The Richness of Grace

Imagine being given a gift by someone whom you'd hurt, by someone you'd rejected, by someone from whom you deserved anything but a present. That'd be a turn up for the books, wouldn't it? The world generally doesn't work that way. Normally, you get your just desserts. People will turn against you for even the slightest perceived failure – let alone how quickly they'll drop you if you seriously misbehave. Well, hopefully we don't seriously misbehave these days but none of us is perfect – not you, nor I. Over the course of this week we've seen the tough judgement that befell Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden – through what, to you and me, seems like the trivial act of eating a piece of fruit from the one tree which God had forbidden them. That's how sin entered the world, and through it God's making a serious point: in His eyes, no sin is trivial. But … good news, there is a way back, a way for us to live from now and for all eternity in relationship with Him: Ephesians 2:7-9 God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace. I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. God's gift to you, by His kindness, is complete forgiveness, your slate wiped completely clean when you believe in Jesus who died and rose again for you. This is His gift of grace … to you Because that's God's Word. Fresh … for you … today.