BY GRACE

Dining with Jesus Christian Episodes

THIS IS TABLE ROCK FELLOWSHIP – PASTOR RYAN LADEN

By Grace

In the services this week we listened to the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). In that great example of the love of God, Jesus Christ described for us the way that the wayward son was welcomed home with open arms, an exalted status, and complete acceptance.

This example of love and grace was so intense and so overwhelming that the older brother in the story was unable to accept this kind of undeserved favor being shown by the father to someone who had not done anything good for the family.
 

God’s Grace is Shocking


All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s perfect righteousness. All of us have rebelled against the Lordship and authority of God. All of us deserve punishment in order for there to be justice for our crimes against the Lord.

And yet, even with all of our failure on full display, the perfect God of creation shows us love and mercy by joining us in our human condition through the incarnate Jesus Christ. And after joining in our condition (minus the sin), Jesus Christ bears our sin, pays our debt, and makes good on our injustice as his body is broken and his blood spilled on the cross.

This kind of grace is hard to imagine and even more challenging to accept.
 

Yet Accept it We Must


We cannot pretend to possess the ability to refund the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, nor can we find our own path into the perfect presence of God by attempting to offset some of our evils with a little good here and there.

What we need is to see the shocking truth of God’s grace. We need to look it in the eye and embrace this undeserved and unending gift of love and mercy in the name of Jesus.

This is the point that we find in this powerful and well-known passage taken from the message of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesian church:

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:4-9 NIV11

Because of Love

· Why does the Lord shower us with the incomparable riches of his grace?

· Why does the Lord take our spiritually dead natures and provide us with the living grace of Jesus Christ?

· Why are we included in the work of Jesus Christ rather than asked to work our way into his good graces?

The answer has always been, is now, and will always be because the Lord God Almighty has made a sovereign choice to love us.

Reflection

· Are you living as one who is loved by God?

· Or are you seeking to earn or pay back the love of God?

Remind yourself of the truth of God’s word today. Return to this message over and over as you are tempted by the lies of the world and the deceit of the enemy.

You are loved!

In Christ,

Ryan Laden

OUR MISSION AS A CHURCH

“TO ENCOURAGE AND EQUIP EACH OTHER IN LOVE TO KNOW JESUS AND MAKE HIM KNOWN”

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