As believers, grace is our defining reality. Grace defines my life. Grace defines your life. Without the grace of God, we would still be dead in our sins.
In the twenty-first century, we are tremendously blessed as Christians.
My fiance and I are going through a Bible reading plan with our church which walks through the lives of some Old Testament “Greats.” So far we’ve covered Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and are currently in the middle of Joseph’s life.
Obviously this isn’t the first time we’ve read through Genesis. But this time, what has been striking us both the most is the immense, unrelenting grace of God in the lives of these many historical men and women of God who were deceitful, sexually unfaithful, sexually immoral, forgetful, self-reliant, and everything you’d assume someone with no knowledge of God or sense of moral compass to be. It leaves you thinking “These are the OT greats?!” It’s mind-boggling!
A detail I felt the Spirit remind me is that the stories in Genesis are before the Law—the spiritual and moral lightbulb given to God’s people to live in the direction which would lead to God’s life. Not only that, but this was before the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within every believer and the Holy Bible as we know it—both of which provide God-given knowledge and power to live the life of Christ.
As we read through the stories of some of the most famous “men of God” and the people around them, it became more and more clear that their lives were the sum of God’s providential grace and unrelenting love and not of any merit of or deserved on their own! Through all their unfaithfulness and garbage morality, God chose them and loved them and made them a part of His story pointing to the Savior Jesus Christ.
Then, I thought of my own life as God’s child and where the grace of God has been in my life. Once again, I was brought to my knees in praise and gratitude because my life is saturated with a providential timeline of events that I could have never planned, enacted, asked for, deserved or imagined!
To give you a glimpse, recently I received approval to be a licensed pastor in the Missionary Church denomination. When I sat down in that conference room the morning of my credentialing interview before a panel of six seasoned pastors, I was suddenly taken back four years when I said “Yes” to God’s call into ministry and began thinking of the day I would officially be a “pastor.” Sitting in that conference room, I was thinking, “This is it! This is the moment I have thought about since I was 18 years old!”
To some, becoming a licensed pastor like this wouldn’t carry as much weight as it did for me because in my heart, this was a testament to what God and only God has done by His grace! Not by what I have deserved to do, but by what God has desired to do.
My close friends will know that my life as a highschooler could probably be summed up in how I described the lives of these OT greats earlier. No way would your average Joe have pegged me to be a qualified worker of the gospel. I’m by no means perfect, but the gracious and loving Everlasting Father has done a deep, providential work in my life that only “qualifies” me because it is the gospel! He initiates His grace by no work, or even sometimes the desire of our own, but we soon look back and realize just how much Jesus has saved our lives and marked our stories with His unanticipated love. No doubt I am not the same person I was four years ago, but it’s not by anything I have chosen for myself. It’s only by following Jesus that He takes us on the journey towards receiving more and more of His everlasting life!
Using the word “providential” may cause resistant feelings to arise in some. There is not enough time or space to discuss this area of theology, but allow me to explain briefly why I love the grace of God expressed through His providence.
An issue with the Christian ideology of what many call “freewill” is that even the enemy can deceive us to slip back into a works-based faith. In other words, I have control over my life and destiny when it comes to following Jesus. Don’t hear me wrong, I’m not saying we don’t have the ability to make personal choices. But the control we’re given by God is to give it up and trust that what He desires to give us will lead to the fullness of all joy and love and the glory we were created for.
The control we’re given by God is to give it up.
Do you create your life? Can you give yourself salvation? Can you give yourself sanctification? Do you possess that knowledge or ability? Can you, a finite human, give yourself eternal life? God interrogated Job with these sorts of questions because, at the end of the day, we will never have the control on our lives we think we do nor be able to comprehend the will of God which is good, pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2).
There are endless moments each day and circumstances in my life that I can’t see the answers to and so I don’t know what to do to reach a resolution. If I did, then I could receive the credit for what I have done. As Christians, this is irreversibly flipped and thank God!
The Bible says: “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). God works all things together because He possesses all power and knowledge and love to do so. Sometimes I ask “Why?” when I don’t like the circumstances, but we wouldn’t question God if we saw how He will eventually work all things beautifully together in perfect timing.
Isaiah 46:1-4 says this:
“…their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” (emphasis added)
Neither in my prime of strength nor in my age of wisdom do I possess the ability to save myself. God tells the people that actually the efforts you try to make will lead to more captivity. Desire for control over one’s own life was the sin that initiated all the brokenness and emptiness and confusion we experience now in this life. Surrendering control isn’t giving up and being passive. It’s an intentional confession that faith alone in God is what eternal life looks like.
This isn’t an excuse but it’s the lens through which we live our born-again lives as believers. Making the Spirit-informed decisions to live in trust that God’s way is the only way. Trust that God isn’t withholding joy or love from you. Trust that God isn’t taking you through pain for no reason. Life is about so much more than ourselves; love is about so much more than ourselves. In fact, it’s not about us at all. When we take our eyes off Jesus and put them on to ourselves, it suddenly becomes easier to take that forbidden fruit.
In my last post, you’ll find that Romans 8:28 verse also. In that post, I asked, “Do you love God?” Because “for those who love God all things work together for good…” Love trusts. And trust gives up control.
When we hold God’s hand and allow Him to take us on His journey, we will look back and see the places and faces we would’ve never known otherwise and this beholding of grace is what will lead to the fullness of joy in everlasting life we cannot give ourselves.
We do have a choice. The choice to trust in who is “lord” over our lives. As Christians, Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Trusting in anything else makes that false god your lord and savior. It could be a person, a hobby, a job, even yourself, or anything but Jesus. But there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
I hope you take time to truly think about this vital aspect of our faith in Jesus. Take time to biblically anchor yourself in the reality that is God’s grace expressed through His providence. Then look back on the culmination of events that you call your life and witness the work of God you could have never planned, asked for or imagined. I promise, this lense will change your life and lead to more intense worship and a growing desire to walk in Christ’s life.
I shared at the beginning how the grace of God was truly the sum of the lives of those “OT Greats” because they had no Bible or indwelling Holy Spirit. Notice how truly blessed we are with knowledge and power to live God’s life without excuse. It doesn’t mean that knowing all the “right” answers and every Bible citation will save you or give you the secret formula to a perfect life. But living in a reality shaped by the knowledge and power of God through intimate time in the Word and intentional awareness of the Spirit’s filling gives us a leg up on the so-called “OT Greats” in a way!
Spend time with God today through His Word and His Spirit reflecting on His grace towards you. His grace gives you life. He will show you just how His grace has worked, is working and will continue to work in your life when you are committed to relinquishing control and putting your faith in Him.
Keep running the race, my friends!
Author:
Hey, everybody! My name is Alex! I have a growing passion for the Scriptures, being changed by them as they fill my mind and heart. Through teaching and preaching, I desire to help other believers know the abounding richness of the Scriptures for themselves. Read more of my writing here.
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