The History of Grace, thoughts from a Matthew West concert.

While at a Matthew West concert last Sunday, I heard a comment he made. He invited people to be a part of the "history of grace". It really was not even a focal point of his entire message, but this side comment really made me think.

I believe the "history of grace" began when Jesus rose from the dead after suffering a terrible death for our sins.  Once Jesus stood in the gap for our sins, Jesus became the means by which men could ever be justified before God forever.

When I think about grace in and of itself, it's amazing.  Here we have the Lord of the universe.  He is right in all His ways and for reasons we can grasp but not fully understand, He despises sin.  So enter fallen man.  Man had sinned and was separated from God forever.  God, who established the laws of the universe could not just allow people to be forgiven without compromising His righteousness.  So what does He do?  He sends Jesus to die on the cross to justify us before Him.  God makes a way for us to be with Him forever without compromising His Word or His stand against sin.  It is amazing really when you think about it.

So grace, through Christ, is established and this burning torch is passed into the hands of people who would be willing to take this burning flame of grace for themselves and share it with others. 

At this point, you could say a book was opened.  It was a blank book.  Every page was empty. This grace, as it was passed through generations created stories that I imagine would be written in this book as to what men did with this gift we all have been given.  Each generation of people with grace had an accounting of what they did with the grace of God given to them. 

So now, our generation is of age and our kids are not close behind us.  The question is, what story will be written about this grace that has been handed to us?  Did we hide it?  Did we share it?  Did we dim it?  The choice ultimately belongs to all of us.

You see, I don't know if there is a literal history book of grace or not, but I do know that in the heart of God, He knows everything we have done and will do.  In that knowledge, there is a story of grace for each and every person and if God were to write down what He knows about every generation, a book of the "history of grace" could easily be written.

This thing called grace is the starting point of your relationship with God.  Through grace comes love, devotion, obedience and forgiveness.  Not only for yourself, but for others as well.  Through grace, people find healing, people find redemption and they feel a love that can never be taken away.

So if you know Christ, the history of grace is being written through your life whether you know it or not.  What will you do with the grace given to you?  My prayer is that God's grace would be so established, that many people come to Christ through your life.  In that, I hope the book of the history of grace, when it is opened to your chapter, will contain many stories to read.