The Riches of His Grace

What started as a “quickly read a chapter before I go to bed” (you know what I’m talking about) turned into 10 verses read, a few verses highlighted, a few words underlined and then was going to be a quick Facebook-status-bible-verse-sharing moment. Now it’s a blog post. I was going to watch Netflix but God has another plan, and I’m certain it’s so much better. (Spoiler alert: it is)*

"In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight." Ephesians 1:5-8

I may have bitten off more than I can chew with so many verses, but I felt I couldn’t break it apart any more than I already have. In my quick reading there were a few words that stuck out to me (if you couldn’t tell by my underlining). There is so much to talk about within these few verses; I’m sure there are entire sermons, maybe even series’ on them. But this time, one thing stuck out to me.

Here’s the thing: lately the biggest thing that’s been on my mind in my spiritual life, the main wonder of God in my eyes, has been, and continues to be how unfathomably infinite he is. Just think about infinity for a minute. Really think about it. But don’t hurt yourself. It’s hard, I’d even say impossible, for us to understand the infinite, as we are finite beings; namely, we have a time limit. We have a patience limit. We have a forgiveness limit. And yes, we even have a love limit. But God the Almighty, our Infinite and Perfect Creator does not. The dictionary** defines the word infinite in three ways: immeasurably great, unmeasurable in duration of time, and unbounded or unlimited. God is all of that and more.

One of the main things that opened my eyes to yet another aspect of his beauty is this: In the same way God is infinitely powerful, he is infinitely loving. In the same way he is infinitely just, he is infinitely merciful. In the same way he is infinitely wrathful, he is infinitely graceful. And to me, that is infinitely beautiful.

The words I underlined in the verses above are all things in which God is infinite. His love. His grace. His forgiveness. His wisdom and insight.

While reading these verses in Ephesians tonight, I was especially hooked by the phrase “riches of his grace,” because I now understand what that truly means. We have forgiveness of our trespasses “according to the riches of his grace,” (v 8.) If God forgives us according to the riches of his grace, and the riches of his grace are endless, what does that mean for us? “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” Psalm 103:12

So what do I take away from this? God is infinitely Holy, He is infinitely just, and He is infinitely graceful. Because of this justice and grace, Jesus had to die on the cross for me. I am now forgiven of my trespasses, according to the riches of God’s grace. His grace that he lavished on me because of his infinite love for me. And because of all of that, and so much more (more than we can ever understand), he is infinitely worthy of praise, and deserved of glory forever and ever. And ever.

And ever.

*I added that statement after I wrote and reread the whole post.

**I used dictionary.com. One of my most-visited websites, I might add. Next to thesaurus.com. Okay and Netflix.

I'd Rather Have Jesus

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

This is something I am struggling with lately. Something I’ve been struggling with silently lately. And in my 20 years of existence I’ve learned that when you keep problems bottled up they don’t really go away. So it’s time to talk about it, because I’m sure I’m not alone. Here we go.

I never thought I was one to struggle with seeking approval from others. I always considered that to mean having the desire to be popular, to be the centre of attention; I definitely did not want that. Now I am realizing that that is not all it means. It also means seeking attention from people I admire/respect. It means fishing for compliments about the way I look. It means trying to be funny to make people notice me, and (unnecessarily) feeling hurt if no one laughs/heard me. It means feeling sorry for myself if I ever end up sitting alone in a room full of people. With that in mind, I guess I’ve always sought after the approval of people. When I do something well, I want to brag about it and get complimented on my performance. When I sacrifice my time and energy to do something, I want people to notice.

All of that is ridiculous on some level - I know that just because I sit alone in a room for a few minutes does not mean no body there cares about me; what it means is everyone is engaged in conversation or is busy and the world does not revolve around me.

I also know that even if that were true and no one did care about me, it wouldn’t matter. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). God showed his love for me by sacrificing his own perfect Son. For you too. Shouldn’t that be enough? We work hard to receive the approval of man. What does man’s approval give us? Maybe happiness, a smile, warm and fuzzy feelings on the inside? We did nothing to deserve the grace of God through Jesus Christ. In fact, we do everything to deserve the wrath of God.  “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” (Romans 6:22). I don’t know about you, but to me, that sounds much better than warm and fuzzy insides.

We all seek the approval of man. In your lifetime you have, you are, and you will seek man’s approval. It’s just what we do. I know I do – I constantly seek approval and attention from my friends, my pastors, guys (I know my parents will read this and make a comment about that last one, but I’m just being honest – I am almost 21 you know…) Who do you seek approval from?

The point I’m trying to get across is that God – the one and only true God, the infinite God of the universe – loves you. He gave his Son to die on the cross for you. He wants a relationship with you. Man will fail you. God will not. At the end of it all, I’d rather have God, Jesus' sacrifice, and his infinite love over the approval of man.

Take the world but give me Jesus.