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Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis - Religion - Nairaland

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Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 1:26pm On Jul 15, 2017
Have you ever noticed that Jesus never said the word “grace”?

Doesn’t this strike you as odd? After all, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Jesus is grace personified. So why didn’t he talk about it? The word “grace” appears just four times in the gospels and not once does Jesus say it. In contrast, the word “law” appears hundreds of times, often in connection with Jesus’ preaching. Paul dedicated his life to preaching the gospel of grace, but Jesus was the greatest law preacher of all time.

Here’s something else Jesus never said to any individual: “I love you.” Jesus may not have said it but he sure showed it. His selfless sacrifice on the cross was the greatest demonstration of love the world has ever seen. On the cross, he wrapped His arms around the world and gave us a big “I love you.” It is exactly like that with grace. He may not have said it, but he showed it big time. Here are just five of the ways that Jesus revealed the unmerited favor of a good and gracious God.

How did Jesus reveal grace?

1. By showing up!

Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord… Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. (Luke 2:10-11, 14)

I have heard people preach this verse as though God was selective with his favor. “Maybe his favor rests on you, maybe it doesn’t. You’d better behave yourself and hope for the best.” But the angel brought good news of great joy that was for “all the people.” Are you people? Then God’s favor rests on you!

What does the favor of God look like? It looks exactly like Jesus. God’s favor and God’s Savior are synonymous. In every Old Testament mention of promised Savior, we get a hint of grace. Then on the night of his birth we get a shout. “Peace has come to earth!” As Mary discovered and we’re still learning, we are highly favored. How so? Because the Lord is with us. He is not against us; he is for us and with us. You cannot have the Lord and be anything other than highly favored. He is a magnet to his own favor.

2. By proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19)

I used to think this verse was good news for handicapped people and those living below the poverty line. Then I realized that Jesus is describing all of us. Relative to God we are all poor and needy. Every one of us is bankrupt of life and righteousness. “The whole world is a prisoner of sin” (Gal 3:22). That’s why Jesus announced the Year of Jubilee. Because of Jesus, we can come home. Our debts are cleared, and we can reap what we haven’t sown. In the Year of Jubilee all the slaves were freed. Again, that’s us. We were bound but knowing the Truth we are free indeed. That sounds like the good news of God’s grace to me.

3. By telling stories about grace

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for pearls of great price; it is like a treasure hidden in a field. (Mt 13:44-45)

Jesus preached law to the self-righteous, but ordinary folks got stories of grace. And what stories! The parables weren’t morality tales for there was no catch, no lesson to be learned. The lost coin did nothing to be found. The lost sheep did not rescue itself. The prodigal returned as a worker but was received as a son.

Without saying the word grace, Jesus left lasting impressions of unmerited favor. He came for us because in his eyes we are the treasure; we are the pearl of great price. Jesus’ stories leave us, like the prodigal, speechless in the loving arms of their Father.

4. By showing (and preaching!) unconditional forgiveness

Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” (Matt 9:2)

When preaching to those under the law, Jesus made forgiveness conditional. But on the street, Jesus revealed a forgiveness that is unconditional. The paralytic had forgiven no one yet he was forgiven. It was the same with the sinful woman (Luke 7). It was the same for the whole world when Jesus hung on the cross (Luke 23:34).

If this seems confusing to you, look at the cross. The cross is the dividing line of history and the crossroads of two covenants. Before the cross it was, “Forgive and you will be forgiven.” But speaking of what would happen as a result of the cross, Jesus also said, “every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men” (Matt 12:31). When was every sin and blasphemy forgiven? At the cross!
Unconditional forgiveness is one of the most liberating manifestations of grace. When you know that you have been completely forgiven, you are free to forgive yourself and others.

5. By preaching faith over flesh

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (Joh 3:16)

Look carefully at the end of that verse. There is a full-stop, a period. Thank God for that period! It is the greatest period in the history of periods. That period declares the scandalous grace of God that will not share the stage with any man. The old covenant required about a hundred chapters to list all the things you need to do if you were to have any hope of impressing God, but here in the new, you just have to believe. Full-stop!

Jesus didn’t come with a list of commandments. We already had those from Moses. It’s true that Jesus preached law before the cross to those under the law but that wasn’t his main reason for coming. He came to open blind eyes, set the captives free, and give us new life
. All that he asked was that we receive what he wanted to give. This is the only thing Grace will ever ask of you. “Receive.”

Jesus = grace

Jesus may not have said “I love you” but those who met him went away knowing they were dearly loved. Just ask John. For the rest of his life he went around telling people, “I’m the disciple Jesus loves.” So are you.

To know his love is to know his grace. They are inseparable. God is gracious because he is love.

Why did Jesus come? He came to reveal the grace of a good God who loves us like a Father. He came to bring us good news of great joy that is for all people.

https://escapetoreality.org/2012/02/02/jesus-reveals-what-is-grace/

1 Share

Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 7:03pm On Jul 15, 2017
Evening
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 9:30pm On Jan 05, 2018
Cooool
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 8:09pm On Jan 06, 2018
Hello
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by enshy: 8:17pm On Jan 06, 2018
Good piece.
Jesus is Grace
Jesus is Holy
Grace without Holiness is a waste!
His Grace makes us like Him...Amen!!
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 8:02pm On Jul 10, 2018
Lord Jesus
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 7:28pm On Dec 05, 2018
Evening
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 7:17pm On Aug 19, 2020
jiggaz:
Evening
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by Kobojunkie: 7:21pm On Aug 19, 2020
Peter, the apostle, warned people about ALL MOGs (False Prophets and Teachers), from about 2000 years ago.

