Grace. Love. Fellowship. Some of Paul’s most favorite words. And yet, in this particular passage, the apostle ties them as individual qualities to God, the Father; Jesus, the Son; and the Holy Spirit. The love of God describes the vertical relationship. God’s love for man is unimaginable. It’s what keeps God from executing His Justice. The fellowship of the Holy Spirit explains the horizontal relationship between believers. Christians aren’t related by ethnicity, social standing or even blood type. With the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are One in Faith. Finally, through Jesus and His Grace we have access to the Father’s Love and Spirit’s Fellowship. Jesus is both vertical and horizontal (just think “cross”). He not only came down and went back up, Jesus also walked in relationship with humans, experiencing our pain and problems, disappointments and doubts, trials and temptations.The good news (or “gospel”) is Jesus journeyed without sin. He never broke relationship with the Love of the Father or the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit (because that’s the consequence for sin). His “cross” built the bridge that allows those who identify as “Christians” to now live under Love with God, no longer condemned by his Justice. Jesus’ “cross” also created a deeper relational gift—only through a Fellowship of the Holy Spirit--where true community can exist. Which brings me to GRACE. Grace is the blessing that covers both the vertical and the horizontal. Grace is what covers the moments of failing, when sin creeps back into our lives. Grace is also the standard by which we should live our lives with others. Grace is unmerited favor. Grace is wildly strange and completely unbelievable. Grace doesn’t make sense. Grace frees the guilty. Grace welcomes home the prodigal with a party. Grace forgives and forgets and forges a new beginning. Grace changes everything.
The bottom line: without Grace, we cannot live in Love or Fellowship. Without Grace, we cannot connect to God (because of our sin) nor to each other (because sin creates relational walls). So how are you doing today walking in Grace, both with God and Man? You can’t have one without the other. In fact, you probably wouldn’t want to try.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON GRACE:
"Grace is given to heal the spiritually sick, not to decorate spiritual heroes" -Martin Luther
"Grace is but glory begun, and glory is but grace perfected." -Jonathan Edwards
"God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that can be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish one from the other"
-Reinhold Niebuhr
"Grace is available for each of us every day - our spiritual daily bread - but we've got to remember to ask for it with a grateful heart and not worry about whether there will be enough for tomorrow." - Sarah Ban Breathnach
"We're all stumbling towards the light with varying degrees of grace at any given moment." -Bo Lozoff
Father, we thank You for Your Great Love for us. It is a Love that is unimaginable and unbelievable. We thank You, Jesus, for Your Grace that only comes through a relationship with You. We can’t earn it, buy it or steal it. Your Grace is free, but it didn’t come cheap. Thank You for giving Your Life that we might have freedom, forgiveness and a future. Finally, we thank You, Holy Spirit, for invading our hearts and changing our perspectives, perceptions and purpose. Because you have taken up residence in our lives we have a Power to overcome; a Path to follow and a Passion to enjoy. God, grant us Love today. Spirit, help us to live in Fellowship. Jesus, may we live today in Your Grace and give it to those who sin against us. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment