Covid Grace
As a general rule, our world knows very little of grace. But in our strange Covid era we have seen national examples of what may be called grace, at least grace with a small "g." Thousands of workers have received 80% of their wages, though they have not worked for them. Grants have been given to companies and individuals to help them through the crisis, though they did not earn them.
Each one of these gifts could be thought of as little examples of grace, for grace is giving to someone what they do not deserve.
Our memory verse for today, filled with God's amazing grace, is:
"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
We deserve Death
According to this verse, you and I deserve death, "the wages of sin is death." In Scripture death is far more than English-language body death. We know that because although God threatened death to Adam and Eve when they took the fruit, they did not in fact die. God must have meant much more than body-death.
Death is the end of a relationship with God: Adam and Eve now hid from God. Death is fractured human relationships: Adam and Eve fell out, and Cain killed Eve. Death is humdrum daily labour: Adam found work after the fall a tedious business. Death is a stained environment; thorns and thistles began to grow. Death is pain and suffering: Eve would now give birth in pain. Death is physical death; one day both Adam and Eve died. And finally death is eternal damnation, the righteous judgement of God upon sin, forever and ever.
Because of our sin, we deserve all these things. They are the fair wages of sin. And if we doubt this, our view of sin is probably not serious enough.
Eternal Life
But what does God do instead of giving us what we deserve? He presents us with a gift! In the place of what we deserve, an unmerited gift! Instead of hell, he gives us heaven, "the gift of God is eternal life!"
God gives to us exactly the opposite of what we deserve!
And how does that gift come to us? "Through Jesus Christ our Lord." We have received every free spiritual blessing through Jesus Christ; through his life, his death, his resurrection and the sending of his Spirit.
Summing it Up
The longer we have been on the road as believers, the more we realise how sinful we really are and the more we must agree with the justness of the God's sentence of death. So then, we should also grow in our amazement and appreciation at God's gift of eternal life!
We should grow in our love for the Lord Jesus Christ through whom all our spiritual blessings flow!
And becoming more like God, which is the goal of sanctification, we should show more and more grace to all around us - and especially to the difficult and the outsider and those who upset us and offend us!
A SONG FOR THE DAY
Two short songs of God's grace today:
Thank you Lord for saving my soul
Thank you Lord for making me whole
Thank you Lord for giving to me
Thy great salvation so rich and free.
You can sing along HERE.
Wonderful grace
That gives what I don’t deserve
Pays me what Christ has earned
Then lets me go free
Wonderful grace
That gives me the time to change
Washes away the stain
That once covered me
And all that I am
I lay at the feet
Of the wonderful Saviour
Who loves me
Wonderful love
That held in the face of death
Breathed in it’s final breath
Forgiveness for me
Wonderful love
Whose power can break every chain
Giving us life again
Setting us free
And all that I am
I lay at the feet
Of the wonderful Saviour
Who loves me
You can sing this one HERE.
A PRAYER FOR THE DAY
Our gracious Father in heaven,
We thank you for the wonderful divine invention of grace. We thank you that through your Son you are able to offer to all who come to you, the gift of eternal life.
Teach us to respond to your grace by living a holy life, and help us to extend grace to all around us.
We ask this in Jesus' Name
Amen
Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash
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