GOD’S GRACE

Grace, according to my Bible dictionary, is “the unmerited and abundant gift of God’s love and favor toward humanity, made effective through Jesus Christ.” St. Paul told the believers at Ephesus that grace is the source of salvation; we cannot earn this free gift of God’s love.

Jesus is the supreme expression of God’s grace – he humbled himself and came to live among us, showing us the way to God. Ultimately, he bore our sins on the cross, separating himself from God. We cannot begin to imagine the depth of pain and loneliness Jesus carried at his crucifixion.

That sacrifice alone would be more than enough to show us how much God loves us. But with the Resurrection, we can see the true extent of God’s grace – through faith in Christ, we are completely reconciled with God. We can be forgiven, restored to our true status as God’s children. We can live a life of joyful obedience, learning to love as God loves, and when our bodies die, our souls can join God in eternal life.

Can we earn these wonders by being “good”? How good would a person have to be to earn salvation and eternal life? Only Jesus could have met that standard – and because he did, we can reach it, too, by believing in him. That is the grace of God, a free gift for you and for me.

Charles Wesley wrote a hymn he titled “Free Grace” – we know it as “And Can It Be that I Should Gain.” For me, the third verse perfectly expresses the immense gift of God’s love to each one of us:

“He left his Father’s throne above (so free, so infinite his grace!), emptied himself of all but love, and bled for Adam’s helpless race. ’Tis mercy all, immense and free, for O my God, it found out me!”

God’s grace found me, and it can find you, too, right now, wherever you are. All you have to do is open your heart.

— Sue Warrick

Courtesy of The Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist