What is Grace?
In this series, we are going to teach six messages about the grace of God, and believe me, this is good news for everyone. Grace is really a message from the New Testament. God’s grace has always been there, but it was manifested much more through the coming of our Lord to the world in Bethlehem.
Let’s read some verses in the Gospel of John chapter 1. Let’s read verses 14, 16, and 17. They say this: 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 16 From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace, 17 for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (NIV) The NLT uses the words “endless love” for grace, and this is true of grace.
Therefore, this grace came in fullness with the arrival of Christ into the world.
So then, what does grace mean? It is translated from the Greek word charis. Greek was the original language of the New Testament. And this word charis means blessings, favor, and kindness, and all of this from God. In other words, His grace is His blessings, favor, and kindness toward us. With Christ, we are in the age of grace, which is much better than the age of the law in the Old Testament.
We know from the Bible that God has mercy and grace for His people and the world. But there is a difference between these two words. All this flows from God’s love. He loves us very much. I John 4:8 does not only say that God loves, but that He is love. He is the source of true love. So, His mercy is not receiving what we deserve. We have all sinned and deserve punishment, but our punishment was placed on Christ when He died on the cross, so there is mercy for us. Grace is receiving from Him what we do not deserve. In other words, receiving these blessings, favor, and kindness that we truly do not deserve. Although we do not deserve anything on our own, God blesses us with and through His grace.
You know, grace has to do with generosity. That is, God has been very generous to us. Look at what John 3:16 and 17 say: 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (NIV)
This is truly great generosity. God gave the best thing in the universe, his own son, to rescue and save us. And this is God’s grace shown and revealed.
Let’s finish with one more verse in 2 Corinthians 8:9 showing some of that grace. It says, “9 You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” (NIV)
What a beautiful thing. Christ, being God, became man so that He could save us. He became poor, that is, He became a human being, and He did it all for us. This is grace.
We all need His grace. In fact, every day, every person is experiencing this grace. If you are breathing, it is by grace. If you have had something to eat today, it is by grace. If you have clothes to wear and a place to sleep, it is all by grace.
I want to tell you that there is grace from God for your life today. To save and forgive you, to strengthen and help you in any situation. God loves you. You only need to ask for His help today.