grace

I am sure.

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31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

33Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

38For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Read it again.

Slowly.

Savour it.

For I am sure… nothing.. will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

There is much in this world conspiring against our union with God through Jesus Christ. But this is the grace we have received: He will prevail. Against death, powers, present or things to come, He will prevail. Our doubts, struggles in faith, weakness and failings, have nothing on the sufficiency of HIs grace towards us.

He is for us. Praying for us. Having given Himself for us, Jesus has positioned those who receive His grace to be eternally with Him.

It’s personal

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2And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”  Matthew 9:2

It was a fact; this young man was a paralytic. That’s public information. What was not so public was the deepest need of his life: forgiveness.

His friends brought the young man to Jesus, so he could be healed. And he was healed first from the inside and then in his external relationships and capacities. That’s what forgiveness does. Jesus used the physical miracle here to demonstrate the reality of His authority for the spiritual miracle of forgiveness. The wonderful thing about it: there was nothing the could do to earn such forgiveness. That’s grace!

Only God can forgive sins: the act and condition of acting and being separate from Him. Jesus came from the communion of the Father and Spirit with a mission: to deal with our sin problem. His announcements of forgiveness were a prelude to the cross.

 

Our sin – God takes it personally.

 

(50 Day Gospel Challenge: Matthew 9-10)

In the grip of shame or the grip of God?

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1But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
Isaiah 43:1

When you are in the grip of shame, you feel disowned.

When you are in the grip of shame, you believe you are unlovable.

Shame keeps you attached to sin.

But here is our assurance through Christ:

He redeems us; has gone to great lengths, all the way to the cross

to cover our shame.

11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.  Titus 2:11 – 14

When you are in the grip of God, you arrived there because He called you by name.

When you are in the grip of God, you know you are His.

God frees you from the grip of sin.

 

God Put On Our Shoes

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14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15(John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.  John 1:14-18

Jesus is God entering into our human relationships. Literally. In the flesh Jesus is God entering in to our relationships and therefor our experiences. He comes revealing God the Father. He comes full of grace and truth. He came to walk in our shoes.

A Cherokee proverb says, “Don’t judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes.” But Jesus didn’t “walk in those shoes” in order to judge us. He walked in those shoes to rescue us. His journey in those shoes brings us God’s grace. In fact Jesus went the extra mile for us… straight to the Cross.

Selfies and The Chorus of Condemnation

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1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  Romans 8:1-4

Take a picture of yourself. Go ahead.

Now look at it.

When you see yourself what do you hear?

What’s the voice in your heart?

Are you dominated by critique? A highlight real of your failures?

Do you hear a chorus of “Should have!” “Why not?” and “Shame!”

Or do you hear our Heavenly Father’s affirmation?

“You are not condemned.”

“I gave my Son for you.”

“Hey, those other voices are death to you; My Spirit is life to you.”

“You are free from this chorus of death.”

“You are free from this curse of sin.”

“I know your weaknesses better than you do.”

“I want you to know my strength for you better than you do.”

“You are loved. Live by my Spirit’s power and My Son’s good work at the Cross.”

The courage to silence the voice of condemnation comes as we cherish the Holy Spirit’s accentuation of Jesus’ grace towards us.