Understanding Grace and Truth

Maybe you remember this scene from the book or movie “Les Miserables” where Jean Valjean is forgiven by a bishop after stealing his silver and even given silver candlesticks in addition so he will be inspired to love and forgive others also.  That’s a picture of grace and that’s what we get to consider in this session from the EQUIPMENT series.

Understanding Grace and Truth: (Session 3)

Pray

 

Read John 1:11-17; Psalm 85:10; Psalm 89:14; Psalm 53

 

To understand Grace and Truth we must first understand Justice and Judgment.  According to Psalm 53, God looks on all of humanity from A-Z and looks to see if there is any goodness in them by themselves.  He declares that there is none.  Apart from God’s common grace we would not have breath.  Apart from God’s Grace we certainly would not have any goodness therefore.  In and of ourselves we cannot do good, apart from God giving us that gift.  In Christ He has done even more and granted us eternal righteousness, a fully alive goodness that can never die: His own righteousness, not just something like it.  If we claim that our goodness is our own, we will lose it in the end.  But if we understand that it is a gift we will find it in Jesus.  That is the revelation of Jesus: that He is full of Grace and Truth.

 

The Justice and Judgment of God remind us that He hates sin and condemns humanity for it to eternal destruction, eternal separation from Him.  He is totally just and Holy and nothing of sin can enter His Presence.   

 

Here again, we are safe in God’s love, so we don’t need to be scared of this aspect of God, even if human authority has given us perversions of this in order to control or manipulate.  God is not like that.  God is good, all the time; perfectly good!

 

Let’s pray and ask therefore, for God to give us wisdom and revelation to know the Judgment and Justice of the LORD, the Holiness, even the fear of the LORD.  The Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.  The end of wisdom is that perfect love casts out all fear.  As we exalt Christ and ask Him to transform us by His Spirit, we must have this vital revelation.  It is not about being scared or having phobia of God.  It is not about fear of ultimate punishment now that we are covered in Christ’s blood or that God is sinister or evil in some way.  It is a reverential awe of Him; that kind of fear is what we speak of.  But we must go here if we are to truly understand His Grace.

God grant us revelation of Your Holiness, Justice, Judgment and the Fear of the LORD.

 

Read Ephesians 2 and 3.

 

God loves us infinitely in Christ!  His love for us is infinite!  It continually goes from Him to us, not based on our performance at all.  We cannot perform enough to gain His love; it is freely given to us.  Don’t just know this in your head.  Let’s pray for the power now to know this in our hearts!

 

God grant us revelation of Your infinite Grace and love.

 

That knowledge helps us to love, forgive and have Grace/patience for others.  That’s how Rwandan Christians whose families were brutally raped and murdered could forgive and embrace the perpetrators of the crimes against them.  Let’s pray and ask God if there is anyone in our lives that we’re having difficulty forgiving…

 

Then let’s pray and take that feeling of wanting to get them back somehow or have them feel our hurt and put it on the cross with Jesus.  Imagine Him taking those wounds for the sin of those who hurt us and release the burden to that place…

 

God’s Grace is relational, not just an abstract idea, but who He is as a Person.  God is love.  Mercy is not getting the punishment we deserved.  Grace is undeserved favor.

 

Assignment: Let’s try to pray at least today and tomorrow if not every day for the power to grasp God’s love for us.  Try to spend at least three minutes doing that daily this week.

 

Song: The Love of God

Pray