Church Family,
Over the past several days I’ve been reading in Genesis. One of the things that has stood out for me is the prevalence of grace in the lives of the people who are featured. For instance, consider Adam and Eve. God could have struck them down for their rebellion against Him. Instead, He graciously atoned for their sin and clothed them with animal skin (3:21). Consider Noah. God purged the earth of corruption (6:5-7) through the flood but graciously chose to covenant with Noah. Yes, the bible says that he was a righteous man (6:8-9), but make no mistake, he was a sinner just as the rest of humanity. Consider Abram. God called him to Himself and make a covenant with him. God didn’t promise to make a great nation out of him because Abram was such a good guy. It was God’s gracious choice. In fact, all one has to do is read the rest of Abram’s (Abraham) story to see that he made numerous mistakes. Consider Isaac. He made the same selfish mistakes his father made. And consider Jacob. Where to start with Jacob? But God has his hand on Jacob and carried him along by grace.
Sometimes we want to make too great a divide between the OT and the NT. And yes, there is a dramatic difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. However, it’s not like God’s grace just showed up when Jesus took on flesh. God has always been gracious and will always be gracious. It’s His character and He doesn’t change.
Let us not forget that it is God’s grace that saves us, trains us, and transforms us (Titus 2:11-14). Considering this, let’s remind ourselves often of God’s character and His love. Let’s be motivated by gratitude for His love, tender mercies, and grace because we know that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). And when we mess up (and we will), let’s be quick to confess our sin and depend again on God’s grace!
Pastor Nate