Amazed By Grace

Daily Devotional November 26th

“ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Isn’t God’s grace amazing? Think about it. God’s favour given to us...freely...it cannot be earned...the price paid on our behalf was exorbitant and was unflinchingly paid for by God Himself...in order to clean up the mess we made of His good Creation...and yet, despite the great personal cost, God still respects our choice to accept or reject Him!

​The Bible, a book whose central character is Jesus, is filled with God’s grace from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. After Adam and Eve allow themselves to be misled by the serpent, God’s grace is evident as He proclaims the serpent’s defeat at the hands of a promised Rescuer–who will come from the line of humanity. At Christmas, we celebrate God’s grace as the promised Rescuer makes His debut on the planet–the first and only God-man–but to the human eye an ordinary looking baby boy. God’s grace to us is visible in the physical form of Jesus’ life, which ended on a cross–the perfect, sinless, Son of God put to death for our sin. Jesus’ resurrection too is a testament to God’s grace to us–as Jesus was raised to life, so too we will be raised to new life. And finally, Jesus’ promised return is a tangible demonstration of God’s grace toward us–He’s coming back! All of humanity will bow before the King and will be ushered into the realm that they have chosen while still living–God’s gracious heavenly kingdom or eternity in torment without Him.

God is even gracious in this. He respects our God-given right to choose. No one is required to accept the gift, but each must accept the consequences for the choice we make. Take a moment to put yourself in God’s shoes today...you present a truly amazing gift–it’s taken hours to create and has drained your bank account in the process. As you give it into the hands of the intended recipients, some receive it with sheer amazement recognizing the value of the gift, others take it and find a space on their shelves to put it never to give it a second thought; some refuse the gift entirely and others actively rip it from your hands only to smash it on the ground intent on its destruction.

And again I ask, “Isn’t God’s grace amazing?” Without a doubt! The only thing left to consider is, what will we choose to do with this amazing gift?
~ Pastor Jane