The Message of Grace

Over the past few months, I have been literally running into the word ‘grace’ right and left.   It’s like somehow I missed the memo about the new craze.  Here I was, still trying to keep up with the gluten-free fad, and BAM – the grace message blindsided me.  At first, I was uncertain but open to hear what people were saying and as I dug a little further, I found something to be a common denominator.  I couldn’t get away from the fact that sometimes when people would use the word ‘grace’, it felt like a misnomer.  How can that be?  Grace is one of the foundational principles of the Gospel, let alone the Bible.  So, I did some research.  At the risk of sounding cliché, I am going to include the etymology of the word grace.  (Please note that the following is from the Online Etymology Dictionary and is subject to their scruples and not my own.)

Grace (v): c.1200, "to thank," from O.Fr. gracier, from grace (see grace (n.)). Meaning "to show favor" (mid-15c.)

Grace (n): late 12c., "God's favor or help," from O.Fr. grace "pardon, divine grace, mercy; favor, thanks; elegance, virtue" (12c.), from L. gratia "favor, esteem, regard; pleasing quality, good will, gratitude" (cf. It. grazia, Sp. gracia), from gratus "pleasing, agreeable," from PIE base *gwere- "to favor"

It seems to me, and I may be generalizing here, that the word ‘grace’ was formed to portray the idea of favor or help.  It is commonly held that grace was instituted in the world at the same time sin was introduced.  It was, in essence, the antidote for the fall of man.  However, the point is this: we as Christians believe that God has looked at us as His children and through the eyes of mercy or compassion, He restored us to our rightful place. Now, we live in a state of grace, whereby we are in right standing with God.  That is the beauty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

However, although I understood grace to be the vehicle, I couldn’t shake that tugging in my heart that I was still missing something.  Isn’t that the way God does it?  He plants a small seed and then let’s you figure out the mystery.  I love that process with God because you learn so much more than if He just came right out and told you the answer.  It’s like you pick up mini-truths on the way, and wouldn’t you know that is exactly what happened?!  As I was spending time with God, I started to think back to a time that He revealed to me what His unconditional love was.  During that specific time, I was experiencing hurt and rejection on a level I hadn’t ever known before.  Through God’s mercy for my situation, He surrounded me with a feeling I could never describe.  It was so overwhelming, I literally had to pull my car over to the side of the road and I just wept uncontrollably.  As I was remembering that time, all of the sudden I realized something.  It was God’s love that was overwhelming and undeniable.  It was His love that was captivating and empowering.  It was love.

You may be sitting here scratching your head thinking ‘did I really just read through all of this for a argument on semantics?’  Don’t worry; it’s only partly semantics.  Love is the root here, not grace.  God’s grace is sufficient for me and absolutely is by all means amazing, but it’s God’s love that is at the core of everything.  Love is the cause and everything else is the effect.  His love is what motivates Him to even possess grace or mercy.  Look at this beautiful passage of scripture:

 “But God—so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us” Eph 2:4 (AMP)

Imagine, His love is so intense, so wonderful, so great, that it must be satisfied.  Picture that.  A love that is so unending, so pure that it won’t let Him turn away from mankind, even in the despair and horrible mess it continually finds itself in.  A love that single-handedly undoes a person while making them feel like they can approach Him completely unashamed.  It’s much greater than any kind of love we experience between ourselves.  It’s multi-dimensional.

You see, as I was coming to this realization, I myself began to become conscious of the fact that grace in and of itself is just one facet of God’s love.  It’s just one expression.  That doesn’t make it any less real; it just makes it one of many forms.  I would submit to you that judgment and discipline are also each a facet of God’ love.  We know the Bible says that God chastens him whom He loves (Prov 3:12) and so in a world where love is at the center of who God is, grace and judgment can coexist.  Isn’t that so like God?  He loves to use foolish things to confound the wise.  His ways are so much higher than ours and His design has taken all factors into account.

The entire reason we can be in right standing with God is firstly because He loves us.  His grace is just an outpouring of that love.  Did Jesus take all of our punishment and calamity at the cross?  Of course.  He took our sin upon Himself and so became the spotless lamb.  Does that mean that we are never going to have consequences to our actions? Absolutely not.  The crucifixion didn’t come to replace God’s love, it came to satisfy the trespass of mankind.  Consequences are a very real part of our actions, and yes, sometimes through grace, we are spared from our own consequences, but not always.  You see God, like a parent, sees the mess we’ve made and then uses the matter to teach us how to avoid that same issue.  Sometimes, the best way to do that is to let us suffer the consequences. 

In His incomparable love, He cares for us more than any person is even capable of.  That’s why we can read scriptures in the Bible that may seem harsh and understand that God’s love has taken every possible course of action into account.   If there were a better way to deal with the situation, God would use it. 

“you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.”1 Cor 5:5 (ESV)

The above referenced scripture is a perfect example of what may seem harsh, but notice the end of the scripture is laced with love: “so that his spirit may be saved…”.  The Lord was using this to show that He not only cared about that man’s spirit, but that He also knew that the consequence of the man’s action would eventually give the man the ability to save himself from his own mess.

To sum it all up, we must take this into consideration:

“… And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Eph 3:17-19 (NIV)

No one can know the depth or width or height of God but the Bible does tell us that we are able to understand the measurements of His love, and thereby be filled to all the fullness of God.  We may never understand why circumstances are the way that they are, but what we do know for sure is that God’s nature is love.  He is to be trusted, revered, approached, and befriended.  He will never leave us nor forsake us, and so trusting, we believe that He knows what is best for us.  We sign that over to Him and allow Him to have His way. 

I invite you to explore God’s love on a level you may not have before.  Challenge your view of God – is it love-centered?  Are you secure in the love He has for you?  Push everything you know aside and just allow God to expose Himself to you.  I guarantee you will find love in a way you’ve never experienced before in your life.

Until next time…grace and love xoxo