Title: The Essence of Grace
Contents
Sermon Day - 060827 Sunday afternoon
Text - Psalm 84:11
Title - The Essence of Grace
Yehwa - the joy of working together
A father built his first toy car without spending a lot of money. After a long time of painstakingly cutting a square log with a hacksaw, a nice streamlined toy car was born. The nine-year-old son painted the finished car blue and his father polished the axles like a mirror. The father and his son put a flame sticker on the car body and wrote the name ‘Burning Runner’ on the pine tree car body. Next to him, the son had a happy expression on his face as if nothing could live on it. A car you built with your children. What can parental achievement compare to? Like a father with a child, God wants us to cooperate in everything. Being a perfect Trinity, God is pleased with our creativity, even though we can do everything alone.
In the New Testament, the most common word related to grace is ‘charis’, which means ‘joy’.
In the Old Testament, 'hen' and 'hesed' are words that appropriately express the meaning of charis. “Hen” means grace, especially to those who are not entitled to it.
‘Hesed’ is translated as mercy or mercy, and is usually related to the covenant God made with His people.
The essence of grace is that God is for us.
It means that God loves us and shows us in action despite our sins and disobedience to His commands.
Then, let's look at the specific contents of the grace that God has given us.
Yehwa - the greatest person
Someone sent me a summary of John 3:16, which is called the “mini Bible of God,” as follows. 'God - the Most High, the world - the greatest number of people, so loved - with the greatest love, gave his only begotten son - the greatest gift - the greatest deed, me - the greatest. , so that everyone who believes - the simplest faith, not perishing - the most grateful promise, eternal life - the greatest difference between perishing and eternal life, the most valuable possession - is the surest assurance.'
1. Sending Christ
Of all the gifts mankind has received, there is no greater gift than Christ Jesus.
The Lord is God's gift to mankind.
He thought it was strange because the Lord said it was a gift.
But surely the Lord is a gift from God who did not want mankind to perish in iniquity.
That is why the Lord Himself said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Paul also said, “He did not spare his own Son, but for all of us… Will he not give us all things as gifts?” (Romans 8:32).
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the lavish gift for our Atonement and salvation.
Through this gift, we have the forgiveness of sins from the condemnation of the law, and the joy of life from death.
Illustration - Liberation by the Gospel
Until 1865, most black Americans in the South were slaves. There were many slaves working on cotton farms in the south. If the parents were slaves, the child was a slave from birth. There were also slaves brought from the African continent. They worked from dawn to evening, and on moonlit nights until midnight. Their food consisted of a piece of salted meat and a small amount of corn. If they did not obey and obey their master, they were severely beaten. The farm owners who owned them bought and sold slaves. If caught trying to escape, they were severely punished or killed.
2. Giving the Holy Spirit as a Gift
God has given the Holy Spirit as a gift for the saints as a protector and comforter.
We receive the Holy Spirit as a gift when we believe in the Lord and receive forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).
This is proof that the saints are under the providence and protection of God in the world.
God's gifts are not limited or partial.
It is a gift given to all who believe in the Lord, regardless of their position, life, or appearance.
The members of the early church were amazed when they saw that God poured out the Holy Spirit freely on the Gentiles.
Also, the Holy Spirit was not something that could be accomplished with money or power like the things the world traded in.
Peter said to those who wanted to buy the Holy Spirit with money, “You thought that money would buy the gift of God, so you and your silver must perish” (Acts 8:20).
God wants to fill us with good things.
And through that gift, He wants you to become a faithful saint.
To have received grace was to receive God's love. Or that you realized it.
So, how should we respond to it?
You must put God's grace into practice in your life.
Let's keep in mind that the act of treating grace in vain begins with denigrating or distorting the Word.