Good morning friends, but God Text: Ephesians 2:1-10, John 3:16-18, John 1:12-13, Romans 6:23 When I do exercise which is not often enough, I love the part at the end when we all lie still. It’s sometimes called “corpse pose.” That moment of lying powerless on the floor is a potent image of how I am dead in my sin. Apart from Christ, all I have is this body of death. That limp quiet moment prepares me for the best part: BUT GOD. Ephesians 2:4 begins, “But God, being rich is mercy… even when were were dead in our trespasses, made us ALIVE together with Christ.” I’m dead on the floor every day–But God comes to redeem my story. John says, for God so loved…that he gave his Son…that whoever believes receives eternal life. God raises us up, out of our death, out of our sin and off of the floor, to give us life. Life eternal. Romans says we deserve death (6:23). But instead of death, Christ gives us life. Ephesians says Christ gives us this life by grace through faith (2:8). This “by grace through faith” business is a difficult idea for me to understand. I like to see a reward earned for a hard day’s work. I like to do a great job and get my what is rightfully mine. I like to use my own power to get what I want, what I feel like I deserve. But I forget that what I deserve is death. I need to repent not only of my sins, but also of my paltry attempts at righteousness. The times help my sons or when I read books to my grandchildren, the meals I prepare for my husband or the kindness I extend to strangers–none of this is good enough to satisfy the debt that I owe for my sin. Only Christ was good enough. This is the delicate beauty of “by grace through faith” – I don’t earn it, because I can’t. So I breathe in God’s grace, believe, and rise up off the floor. Gracefully His, Lynn
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 12:41:39 +0000
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