GRACE! God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. For many, this acronym is etched in our minds to help us remember the means used by God to display His divine favor toward us. It is one of many attributes of God that fills our hearts with praise and adoration in appreciation of His Son. Indeed, it is often the focus of our worship as we remember the Lord each Sunday. “Who is a pardoning God like thee? Or who has grace so rich and free?” We may not know the history of its acronym but we can be certain of the origin of grace.
“Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen 6:8). This first mention of grace (in the KJV) is stated immediately after God saw the greatness of man’s wickedness and His announcement to destroy both man and beast. Indeed, “where sin did abound, grace did much more abound” (Rom 5:20). Noah was blameless before men and walked with God. Nevertheless, God’s grace in salvation can never be earned. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph 2:8-9 NKJV). It was through this one man, Noah, that God would provide the way of salvation from divine judgment upon man’s sin.
Later, God would send One far greater than Noah to save us from sin’s penalty and to display the exceeding riches of His grace: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (Joh 1:17 KJV).
In the book of Leviticus there is no mention of grace. The Law demanded that we give something to God but grace enables God to give eternal life to us. This life is in His Son, Jesus Christ. He was not only blameless before men but completely without sin. From a virgin’s womb to a virgin tomb, He lived a life in perfect harmony with God. How marvelous to consider that He would step down from His throne in heaven, veil His glory and become a man so that He could willingly give His life a ransom for us all. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2Co 8:9 NKJV). Have you experienced God’s saving grace?
The Scriptures are filled with individuals who experienced God’s matchless grace. Most of the verses quoted on this page were written by the apostle Paul, who turned from being a persecutor of Christians to a preacher of the gospel. We who are saved by grace through faith in Christ often wonder why God would ever save us. Perhaps through eternal ages we may more fully understand the reason. “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:7 KJV). God’s grace is unsearchable, inexhaustible and exceeding abundant. May each lost sinner bow in repentance before God today and receive God’s free gift of eternal life through faith in Christ, the One “in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph 1:7 KJV).
