Amazing Grace

Read Ephesians 2:4-5

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) (NLT)

Nowadays, the hymn titled “Amazing Grace” is sung so regularly at both Christian and other gatherings that the grace of which it sings can lose its ‘amazing’ quality. Even those of us who have some idea of its richness and depth can use the word glibly.

Let me paraphrase another writer, the late Lewis Smedes, in order to see grace in its proper, radical way. Realistic common sense tells us that we are too weak and too human to change for the better, whereas grace gives us power to change. Plain common sense tells us that we are caught in a rut of futility and fate, whereas grace promises that we can have a better tomorrow than the day we have made for ourselves.

Common sense tells us that we are far too imperfect to meet the standards of a perfect God. Grace tells us that all is right with God despite how much in us is all wrong. In short, grace is amazing because it defies ‘common sense’. In a world, in a mindset, where we reckon that we only get what we deserve, grace is a reminder that God gives us what we don’t deserve.

The grace of God expressed in Jesus Christ does not ignore our weakness and imperfection. It recognises them and reminds us that real as they are, they are not the final reality. Our sin is a sad part of our life story, but is not the end of the story.

Blessings
David Reay