Grace – Unmerited Purposeful Favor

Posted on Oct 7, 2017 in Devotions |

 
You’ve heard this before, that God’s grace is unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, as with many dictionaries, has several definitions for the noun “grace”. I like the first definition best however because it points to God, who created grace because He knew there would be a need for grace way back before He spoke all of His creation into being. This definition says “unmerited divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration or sanctification”.
2 Tim 1:9 (KJV)
Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling; not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

 

Salvation is a gift from God, given freely because it was His will and purpose to create all that we know and see. He completed His creation fully knowing that the humans that would inherit the creation would abandon Him and turn to sin and selfishness. And yet He created anyway.

     He created, knowing that He being a just God, would judge that sin and that a price would have to be paid.

     He created, knowing that only a perfect payment would be acceptable, and that He would have to provide that payment.

     He created, knowing that His only son would suffer mocking and torture.

     He created, knowing His beloved would be denied by those He taught and loved and called His disciples.

     He created, knowing that Jesus, God the Son, Immanuel, the Holy One of God, He would be that perfect sacrifice.

The earlier scripture says that God has done this “according to His own purpose”. Do you know that we were created for a purpose?  God did not create us because He wanted to challenge Himself with an unruly, stubborn, self-willed population of headache causers.  People ask the question all the time, what is my purpose – why do I exist? God created us for a very specific purpose – to be with Him! It is not His will that any of us be separated from Him, but sin causes that separation. His purpose in creating us was for fellowship, love, companionship, and worship. We are to be with Him so that we can worship Him and love Him and be close to Him forever!

Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)

For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

 

God’s grace is unmerited because if we could earn it, we would not need God. Think about that for a minute. If we could earn it, if we could act good enough, work hard enough, and give enough of our money and time to earn grace, why would we need God? And, why would God continue to pursue us and love us and have His heart break for us, if we could simply say to Him “Thanks but no thanks, I pay my own way.”

The fact is, God’s heart does break for us because He knows that without the salvation that He provides, we can never be returned to Him and therefore His purpose for creating each of us will not be fulfilled. God has a plan and a purpose for each of our lives, and it begins with us accepting that we need Him. We need God to step into our lives and bail us out from the mess we’ve created and the payment price that we cannot afford.  Jesus died on a cross for this specific purpose – to pay for the sins of the world. We can’t earn it, we will never deserve it, but it’s given freely and it is sufficient for all.

Psalms 25:6-7 (KJV)

Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.

 

A prayer for today…

Father God I thank you today for your mercy and kindness. I thank you for the grace that You give to me day by day, even moment by moment. I could never hope to earn or deserve this grace, because to hope in myself is to hope in nothing. But I will hope in You Father. I will hope in Your grace and Your word and Your promises for my life. Help me today to draw closer to you and to follow Your purpose for me. I love you and I praise your name, my gracious God, Amen.