The Prophet declared it:
“All of us have become like one who is
unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up
like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)
The wise King explained it:
There is not a righteous man on earth
who does what is right and never sins. (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
The Psalmist sang it:
“… no one living is righteous before
you. (Psalm 143:3)
The Apostle quoted it:
“As it is written: “There is no one
righteous, not even one;” (Romans 3:10)
Wretches,
all of us – forever separated from the Love of God, all on our way to an
eternity of darkness – isolation and separation – there is no rest for the
wicked.
We are
helpless: all our technology, our efforts, our wealth, the short lived buzz of
power in this world – nothing but distractions – crutches we grasp hold of, to
hinder our thoughts from dwelling on the hopelessness of our eternal destiny.
We are
in desperate need of a Savior, a Deliverer, a Healer – someone that is not
entangled in the web of sin, deception and destruction in which we find
ourselves.
Grace is
the Hand of God that reaches into our situation, touches us in our uttermost
despair – and even when we do not recognize the help, when we reject it and even
attack it – this Grace proves itself to be so Amazing, that the Hand stays
extended and open. Hoping for a correct response!
It stays
extended as we reach out with an open hand of Faith to take hold of the Grace
extended to us. At first we are in dire straits – we need to consume all this
Grace on ourselves to get healed, restored and delivered. God gives, patiently,
expecting nothing in return.
Still we
need more Grace as the Work of God goes deeper. The open Hand is still
extended, “Come to me, my Child” is the Heart of the Father – longing for a restoration
of an intimate Relationship. The closer we get to Him, the more intimate we
become with Him, the more we need Grace to dwell in that place. Indeed, without
the Grace, we could never approach Him! For He is Holy, Good and Pure!
As we
dwell in that intimate Place, our eyes are opened to see Him, we begin to know
Him and we experience more of that internal transformation back into His Image once
again. We begin to come to a place of Unity with the Son and with the Father –
we begin to see as he sees, think as He thinks and this Amazing Grace
transforms us so much, that we become instruments of His Grace on this Earth. We
start to enter the Rest God has prepared for us.
We
become the carriers of His Message, the instruments through which He can
manifest His presence on this Earth. We have become His Children, we have
entered into His Kingdom, His Kingdom is established in our lives – it has become
evident to the World that the Father loves us and that which is done by us, is
not of ourselves, but it is the Father working through us. Faith has ignited
our hearts, we have attained to the Mind of Christ, we are clothed in His
Righteousness! This confirms Testimony of Christ (John 17:20 - 26)
That is
why it is written in Philippians 2:1-11:
1-4If
you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any
difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything
to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each
other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the
front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help
others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget
yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5-8Think
of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with
God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages
of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the
privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed
human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special
privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a
selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
9-11Because
of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or
anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those
long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call
out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the
Father.
What an Amazing Grace! It is only this kind of Grace
that enables us to live such a life. Amen!
