Grace Upon Grace

"For from His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace" (John 1:16).

Our boys brought home a Christian rock CD by a young man called Reliant K; Reliant said "the great thing about grace is that it's not fair". This was years ago and I've never forgotten. "Not fair". We've been brought up to share our toys and to "play fair" with the other kids. This becomes part of who we are as adults and helps make the world a more civilized place. (It also partly accounts for why Western countries are so prosperous after many generations of spreading the wealth so that many of us are able to participate fully).

But God's grace comes to us as He wills, we cannot earn or lay claim to it.. and it is not fair, but also it is wonderful!

"God saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began" (2 Timothy 1:9).

Grace is the practical outpouring of God's love. Grace is favour, it is a gift from God which blesses and changes us.

"God is love" (1 John 4:16), love is the essence of who He is, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God lavishes grace upon humanity as an expression of His love and as a way to bring people into His embrace. This way each one of us can grow and be fulfilled according to His plan in the Creation and in His New Covenant.

By God's grace we find Jesus, (or Jesus reveals Himself to us), our sins are forgiven and we are adopted into God's family as His children. The whole of Creation was brought into being so that humankind would have a place to be. Humans are the only creatures to have a spirit; because of this Jesus can fill us by His Holy Spirit.

We were created, each and every human being, to be in relationship with God, to be spiritually alive, to be transformed by being eternally saved, and to grow in saintliness until "we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). This Bible verse makes a very big statement, especially in the light of all the divisions in the world, and even within the Christian church. But its meaning is quite clear; this will come to pass, meanwhile "the body of Christ [the Church] [is being] built up .." (Ephesians 4:12)! Grace.

Grace is free, and it is entirely from God. We cannot earn or deserve or buy grace. God calls us. Jesus died to take away our sins and this work is His alone. Sin may seem an old-fashioned word, but its meaning has not changed. It includes all our wrong-doing, our mean-ness, lies, cheating, willfulness, crime, and going against God's will for us. A big subject.

Our confession and repentance for our sins is our response to Jesus' saving and sanctifying work. "By grace we have been saved" (Ephesians 2:5). At the same time, grace is costly, we give up our old life and work at growing in our relationship with Father God, (as a Christian I know I am constantly growing). We want to please and serve Him, to participate in Jesus' work on the earth.

There is a flow from God to us: God leads to relationship leads to faith leads to repentance leads to salvation leads to righteousness leads to freedom leads to love leads to obedience leads to service leads to peace. It is all given to us by grace " .. Freely you have received; freely give" (Matthew 10:8).

This is not the same as Martin Luther's experience of agony for his sins and through that finding faith in Jesus and being born again. We simply need to meet Jesus and believe that His death on the Cross will set us free ..

Justification by grace alone is the sole foundation of Christian life (Romans 3:23-24). Only Jesus will give us the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

Although this is completely true, it is our necessary respo; nse to God’s grace that brings His love into the world. We become "salt" and "light" (Matthew 5:13-14) in the world, and serve all humanity (Matthew 5:16). We are actively part of God’s family (Galatians 4:7) and His Kingdom (Revelation 5:10). We separate our self from the world (2 Corinthians 6:14, also see James 4:4).

I'm very grateful that God is not fair with grace. I think I would have deserved to have been given very little grace, but have had lots, all my life, in many, many ways. Praise Jesus.

"Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2).

"For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14).

"Even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, God made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:5).

Encounters

In our Christian circles we talk about "divine encounters". These are the times when we meet with someone "by chance" and the meeting turns out to be really special and very helpful. Afterwards you realise that on your own you could not have expressed yourself anywhere near as well as you just did; it had to be Jesus in you who was bringing forward ideas and forming sentences (Colossians 1:27). Grace at work (2 Corinthians 9:8).

I'm at Trish and my favourite camp ground, by the sea in our Southwest, and yesterday, quite separately, I met two men for the first time. One became a born again Christian after his wife died many years ago. He has been increasingly disappointed at the way both the world and the Church are going. We talked for ages and I was able to share with him some very positive truths which never appear in the media. I'm sure that he walked away with a much lighter step than he had when he approached me. I know that meeting him was a blessing to me. A divine encounter? I believe so.

The other fellow has only just retired after working in Christian ministry for decades. He's now very keen to find what he will be doing for his remaining lifetime and getting started on it. I felt to share about taking time to think and pray .. it's been very precious to me to have lots of time, when I was unemployed, and now that I'm older, to have lovely long periods where I can think and then pray and think and pray some more; to really ponder and get to grips with what the Bible says and to hear what Jesus is now saying. Yes, and to take the time to smell the roses too! I see this as a huge outpouring of grace towards me .. We have just enough money to meet our needs (Luke 12:22-32), but I am rich in time and relationships. I keep my life simple and try to stay close to those who are near to me. I am never bored!

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

Sea Scouts

When my dad took me along to Boy Scouts we didn't know that very soon that group would become Sea Scouts. I really thrived. Initially we had no "boat" stuff and started from scratch building our boat shed, pier and launching ramp, and a fleet of boats most of which had sails.

You can’t imagine the thrill it was for a ten- or twelve- year-old boy to be so engaged in such big, exciting learning projects. I spent one whole school holidays going there every day to fabricate rigging for the sailboats. I represented Wellington province in both rowing and sailing. We also trekked in the mountains and did many camps. Often the food at camp was awful, when I complained to my Mum she began to teach me how to cook. I still love all these things and still love to cook for people. I learned other things like first aid and leadership, and patriotism and respect for our Queen and our government. What grace filled gifts these all are; if my father had got me into a different kind of activity none of this would have happened. But God knew. He guides our steps even when we are un-aware.

