GRACE, God’s Magnificence
The one greatest supernatural power in the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is Grace. The total structure of Christianity is established on Grace. Every promise, both present and future, is available because of Grace. There is nothing good or capable in the human realm that earns God’s favor. It does not even make a down payment. Any hungry soul that will surrender to learn the magnificence of Grace will never be the same.
Grace is the door into every beautiful truth of Holy Scripture. Grace affects the mind, the soul, and the human body. It transforms everything it touches. It lifts the despairing person out of the depth of sorrow. The mind that has been reduced to fear and insanity will be set free if Grace can be invited to spread its victory. Grace is actually the divine results of a sacred death and resurrection that answered every consequence of sin. Anything that sin and human failure has negatively affected will be restored when Grace can act unhindered by our doubts and selfishness.
There are many great things that can be said about Grace. First, Grace is God’s unlimited provision. There is no depth that sin can carry a soul where Grace cannot reach. The Gadarene demonic was a lost and terror-stricken man. Chains could not bind him. He dwelt naked among the tombs of the dead. When Grace landed Christ on the shores near his wanderings, the call of Grace landed him at Jesus’ feet. Soon, he sat at His feet, clothed and in his right mind. Only Grace!
Grace is totally uninhabited and unlimited by evil. Satan and his minions can invade every realm of human life except where Grace has taken control. Where Grace is, Satan is not. Satan can scream at the soul clothed in Grace but cannot touch them. If Satan can lure you to doubt or to leave your first love, then he can damage your life, but Grace can turn him on his heels. Grace is off limits to Satan. Check your life when trouble comes. You will either find some gap you have allowed or God is testing your faith for improvement or the strengthening of your godly walk.
There is no respect of persons with Grace. The Son of God died to provide His favor to every soul. It is a finished work and nothing is lacking or needing completion. Apostle Paul spoke by the Holy Ghost, “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3). No work of the flesh can add to Grace, “It is finished.”
Grace does not cover human sin, but forgives sin and transforms the sin sick soul. It never leaves a soul as it was found. It transforms the helpless and renders them “new creatures.” When a soul is saturated in Grace, it emerges like a “river of living waters.” Grace imputes righteousness to the new born believer and imparts holiness to the maturing saints. Grace cannot be static. It moves the soul upward ever closer to the beauty of Christ-filled living. Grace always flows upstream as it blesses those that embrace it.
Jesus told the story of a man delivered from demons by the Grace of God. For some unexplained reason, this man turned away from his trust in Grace and was left vulnerable to Satan. Read how our Lord described the results, “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation” (Matthew 12:43-45).
The man was “empty, swept, and garnished.” A person that was once possessed by evil spirits might appear beautiful and be called very religious, but in this case he was empty. But, if the Grace of God is absent, that beauty will soon turn to ashes. All our self-righteousness is empty until we start living by the grace of God. Grace puts kindness inside, writes purity on the countenance, and floods the soul with sweetness. It turns the ugly into beauty and drives brokenness far away.
Grace is God’s love toward us even when we are in sin. Grace is His willingness to perfectly forgive and then to begin His change of us into His own image. The more we trust in Grace and live in His wonderful favor toward us the more we love Him and long to please Him. The beautiful result of Grace in our lives is the purity that follows. A Grace-filled soul longs to live in the pages of Holy Scripture. Grace is the sweet Rose of Sharon, the Lilly of the valley, and the Bright and Morning Star. Grace is a person, but more than a person. It is His perfect willingness to give you the riches of a happy and pure life. Grace is ready to pick you up, clean you up, and lift you up.
Joseph R. Chambers
jrc@pawcreek.org