The Good News of Grace
Think of a time when somebody treated you better than you deserved. Maybe an airline upgraded you to first class. Maybe somebody ahead of you in the drive-thru bought your coffee. Maybe somebody at home did the chores that you normally are supposed to do. Maybe somebody forgave you for something you did that you couldn’t take back, couldn’t undo, and couldn’t ever truly make up for. That’s grace. And all of us who are in Christ Jesus have received it from God.
The Apostle Paul taught the church in Romans 6:23 that “The wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The reality of grace and God’s willingness to wash us in it is incredibly good news, because we “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).
Even those of us who have not (yet) been baptized into Christ receive God’s grace in the form of life, breath, sun, rain, etc. God gives us so many good things that we didn’t earn and couldn’t create or purchase on our own. We should be thankful for those things, and our thankfulness should motivate us to replicate the goodness of God we have experienced. We do this by becoming more like God in the way we give grace to the people around us.
Don’t hold back. Share and serve even when it’s hard, and be assured that “…the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 5:10-11).
— Patrick Barber, preaching minister
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