"A person's steps are directed by the Lord. How can anyone understand their own way?" (Proverbs 20:24).

Information Technology

Grace comes to all of us, but Christians know it with such gratitude because it is "by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8).

Long before Jesus came to me I "fell" into a career in IT. This gave me many exciting and challenging projects, and it sustained me and my family for decades. It also enabled me to work here in Australia and in England and the United States. As a young man I was working for a firm who needed some accounting equipment; the most suitable machines came with new digital features. I was the odd-job person in the office so this was added to my work list. The equipment-supply people saw that I took to it like a duck to water and I flew through all their aptitude tests.

Not long after that I moved to the wild mining country in Australia's Northwest to work and save money for a world-wide back-packing trip. The mining company, who had a "recruit from within" policy, were looking to set up their first IT department and I was given one of the positions as trainee computer programmer. Computers in commercial businesses were still rare in those days so I was very blessed to have such an opportunity! Soon I showed that I had a real flair for designing and building computer systems to solve complex business problems. My end-users loved my systems because they did their job well, and were reliable, and were delivered on time. I loved my work! Grace. I didn't even know Jesus but He gave me something immensely precious and long lasting.

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Drownings and Car Crashes

I've nearly drowned three times. It is true that your life flashes before your mind's eye as you come near to the end; I found it a peaceful experience, perhaps because my life has been full, rich and satisfying. Clearly, I survived these three events!

Two of those times I was trying to drag somebody out of the surf. I reached the point where I knew we were both lost and I went through the terrible thoughts that I would have to abandon my friend and try to save myself. Then my toes touched the sand and I found the energy to continue the struggle. Grace. At the last possible minute my lovely Jesus, who I did not know, rescued me. Twice. Years apart and in different countries. Grace.

The third near drowning happened when our son Tom and I were body surfing in some pretty good waves. We soon realised we were in a rip, we did not know where the rip would take us so began the struggle for the shore. Tom was still in his teens but he is tall and strong. Once again I thought I was finished but Tom's determination, size and strength got us out. I was Christian by this time and we stood on the beach, half crying and also yelling out praises to Jesus at the top of our voices, our Shield and our Rock! What grace! I have tears in my eyes as I share this ..

"But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head" (Psalm 3:3).

With all my crazy car crashes I've never been hurt or caused a death or injury. I've grown up a lot since those days and praise Jesus for His shielding hand. Grace abounding!

Until I was mature my health was very good; since then I've had some serious issues .. I've written at length about the many miracles I've seen in my health, and also about healings for many other people. Jesus heals, still, in our time. Such grace!

"The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold" (Psalm 18:2).

Jesus And Trish

It has been a study in the grace of God how I even got to know and love Him. I was offended by the Church when I was young so stopped having anything to do with church people; I had only ever attended church and had not become a believer, but church was so much a part of society then that this was a big step.

Later on, Jesus had to soften me up before I would be open to His approach. He gave Trish and me to each other. I love to recount how Trish and I met, how impossibly unlikely that meeting was, how un-alike we are, like chalk and cheese, yet we have six gorgeous grown children, also daughters-in-law and grandkids; there are now fifteen of us in our immediate family! In July we'll have been married 37 years. What a very long and lovely conversation Trish and I are enjoying. Why should I be given such a glorious gift? Why such favour towards me?

We met in New York when I was on holiday there; it seemed an extremely chance meeting but its impact is still being felt. Trish was a church-goer and went to Mass in Hoboken every Sunday evening. An amazing priest would give the sermons; he was on loan from the local diocese to the office of the Governor of New Jersey. As he spoke he would reflect Jesus' light on all the events and happenings in N.J. and even the U.S.A. and the world. I saw Jesus in a new way, in today's world. Trish and I were married, also in New Jersey, and soon after came to Western Australia where I had an apartment by the sea.

The beginning of our marriage was rocky for Trish and, after some struggles, a group of ladies from church took her to a prayer meeting .. it was there that she met Jesus and her life was changed. I became interested and went to many meetings with Trish and these other, very excited, Christians. About three years passed, then Jesus came and took me by the hand. Some years after that our marriage was in trouble, (most marriages encounter trouble at some point). This began to resolve when we asked Jesus to come and be the third strand in the rope of our union (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Now we are still happily bound together, Jesus, Trish and I, and still rejoicing in the joys, and prevailing over the troubles that come our way (2 Corinthians 6:4). Jesus has been going before us, all these years, pouring out His grace upon us and our marriage and our family.

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness'. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

It has been a surprise to me, how fruitful this writing-time has been, focusing on the grace of God. How widespread grace is in the world! While I've been thinking about specific times when grace flowed towards me, there is also common grace. In the very Creation, and every day, grace abounds towards all humanity. We don't just have a universe, but it is full of benefits and beauty. We have the seasons, flowers and animals, mountains and oceans, countless wonderful foods, babies and dogs and whales, and for most of us, the richness of being in families. Just the other day I was riding my bike round our neighbourhood, for exercise. The most brilliant sunset filled the sky. I saw cars pausing at intersections, then stopping. The peoples' faces were directed to the sky and filled with awe and delight at the glorious spectacle God was painting in our sky! Grace.

As for the Church, I'm certain that Jesus is not worried about its future and is working out His plan in His time:

".. I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Jesus' words: Matthew 16:18).

"So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace" (Romans 11:5).

My prayer for you:

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14).

Favourite Bible Verses

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

".. to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,  which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight  making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ  as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth" (Ephesians 1:6-10). 

"Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come to God through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them" (Hebrews 7:25 Amplified).

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:15-20).

Amen.

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Praise Jesus.