Sunday, October 22, 2006

Overwhelmed With God's Grace

On this Lord's day I am so consumed with the thoughts of God's Grace that I had to share this with the rest of you. After reading a sermon by Tony Reinke of The Shepherds Scrapbook. I have just been in awe of God's Grace on each and everyone of us. Yesterday as I was pumping gas I couldn't help but look at people and wonder if those around me were totally oblivious to God, His Love, His Forgiveness, then later that night I read these words and it was like Tony had placed my feelings into words. Thank You Tony!!!

"When I look at the world, I see sinfulness, I see an ignorance of God, I see spiritual laziness as souls move ever closer to an eternity – things are black and dark. But also, as I look at the world I begin to see people who have been given great measures of God’s grace. The world has a color to it that comes from God’s grace. When I work or shop or simply talk with people, I meet those who are not Christians who still yet display a level of humility and kindness. He allows His enemies to enjoy life in many ways like He allows everyone to enjoy things like marriage, kids, etc! Wayne Grudem said in his book (Systematic Theology, p. 665) “When we walk down a street and see houses and gardens and families dwelling in security, or when we do business in the marketplace and see the abundant results of technological progress, or when we walk through the woods and see the beauty of nature, or when we are protected by government, or when we are educated from the vast storehouse of human knowledge, we should realize not only that God in his sovereignty is ultimately responsible for all of these blessings, but also that God has granted them all to sinners who are totally undeserving of any of them! … The realization of this fact should cause our hearts to swell with thanksgiving to God in every activity of life”

God is so kind to ungrateful and evil men. This is what makes God’s grace so huge – His grace floods everything – the world is filled with sin – YES – but it’s also filled with artistic talent, architectural beauty, faithful marriages, the joy of children, friendships, an amazing display of humility and morality in others.

God’s grace is most evident in His patience with sinners. If there was no common grace at work in the world, God would judge all sinners immediately. Yet, “’As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live…” (Ezek. 33:11). God grace is most evident in His patience with judging sinners. The first character of God’s grand grace is it's breathtaking scope in the world!"

You can download the entire sermon in .PDF format which is entitled
The Grand Canyon of God’s Grace.

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