grace

The goodness of God’s grace is that it has absolutely nothing to do with us. We can’t make it, we can’t destroy it. Its existence is so far beyond us and yet…it is the one thing that God gives to us without question and without ceasing. We continually fall short; we mess up time and again, and still at the end of the rope when all else seems lost—grace, God’s amazing, implausible, unmatchable grace.

Romans tells us that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” so we can all agree that everyone is a screw-up (I mean that in the best sense). But even once you grapple with that idea (that we all have royally messed up and God will still extend grace to us), it goes on to assure us that it’s not just this onetime deal. Instead, God continues to extend his grace to us so that “just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:21)

This is no excuse to continue in our sinful ways but rather to encourage us that God knew we would fall down. He did not send Jesus to die on the cross for the “well” but for the “sick.” Because, if we were all perfect, there would be no point in having a Savior; we wouldn’t need one. God loves his broken people. He adores and cherishes his blemished children. He longs to bring each of us into his embrace, to swathe us in his love and grace and give us so much of it that we can’t help but rub it on the people around us.

This is the one thing that most separates followers of Jesus from the rest of the world. We have received God’s grace. That doesn’t make us better, rather challenges us to a new level. We are tasked with sharing that grace with others, even when they don’t understand or comprehend it. We are given the challenge of explaining to a world that thrives on justice and revenge what grace can do in their lives. We have been sent as ambassadors on a mission of loving the unlovable, of caring for the deserted, and befriending the ones who only want to cut us down and tear us apart. We are tasked with this because it is grace. And that is God’s gift to the world.