Study 55

How Grace Teaches Us

Grace instructs about many things. Grace tells you that God didn’t save you by mistake. He wasn’t forced to take you in a ‘job lot’. It is not simply that your parents were Christian so you automatically were included. He chose you ‘before the creation of the world’ (Eph. 1:4). He foreknew you and predestined you (Eph. 1:11) to be his ‘very own’ (Titus 2:14). God has a particular and personal delight in you (Is. 62:4) and wants you for his very own possession. He will always love and cherish you.

He Gave Himself

Grace teaches us about the terrible price that was paid for our salvation. Some kind people might give a present, or even a fortune, but Jesus ‘gave himself’ (Titus 2:14). These simple words are hardly adequate to describe the glorious sacrifice that Jesus made for us. He gave himself to the human race. He gave himself to a motley band of followers who denied him when he needed them. He gave himself to Satan’s hour.

He was appalled in Gethsemane and shuddered at the shocking revelation of the bitterness of the task ahead. ‘His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:44) as he pleaded with his Father to remove the cup from him. But he ‘offered (his) back to those who beat (him); (his) cheeks to those who pulled out (his) beard; (he) did not hide (his) face from mocking and spitting’ (Is. 50:6). He prevailed, determined to save us. ‘For the joy set before him (he) endured the cross, scorning its shame’ (Heb. 12:2) and became the object of mockery from men and demons. He gave himself to the full wrath of a holy God who hates sin with perfect loathing and reacts to it with sheer fury. He gave himself without reserve to the total curse of the law. ‘The Son of God … loved me and gave himself for me’ (Gal. 2:20).

Here’s the crux of the matter (Latin ‘crux’: ‘cross’). From the cross came the excruciating cry (ex: ‘from’, crux: ‘cross’), ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matt. 27:46). Was there ever a more excruciating cry than the one that pierced the heavens on that terrible day? Grace reveals the enormity of the price that was paid.

We Give Ourselves

Grace also teaches us what a glorious goal God has in mind. He wants a people ‘eager to do what is good’ (Titus 2:14). God hates lukewarmness. It makes him vomit (Rev. 3:16). Cold or hot is preferable to tepid. He’s looking for zealots, passionate people burning with motivation and wholehearted in commitment. He gave his own life as our example. Zeal for his Father’s house consumed him (John 2:17).

God has ‘prepared (good works) in advance for us to do’ (Eph. 2:10). He’s handpicked them for us. He isn’t after mere busyness or hectic activity. Rather, he’s longing to see us finding out what the works are and red hot in doing them. He’s looking towards the day when he can finally and enthusiastically receive us into his eternal kingdom with the glorious words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ (Matt. 25:21).

To Contemplate

We are God’s treasured possession.

Exod. 19:5,6; Deut: 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Ps. 135:4; Mal. 3:17,18

How do you treat something that you treasure?

Just sit down for a while and enjoy being treasured by God.

To Be Inspired

Not my own but his by right, His peculiar treasure now.
Fair and precious in His sight, Purchased jewel for his brow.
He will keep what thus he sought, Safely guard the dearly bought,
Cherish that which he did choose, Always love and never lose.
(F.R. Havergal)

To Meditate On

Be zealous for good works.

‘Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven’ (Matt. 5:16).

‘Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain’ (1 Cor. 15:58).

‘Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us’ (1 Pet. 2:12).

To Consider

Does zeal depend on age?

Consider zealous people in your local church. What makes them zealous?
How could you be more zealous? (e.g. giving hospitality more often, being more reliable, offering to serve on a regular basis, praying for the leaders, not gossiping, etc.)