You Are a Grace Case

This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.”  We have been looking at case after case where it is evident that God’s amazing grace motivated Him to do what He did.  The more I study and think about God’s grace the more thankful I am for my own life.  If it were not for the grace of God I would not be anywhere near where I am today.  When I get emails, letters, tweets, FaceBook posts, and phone calls from people telling me how much God has blessed them through me, I can only go back to the grace of God.  I am a grace case and I am sure you are as well.

Years ago I preached a message entitled, “Don’t Judge My Future By My Past.”  I wish I could find the notes to that message.  In the message I went through the lineage of Jesus, as outlined by Matthew (chapter one), and I highlighted person after person whom God used for His glory; poiting out how none of them were seemingly qualified.  In that lineage you will find liars, adulterers, murderers, and a prostitute.  But they are still listed in the lineage and they were used of God for His glory.  Not because they were perfect, not because they deserved it, but because of God’s grace.

We all know how amazing the Bible is.  Smith Wigglesworth said, “The Bible is the Word of God: Supernatural in origin, eternal in duration.  Inexpressible in valor, infinite in scope.  Regenerative in power, infallible in authority.  Universal in interest, personal in application, and inspired in totality.  Read it through, write it down, pray it in, work it out, and then pass it on.”  The mere fact that ~40 authors wrote 66 books over a 1500 year span and they all come together as one sacred text for us to live by today is another act of God’s grace.  He did not have to do it, but He did.  And the three major authors (Moses, David and Paul) were all murderers.  Well, Paul never killed anyone with his own hands, but he was behind the deaths of many Christians and since he was too young to stone Stephen (the first Christian martyr), he held the coats of the men who did.  It is this same Paul who wrote in our text for this morning that God called him by His marvelous grace before he was ever born.  If that is true of Paul, then it is true of you.

So what does this mean to you today? It means that you are a grace case; accept it.  You were not worthy of God’s blessing before you accepted Christ, you are not worthy right now, and you will never be worthy.  You are righteous, not because of what you did, but because of what Jesus did.  Jesus paid for your sin – past, present and future.  You are saved by grace and grace alone.  Let’s close with a few golden nuggets we can glean from this lesson:

1.  God is in the business of making holy garments from flawed material.  This puts the emphasis on Him, and not us.

2.  God knew you were going to mess up before you messed up, and He called you anyway.  The Father factored OUT your mistakes when He factored IN His grace.  So don’t try to factor back in what He already factored out.

3.  As one of my mentors, Dr. Charlie Palmer, put it, “You are alive by Promise, dead by Purpose, Resurrected by (God’s) Power, and reigning for His good Measure and Pleasure!”  That my friends is grace.  Not just any grace, it is the grace of God, and yes… it is amazing!

Closing Confession:  Father, I have gotten over the fact that I am not worthy.  I was not worthy of Your best yesterday, I am not worthy now, and I will never be worthy.  I receive Your best by grace.  I AM A GRACE CASE.  The people who knew me growing up know that I am who I am today by Your grace and Your grace alone.  Apart from Your grace I would have been lost and condemned.  But by Your grace I have been redeemed, restored, revived, repurposed, and redirected.  Your grace is amazing and I will never cease to give You praise for it.  I now enter every day knowing that I am not perfect, but I am forgiven.  So I freely seek to maximize my purpose and potential and I never allow the devil to get me over into condemnation.  When I mess up, I quickly repent, receive forgiveness, forgive myself, and I move on by grace.  With this mindset I shall arrive at Your desired destination for my life.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen!