son, Jesus, to take our place, die our death instead of us, and taste death for every man. "Jesus…by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone" (Hebrews 2:9).
Allow me to say something fundamental and let it sink into your soul: there is not one thing that you can do to make God love you more, and there is not one thing you can do that could make Him love you less. Think about that. Before the apostle Paul was converted, he was a murderer. Worse than that, he thought He was doing God a favor in his terrible treatment of Christians. Do you believe He offended the Holy Spirit by killing believers? I cannot think of anything worse. While he was self-righteous and persecuting God's saints, God had mercy and extended grace to him while he was a murderer. The Lord did not wait for Paul to clean up his life. He gave him a new heart! Don't think there is anything too terrible for God to look at or forgive. Don't think for a moment that there is any sin that can hold you back from experiencing the grace of God. Let His grace break through to you, wherever you are. Keith Thomas
[1] Charles Spurgeon, Human Depravity and Divine Mercy, http://www.spurgeongems.org/vols10-12/chs615.pdf
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