By Staff
There is something deep within each of us that requires balance or equity. Everything has to zero out at the end of the day. We feel that we must do our part or pull our weight so we do not feel like anybody owes us anything.
There is also the "I deserve" list that each of us keeps close track of. We live our lives trying to owe nothing and to be owed nothing.
All of that works in the world of commerce. The backbone of the world system is having opportunity to work, get, and consume. Problem is, we all jump in and work the system, but down deep it is not computing. The fulfillment that should be there isn't. We are not getting ahead. There is really no alternative other than being attached to some "old" money that somebody else earned, being on the dole, or taking things by force in a lawless manner.
Transfer all that to the spiritual world. We hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. We hear the revolutionary concepts of trusting God for provision, position, and protection. We are confronted with the concept of giving away some of what we have struggled to accumulate. We are told that we are loved by God to such a degree that He gave His only Son Jesus Christ to redeem us from everlasting destruction. We jump to accept redemption from destruction. What else can we do? It is like grabbing the last loop on the rescue rope. In that helpless state, we will accept help, but unfortunately for many of us, only until our feet are on "solid" ground again.
As we go deeper into the spiritual journey, we are confronted with the need to receive grace and give grace. Grace by definition is unmerited favor. That does not resonate with our deep-seated concepts of equity, of being satisfied that I am receiving what I deserve, of being able to pay my own way.
We get a glimpse of who God really is-how holy, righteous, pure, and loving He is. At the same time, we have a good picture of ourselves-selfish, hurt, revengeful, resentful, immoral in thought and possibly in action-and we conclude in our equity system that God could not love us. But He does.
The apostle Paul wrote, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, many of the New Testament epistles.
The dominant theme Paul kept pounding on is that God loves us, period! Paul recorded his prayer in the New Testament book of Ephesians, chapter 3, verses 14-21. In verses 17-18, Paul prayed, "that Christ may dwell in [our] hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." It almost seems like Paul was struggling to find enough words to describe the love of God for us.
The foundation of our life in Christ is to comprehend that He loves us (Rom. 5:6-10). His love is by His grace; we receive His love through grace that He abundantly supplies.
Once we "get it," if we ever do, we are able to receive forgiveness and give forgiveness. We can receive love and give love. We can live counter to the world system of having to make everything balance out at the end of the day. We can realize that "we had a debt we could not pay, and on our behalf, Christ paid a debt that He did not owe."
It takes a lifetime to mine the depths of grace. We will never get to the bottom of it, but we can immerse ourselves in His love, never ceasing to wonder at how such a great God could love such as us.
The Rev. Dan Puckett is a minister with Life Action Ministries. He writes a weekly column for the Niles Daily Star.