Last week we focused on God’s mercy, and this week we’re focusing on His grace. These truths are two of our Lord’s most precious gifts to all who’ve said “yes” to Christ.
We would have no mercy apart from our Lord’s suffering and humiliation and no grace apart from His presence and power. Because of Jesus’ work on the Cross God freely gives His sons and daughters abundant grace and covers each of us with His daily mercies (Lamentations 3:22).
Grace has both a theological and moment-to-moment meaning. Theologically, grace means that God’s love for us is pure and for our highest good; it is unearned, undeserved and not based upon merit, good works, or any righteous acts that we’ve done.
It is God’s heart of love for you and me that flows from who He is, in spite of who we are or what we have done. And in His moment-to-moment grace, God seeks only our highest good and asks things of us that, if obeyed, will lead to our reward and greatest glory in His future kingdom.
God’s presence in our lives gives us the desire and power to do what He asks (Philippians 2:13-14). Even before the Cross and all its pain and suffering, Jesus—who was full of grace and truth—focused on fulfilling the will of God and desired the glory of sitting at the right hand of the Father that was promised to Him.
“For the joy that laid before him (after the resurrection) he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the Father’s right hand.” -Hebrews 12:2, emphasis from author
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” –Philippians 2:9-11
Jesus trusted the love of the Father to His death because He knew that the future reward was His eternal glory.
In 2 Corinthians 12, we are given a practical look at trusting God’s daily grace through the Apostle Paul. Paul asked God to remove a painful thorn from his life, but He said, “no.” Even in His seemingly undesirable response, we see God’s undeserved kindness and love as He tells Paul “My grace is sufficient for you, My strength is made perfect in your weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Paul took God’s “no” as pure grace because He knew God’s heart was motivated by a deep love for him.
I think grace is hard for us to grasp because all our experiences in life, love, and acceptance have been based on our performance. Just remember, God’s love is upside down.
His love for each of us is perfect and cannot be improved upon. Our hearts should jump out of our skin when we hear that and we should be motivated to reckless abandonment for His Name’s sake.
By knowing His perfect love, we can be confident in surrendering everything to the only One who has all power and authority to accomplish our highest good and His greatest glory.
So brothers and sisters, no matter your past, His mercies are new every day. You are paid in full. And moment-to-moment His grace is sufficient for you. He will be with you and give you the power to endure any and all circumstances.
No wonder Jesus was able to pray, “not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). He trusted His Father’s love even when the Cross lay before Him.
Today try thanking God for every circumstance—good or bad. The greatest act of worship we can give Him is our trust and thanks for His daily grace and mercy.