2 Peter 2 vs 1-7 (ERV)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. In the past there were false prophets among God’s people. It is the same now. You will have some false teachers in your group. They will teach things that are wrong—ideas that will cause people to be lost. And they will teach in a way that will be hard for you to see that they are wrong. They will even refuse to follow the Master who bought their freedom. And so they will quickly destroy themselves.
2. Many people will follow them in the morally wrong things they do. And because of them, others will say bad things about the way of truth we follow.
3. These false teachers only want your money. So they will use you by telling you things that are not true. But the judgment against these false teachers has been ready for a long time. And they will not escape God who will destroy them.

4. When angels sinned, God did not let them go free without punishment. He sent them to hell. He put those angels in caves of darkness, where they are being held until the time when God will judge them.

5. And God punished the evil people who lived long ago. He brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against God. But he saved Noah and seven other people with him. Noah was a man who told people about living right.

6. God also punished the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He burned them until there was nothing left but ashes. He used those cities as an example of what will happen to people who are against God.
7. But he saved Lot, a good man who lived there. Lot was greatly troubled by the morally bad lives of those evil people. 8 This good man lived with those evil people every day, and his good heart was hurt by the evil things he saw and heard.
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by Yahksbiz(m): 11:08pm On Aug 19, 2020
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by Kobojunkie: 12:13am On Aug 20, 2020
Peter, the apostle, warned people about ALL MOGs (False Prophets and Teachers), from about 2000 years ago.

2 Peter 2 vs 1-7 (ERV)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. In the past there were false prophets among God’s people. It is the same now. You will have some false teachers in your group. They will teach things that are wrong—ideas that will cause people to be lost. And they will teach in a way that will be hard for you to see that they are wrong. They will even refuse to follow the Master who bought their freedom. And so they will quickly destroy themselves.
2. Many people will follow them in the morally wrong things they do. And because of them, others will say bad things about the way of truth we follow.
3. These false teachers only want your money. So they will use you by telling you things that are not true. But the judgment against these false teachers has been ready for a long time. And they will not escape God who will destroy them.

4. When angels sinned, God did not let them go free without punishment. He sent them to hell. He put those angels in caves of darkness, where they are being held until the time when God will judge them.

5. And God punished the evil people who lived long ago. He brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against God. But he saved Noah and seven other people with him. Noah was a man who told people about living right.

6. God also punished the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He burned them until there was nothing left but ashes. He used those cities as an example of what will happen to people who are against God.
7. But he saved Lot, a good man who lived there. Lot was greatly troubled by the morally bad lives of those evil people. 8 This good man lived with those evil people every day, and his good heart was hurt by the evil things he saw and heard.
grin
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 8:12am On Aug 20, 2020
Bump
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by Kobojunkie: 10:47am On Aug 20, 2020
Peter, the apostle, warned people about ALL MOGs (False Prophets and Teachers), from about 2000 years ago.

2 Peter 2 vs 1-7 (ERV)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. In the past there were false prophets among God’s people. It is the same now. You will have some false teachers in your group. They will teach things that are wrong—ideas that will cause people to be lost. And they will teach in a way that will be hard for you to see that they are wrong. They will even refuse to follow the Master who bought their freedom. And so they will quickly destroy themselves.
2. Many people will follow them in the morally wrong things they do. And because of them, others will say bad things about the way of truth we follow.
3. These false teachers only want your money. So they will use you by telling you things that are not true. But the judgment against these false teachers has been ready for a long time. And they will not escape God who will destroy them.

4. When angels sinned, God did not let them go free without punishment. He sent them to hell. He put those angels in caves of darkness, where they are being held until the time when God will judge them.

5. And God punished the evil people who lived long ago. He brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against God. But he saved Noah and seven other people with him. Noah was a man who told people about living right.

6. God also punished the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He burned them until there was nothing left but ashes. He used those cities as an example of what will happen to people who are against God.
7. But he saved Lot, a good man who lived there. Lot was greatly troubled by the morally bad lives of those evil people. 8 This good man lived with those evil people every day, and his good heart was hurt by the evil things he saw and heard.
undecided
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 7:47pm On Aug 20, 2020
jiggaz:
Bump
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by Kobojunkie: 8:12pm On Aug 20, 2020

2 Peter 2 vs 1-7 (ERV)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. In the past there were false prophets among God’s people. It is the same now. You will have some false teachers in your group. They will teach things that are wrong—ideas that will cause people to be lost. And they will teach in a way that will be hard for you to see that they are wrong. They will even refuse to follow the Master who bought their freedom. And so they will quickly destroy themselves.
2. Many people will follow them in the morally wrong things they do. And because of them, others will say bad things about the way of truth we follow.
3. These false teachers only want your money. So they will use you by telling you things that are not true. But the judgment against these false teachers has been ready for a long time. And they will not escape God who will destroy them.

4. When angels sinned, God did not let them go free without punishment. He sent them to hell. He put those angels in caves of darkness, where they are being held until the time when God will judge them.

5. And God punished the evil people who lived long ago. He brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against God. But he saved Noah and seven other people with him. Noah was a man who told people about living right.

6. God also punished the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He burned them until there was nothing left but ashes. He used those cities as an example of what will happen to people who are against God.
7. But he saved Lot, a good man who lived there. Lot was greatly troubled by the morally bad lives of those evil people. 8 This good man lived with those evil people every day, and his good heart was hurt by the evil things he saw and heard.
k
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 10:58pm On Apr 25, 2021
Lord Jesus
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 9:39pm On Jul 22, 2021
jiggaz:
Lord Jesus
Re: Five Ways Jesus Revealed Grace - Paul Ellis by jiggaz(m): 7:49pm On Aug 18, 2021
jiggaz:
Evening

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