Grace Period
Written by Ed Allen
Saturday, 02 April 2005 19:00
- Many of us were trained from an early age that if we don't do it, no one else will.
- Resilient people live with a robust reliance on God's grace.
Ed's illustration comes from the book The Fabric of the Cosmos : Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality -- by Brian Greene.
Passage for the sermon
Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:27-31
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions?it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith?and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God? not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:1-10
Resilient people know that spiritual life is a gift from God
- Understanding this takes the work out of life
- You don't work for or earn spiritual life. It is a gift. It doesn't depend on you, but on God's gift.
Resilient people know that God is the primary cause of our actions
- V.10: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
- This isn't determinism or fatalism, but a recognition of God's sovereignty.
- You can make it through most of your life pretty well when you depend on yourself. The difference only shows up in extreme circumstances. All of us face extreme circumstances.
How do we get to that place of dependence on God and reliance on God's grace?
- Romans 12:2a -- "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
- You must renew your mind. Train yourself by waking up each day and thanking God for His grace.