The Gift of God .........
Chapter one of "More Than Amazing Grace" written by Lonnie Melashenko
It's probably one of the most chilling sensations in the world. You're driving along in your car -- an open freeway, clear night-time driving conditions, cheerful, absorbing music blaring out through all four speakers, all eight cylinders zipping you along. You are having a great time.
All of a sudden you look in your mirror. And that red light is there.
That terrifying, imperious red light. You can't see the rest of the patrol car; you can't see the police officer yet. Just that glowing red light, all the power of that red light.
And you know you're had. Man, you were doing seventy-five, maybe even eighty. You just weren't thinking about it.
It hits you right in the stomach. It's actually a physical sensation, a sick feeling. This is going to cost you maybe two hundred bucks. Plus traffic school, at least here in California. Maybe even a jump in your insurance rates. That red light in your rearview mirror means nothing but never-ending heartbreak.
The patrolman comes up; he's very courteous, very professional. He looks at your driver's license and your registration. There's a long moment while you just .... wait.
And then, all of a sudden, he looks down at you and says, "Mr. Melashenko, I'm not going to give you a ticket this time. But please slow down, okay?"
You're off the hook! No ticket. No traffic school. No punishment. No insurance problems. You've been forgiven.
Friend, what you've experienced right there is grace. And that wonderful feeling of relief and freedom is just a tiny slice of the grace --God's grace-- we want to discuss in this book.
If you were to do a Top-Ten survey of favorite songs around the world, the song "Amazing Grace," I think would show up on many, many lists. "There is something about that quiet Christian gospel song that stirs a person's heart.
"Amazing Grace" . Where does that song get its power? Why do so many people love it and point to it as a kind of life anchor, even a turning point for them?
Back in 1990, Bill Moyers produced a film for PBS with that very simple title: "Amazing Grace." This beautiful documentary took cameras around North America and even overseas, looking for the song "Amazing Grace." From the country-twang back hills of Virginia to a boys's opera choir in the mean streets of New York City to ethnic singing groups in Asia, Moyers captured on film what that old song "Amazing Grace" means to so many people.
The Moyers film made its public debut at RCC '90, a convention gathering of 2,000 religious communicators in Nashville. At a late-evening showing, hundreds of writers and PR practitioners for many faith groups sat and watched this film, "Amazing Grace."
As you watched, you couldn't help but think of the rich meaning of the lines of that song: "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind,, but now I see."
You know, friend, there's a sermon hidden in every line of that song,"Amazing Grace." What's so amazing about it? What's the big deal about grace "that saved a wretch like me." Are you and I really wretches? That's a harsh word; but does it apply? And then the line, "I once was lost." What about that?
I'll tell you something -- grace becomes even more amazing when you simply stop and think about it. The song "Amazing Grace" and the concept of amazing grace both grow into something very precious in your heart.
There are actually at least six verses to this hymn, but, just looking at the first stanza opens up rich meaning, such a precious picture of Jesus.
Let's take a brief moment together and think about the word: grace. What really is grace? Why has this biblical concept become such an important pillar in the Christian faith?
Well, Webster's Dictionary lists eight definitions just of the noun part of grace. Of course, we think of "saying grace at meals," or maybe the title of a duke: "Your Grace."
But the diffinition that changes the world is this one: "Unmeritied divine assistance given to humanity." Most Christian preachers, including yours truly, like to say simply: "Grace is unmerited favor." Getting something wonderful from God that we don't deserve. The New Testament Greek word, charis, carries the idea of "goodwill" or "favor".
Salvation -- by which we mean heaven, eternal life with Jesus and all God's people -- is something we don't deserve. Not one citizen on this planet deserves to live. There is not one member of the human race who doesn't have a deserved death sentence hanging over his or her head.
A little girl was once asked what grace was. "Please sir," she said, "it is getting everything for nothing." Not a bad definition, but a better one has been pointed out. If she'd said, "It is somebody who deserves everything bad, getting everything good for nothing', that would have been closer to the truth.
Romans chapter three contains the classic bad news/goodnews pronouncement of all time: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (verse 23).
There aren't any exceptions to that rule. Putting it bluntly, we're all in the driver's seat of that car on the freeway, and the red light is shining in through the back window. We're guilty. That's the bad news.
Friend, thank goodness there is verse 24! Listen to the good news: "and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."
And you really can't open a book about grace without pointing out Ephesians 2:8,9.
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.
Let's explore just two words in one phrase of the gospel song: 'That saved a wretch like me. Paul tells us in Ephesians that it is grace that saves us. God's grace, God's undeserved favor, has the power to save. It's a gift from God. We can't earn it; we can't buy it; we can't qualify for it; we can't deserve it. And we certainly can't boast about the fact that we have it.
You know, when I've got that patrolman's flashlight in my eyes, and the red light strobing through my window, and the policman says: "Lonnie, I'm going to let you off" -- my best move at that moment is to just quietly say, "Thank you." That's not a very smart time to boast or honk my own horn. A quiet "Thank you" is really the only appropriate response.
I think by the end of this book, you and I are going to find ourselves saying "Thank You" a lot. "Thank You, Lord, for the gift of amazing grace."
__________
Emphasis added
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