God's Grace

Written by: Johnny Israel

During the time of Christ, the world was in as big a mess as it is today. The Romans controlled Jerusalem and most of the world, sin was rampant, and the Jewish religious leaders were cold hearted, indifferent to compassion, and legalistic. The spiritual condition of the Jewish people was in a much needed overhauling. The Jews understood the law of Moses; they vigorously practiced their Jewish customs, but they allowed a hard, bitter, spirit to creep into their hearts and robbed them from the presence of God. The very God they claimed as their Lord was no more than a daily ritual of duties and regulations. God needed a way to reach their heart, but how could He, they were too obstinate, and indifferent to the Holy Spirit. God had only one option to restore His compassion into the hearts of His people and that was to send His Son, first to the Jewish people, then to the world, as a sacrificial Lamb to the slaughter. The Bible tells us that Christ was born to die for the sins of the whole world: Yours and mine. Christ freely went to the cross to shed his blood, so that you and I would find redemption from our sin. For without the shedding of blood (Christ's blood) the Bible says there would be no redemption of sin. You or I don't deserve God's grace, but it is because of God's grace Christ suffered on the cross. It was grace that raised Him from the grave and placed Him at the right hand of His Heavenly Father. It is this same grace that you and I are empowered to enter the throne room in prayer. We are saved by God's grace whereby we call God our Heavenly Father. It was grace that restored us to God's heart of compassion and love. Through grace, we died to sin and was raised to newness of life. The old man passed away, the new man, filled with love and grace now lives in us. For without God's grace there would have been no sacrificial Lamb offering. When we pray, let us remember His grace and mercy He bestowed upon us through Christ Jesus our Lord.