Heard an old Ray Stevens song on the radio, God’s Gonna Git Ya for That.
Lots of folks have the impression that God is waiting in heaven to throw down thunder bolts when we screw up – so glad that’s not true or we’d all be toast!
Jesus own words say it best “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Luke 9:56
So much of religion has preached a message of judgment and condemnation. But true relationship with the Lord focused on His unconditional love and goodness. God sent us His most precious gift, His Son. The reason Jesus came was so to keep us from death and judgment, not give us over to condemnation.
“If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won’t be punished. 2 The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death. 3 The Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when he sent his own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ’s body to condemn sin.” Romans 8:1-3 CEV
Justice requires that a price be paid for our sin but GRACE paid the price for us.
“I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. 9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. 10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.” Ephesians 2:8-10 ERV
Imagine for a moment that God’s love is a two-sided coin. On one side is mercy; mercy is not getting the punishment we deserve. Like a man who throws himself on the mercy of the court – begging the judge for a lighter sentence. Now on the other side of the coin is grace; grace is receiving something wonderful that we don’t deserve. Go back to our man begging for mercy, if he received a full pardon because someone else paid his penalty that would be grace.
That’s exactly what Jesus did for us. Yes, Grace – Amazing Grace!
So now it’s time to express our thankfulness for the grace that God has given us in Jesus.
These are Jesus words: “A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came to give life—life that is full and good.” John 10:10 ERV
Thank God for His grace and mercy. Take time to thank Him for the good in your life today and for His protection from the evil one!