STAY IN GOD'S GOOD GRACES

PROCLAMATION

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great … And it repented The Lord that He had made man … And The Lord said, I will destroy man … and beast, and every creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; … But Noah found grace in the eyes of The Lord.”  Genesis 6:5-8 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  After Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:23-24) they had children, (Genesis 4:1-2 and 4:25) and their children had children, who also had children for nine generations before Noah was born. (Genesis 5:3-30)  After the death of Adam there was much wickedness on the earth and The Lord was displeased. (Genesis 6:5-6)  The posterity of Seth, a God fearing people who lived in the mountains and were called the son of God, mated with the posterity of Cain, a vile and profane but beautiful people who lived in the valley and were called the daughters of men. They had children who became mighty men that did not follow God. (Genesis 6:4)  God said that He would destroy both the man and beast that He had created, but Noah found grace in the eyes of The Lord. (Genesis 6:7-8)  Noah was a just man who walked with God. (Genesis 6:9)  Because the earth was corrupt, immoral, and violent, God told Noah that He was going to destroy mankind, but he should build an ark (Genesis 6:11-14) so that he and his family would be saved from the coming flood which would destroy all flesh. (Genesis 6:17-18)  Noah was told to bring two of every kind of animal, male and female, into the ark with his family and food to feed them. (Genesis 6:19-22)

 

APPLICATION

Even when surrounded by wickedness and corruption, a child of God should maintain his faith and Christian walk.  By doing so one will find grace and favor in the eyes of The Lord and thereby be spared the wrath of God which will come to those people who are doing evil.  By following The Word of God we will be protected from the evil around us and from the punishment that they will receive. (Hebrews 11:7)  God will make a way out of no way to protect the righteous from His punishment of the evil, even if there are only a few righteous people involved. (Genesis 18:22-32)  Only He knows the future but occasionally The Lord God will share some of His secrets and plans with those who truly believe in Him. (Genesis 6:13 and Psalm 25:14)  Stay in the good graces of God and avoid His wrath. (Revelation 18:4)

BELIEVERS ARE FORGIVEN OF EVERY SIN THROUGH JESUS THE CHRIST

Proclamation:

“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.  Through Him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the Law of Moses.”  Acts 13:38-39 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by Luke, the physician, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Luke records that The Holy Spirit directed Barnabas and Saul, who is also called Paul, to leave Antioch and go to Pisidian Antioch by way of Cyprus. (Acts 13:1-13)  There on the Sabbath they went to the synagogue and sat.  After the reading of the law the leaders of the synagogue asked them to speak. (Acts 13:14-15)  Paul stood up and preached the gospel, and he ended with the above two versus. (Acts 13:16-39)  Afterwards, he was asked to speak again the next Sabbath and Jews got jealous when almost everyone in the city gathered to hear him. (Acts 13:42-47)

Application:

Those of us who believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, The Christ, are forgiven of all of our sins.  We are no longer under the Law of Moses, we are under the God’s grace.  This applies not only the Jewish believers, but to the Gentile believers also. (Acts 13:46-48)  The Law of Moses cannot save anyone, only those of us who are covered by the blood of Jesus can be saved and have our sins forgiven. (1 John 1:7)

GOD KNOWS ALL ABOUT US AND STILL LOVES US

Proclamation:

"Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'  The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.'  He told her, 'Go, call your husband and come back.'  'I have no husband,' she replied.  Jesus said to her, 'You are right when you say you have no husband.  The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.  What you have just said is quite true.'  'Sir,' the woman said, 'I can see that you are a prophet.' … The woman said, ‘I know that The Messiah is coming.  When He comes, He will explain everything to us.’  Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you, I am He.’"  John 4:10-26 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words spoken by Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by the Apostle John under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  When Jesus left Judea heading to Galilee, He went through Samaria.  There He met the Samaritan woman by a well and asked her for a drink of water.  She questioned Him because she knew that the Jews and the Samaritans did not get along.  During their conversation Jesus told her that if she knew who He was, she would have asked Him for the living water that He could give her.  Even though she did not fully understand she asked for that water.  Jesus told her to go and get her husband and return.  When she said I have no husband, Jesus told her about her past five husbands and her current living situation.  She thought that Jesus was a prophet but He told her that He was The Messiah.

