GOD IS!

Responding To Gracetance that is not earned. God’s gracetoward us means that He acted so asto give us something that we did notearn, nor did we deserve.Here’s the point. We were lost withouthope of living forever. When friendsphysically died, all of us stood aroundtheir graves, sadly feeling that this wasthe end of our loved ones. To many,life was terminated at a gravesite wherethere was no hope. But God did notcreate us for such a devastating end.In order that we have hope, God actedon our behalf. His actions have givenus the opportunity to have hope for eternaldwelling in a heavenly environment.In order for us to have such a hope,there had to be sacrifice; there had tobe an initiative on God’s part that wouldchange the graveyard scene. God’sactions that we have hope were actionsof grace.Keep in mind that God is the onewho had to take the first step. As men,we could do nothing to change our fateof termination at the time of death.Eternal dwelling is God’s realm of existence.And in order that we partakeof this existence, it was necessary thatGod reach down and take us into thisrealm of dwelling. How and what Goddid to accomplish this was an action ofgrace on His part, for we who are limitedto this physical world could do nothingto escape the confines of this world.Our limitation to the world confined usto live after our human inability to keeplaw perfectly, and thus, we lived in sin.God did not have to take the initiativeto bring us into His presence byoffering a sacrifice for the sin that separatesus from Him. God did not have37to take on the form of man in order todie and be raised again that we alsobe raised to eternal life in the end. Butthe fact is, He did. And this is grace.The Bible says, “But God manifestsHis own love toward us, in that whilewe were still sinners, Christ died forus” (Rm 5:8). What a beautiful thoughtand action on the part of God. Hisgrace toward us moved Him into actionto bring us into His realm of dwelling.In this sense, therefore, grace is afree gift. We did not deserve or earn it.The Bible says, “For by grace youhave been saved through faith, and thatnot of yourselves; it is the gift of God,not of works, lest anyone should boast”(Ep 2:8,9). If God had sent Jesus intothe world because we had worked soas to earn such a sacrifice, then thesacrifice of Jesus would not be a freegift of God. It would have been paymentto us for our goodness. But theBible says, "And if by grace, then it isno longer by works; otherwise grace isno more grace" (Rm 11:6). The fact isthat God gave the gift regardless of oursinfulness. He loved us before weloved Him (1 Jn 4:19). The Bible says,“In this is love, not that we loved God,but that He loved us and sent His Sonto be the atoning sacrifice for our sins”(1 Jn 4:10).Our recognitionof God’s action ofgrace should moveus to respond to Hisgrace. When ourfaith obediently respondsto God’sgrace, grace reigns“through righteous- GRACE!