Incredible, Wonderful Grace

"The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair." - Relient K

Wow. Grace makes life NOT fair. You know, our God is JUST. That means He follows the strict guidelines required of justice. But our God is also loving, so He offers grace! He gives us what we cannot earn or deserve because He loves us.

Our God is perfect. And in a post long, long ago, I hit on the point that God is the culmination of perfect. The word perfect cannot come to mean something less perfect than something else; its not like there is a hierarchy of perfection. Perfect is ALREADY the superlative form of its word; it cannot become better than it is! Perfection means that there is not one tiny little bit of imperfection. Everything our God does, says, or acts, is perfect.

Now, we are imperfect. The Bible says we are born INTO sin; we are NOT born perfect and then corrupted by the world. We are imperfect from the very beginning, the zygote (when a sperm fuses with an egg). Sin, imperfection, is penetrating. Its corrupts to the very marrow of our bones. Now, if we were to stand in God's presence, imperfect as we are, we would be eradicated. If our imperfection touched His perfection, His perfection would cease to be perfect UNLESS the imperfection was purged instantly and spontaneously. As a silly example, I've often heard the metaphor that I've baked a batch of brownies. But I was a teaspoon short of chocolate, so I used my dog's poop instead. Would you still eat them?

I sure hope not. But the Bible says that we are even WORSE than dirty, used menstrual cloths! Gross! That is how awesome our God is and how despicable we are! And since we are imperfect, we cannot have communion with God like He intended with Adam in the Garden of Eden. And Hell is quite literally an eternity without the privelage to be in God's presence; and similarly, Heaven is an eternity WITH the privelage to be in God's presence! But how can we become perfect then?

See, our God is just. He knows we are imperfect, and although it hurts Him because of His love for you, He has no choice but to send us away from His presence. To Hell. To NOT send us to Hell is to NOT be God, and since our God is perfect, He cannot cease being God because a perfect God doesn't end. Its cyclical thinking, I know, and I don't understand it all, but its His existence that proves His justness. So He had to concoct a way to allow us to be perfect; but there is no perfection without sacrifice.

Atonement for sins is a huge issue in the Old Testament. The Israelites had to constantly sacrifice animals to cover their sin, when they would just go out and sin against God again. The slaughter of animals daily was unimaginable. People SOLD animals as sacrifices to earn some extra income. The idea of sin removal and bloodshed go hand in hand. No sin can be forgiven without bloodshed.

And now that Jesus has died on that cross, the perfect sacrifice, all other sacrifices are voided. It doesn't matter how many doves you kill; you still need Jesus to receive grace. Which is an amazing fact! If life was fair, we'd all be destined to die. "But the beauty of grace is that it makes life NOT fair." Be glad life isn't fair! We may see evil grow and prosper in this life, but think how quickly this life will fade in light of eternity! Our lives are no longer fair; we have received grace! God REMAINS JUST, because perfect blood was spilled in atonement for our sins! Its not like His character has changed, but He looks at us with a new perspective!

Now He sees Jesus when He looks at us! Jesus and the Father are one; him who knows the Son also knows the Father! So 2 Timothy 2:13 takes on a whole new light: "...when we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." When God sees Jesus in us, He cannot deny us our requests when asked in faith! If we keep asking, searching, and knocking, we will find what we are looking for. Maybe its not what we want, but it IS what we need! When God says 'No', know that He is providing you with something greater. Not greater in our perspective, but in an eternal one!

Don't think this is a prosperity gospel. It's not. Read my last post, and you'll find that this life I'm living is the hardest thing I've ever done. I am DYING to myself everyday! But it is so very beneficial! I can lose my wealth, my family, my LIFE, but God remains constant! 

"They can hate, they can gossip!
But my passion for Jesus? 
They ain't never gonna stop it!" - Trip Lee

See, our life is not fair because God gave us His Son, Jesus. He gave us grace! God remains just, but life has become unfair in that we are able to have communion with a God that was once untouchable! What was untouchable, now we can run into it's EMBRACE! We are counted as sons and daughters in His family! Ask your Father for any need you have, and He will answer with what is best for you! Do you not think He'll take better care of you than He does of the sparrows? As you seek out Jesus, remember He's why you are able to live free of sin, perfected by faith, not by self righteousness, so be sure to #LiveItLikeJesus!