Application:

All of us are sinners. (Romans 3:23)  None of us are righteous on our own. (Romans 3:10)  God demonstrated His love for us in that, while we were lost in our sins, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)  The Lord knows us and all about our past, including all of our sins, shortcomings, failures, iniquities, and our indiscretions, and yet He still loves us enough to offer us salvation and eternal life.  Jesus had to tell the Samaritan woman about herself before she believed.  Sometimes The Lord God allows things to happen to us so that He can show us who He is and what He can do for us.  He loves us and He wants us to be with Him throughout eternity, but we must first accept Him. (John 3:16)  It is only by the love and grace of God that we have been saved and not by anything that we have done. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

ONE BLESSING AFTER ANOTHER

Proclamation:

"From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." John 1:16-17 (NIV)

Explanation:

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, states that by the grace of God, we all have received blessing after blessing.  Not because we were so righteousness or deserving.  We were and are utterly unrighteous.  The law, the Ten Commandments which were given to Moses for mankind, was designed to show the unrighteousness of man and our need for a Savior.  Grace, the unmerited favor of God, was displayed and given to mankind by Jesus Christ.

Application:

We have all enjoyed countless blessings, one after another, spaced out by trials and tribulations which are, or lead to blessings.  Unfortunately, we tend to focus on our troubles and not on our blessings.  Every breath and every heart beat is a blessing.  Every act of random kindness shown to us is a blessing.  Protection from dangers seen and unseen is a blessing.  Closed doors to things that we want are blessings that keep us from some things and direct us to open doors that are opportunities for greater and better things for us.  Even the death of a loved one can be a blessing, it frees them from suffering and it causes us to look to and depend on The Lord.  God has blessed us with one blessing after another.  We just need to be thankful for the blessings that we have received because we did not deserve any of them.

Blessings After Blessings

"From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another."  John 1:16 (NIV)  The King James Version of The Bible reads: " And of His fullness have all we received, grace for grace."

In the gospel according to the Apostle John, self described as "the disciple whom Jesus loved", these words were written just after stating that:The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and he was a witness of Him. (John 1:14-15)  It is from the fullness of His grace that all of them, and all of us, have been blessed.

The Lord God is an unending well of grace and blessings which is overflowing and spilling unto all of us. (Ephesians 1:23)  It is by His grace that we are what we are. (1 Corinthians 15:10)  It is by the grace of God that we live, move, and have our very being. (Acts 17:28)  We have all received blessing after blessing, and we should forever be giving Him thanks.  We should thank Him for that which we have, instead of worrying about that which we don't have.

Righteousness By Faith To All Who Believe

"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul told the Christians in Rome that the righteousness that was imputed to them comes from God through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe in Him, because we have all sinned and we must be justified by His grace.

We are not "innocent" of sin, we have been declared "not guilty" because Jesus paid the price for all of us who believe in Him and it is by His grace that we are justified and declared righteous. We ought to thank Him every day for what He did for us.

Each Of Us Has A Gift

"We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully." Romans 12:6-8 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul told the people that we all have been given gifts, thanks to the grace of God and we all have not been given the same gifts.

God has blessed each one of us with a gift. However, it is up to us to determine how we will use our gift. We should use our gift to the best of our abilities, and do so in a way that gives God glory.

One Blessing After Another

"From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." John 1:16-17 (NIV)

John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, states that by the grace of God, we all have received blessing after blessing. Not because we were so righteousness or deserving. We were and are utterly unrighteous. The law, the ten commandments which were given to Moses for mankind, were designed to show the unrighteousness of man and our need for a Savior. Grace, the unmerited favor of God, was displayed to mankind by Jesus Christ.

We have all enjoyed countless blessings, one after another, spaced out by trials and tribulations which are, or lead to blessings. Unfortunately, we tend to focus on our troubles and not on our blessings. Every breath and every heart beat is a blessing. Every act of random kindness shown to us is a blessing. Protection from dangers seen and unseen is a blessing. Closed doors to things that we want are blessings that keep us from some things and direct us to open doors that are opportunities for greater and better things for us. Even the death of a loved one can be a blessing, it frees them from suffering and it causes us to look to and depend on The Lord. God has blessed us with one blessing after another. We just need to be thankful for the blessings that we have received because we did not deserve any of them.

All Of Us Are Sinners

It does not matter how good we think that we are, we all sinners. We all need to repent and ask God for forgiveness.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

If you think that this does not apply to you, read Romans 1:18-3:20, which lists the sins of mankind. All of us are sinners, but some of us are just sinners who have been saved by the grace of God.