Ancient Words: Faces of the Cross, Face of Grace
God was gracious to Abraham. Remember the story … God asks Abraham to offer his only son in sacrifice. Just as a weeping father, no doubt, starts to plunge the knife, the father’s hand is stayed and a ram caught in the thorn bush becomes the substitute offering. Faith and Grace meet on this day in profound fashion. Abraham in his old age was promised this son who would in turn bless all nations through offspring, yet an incredulous command had been given now to take the boy’s life: By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death (Heb 11:17-19). Faith was put to the test and Grace became the result: Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed — the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not (Rom 4:16-17).
Grace, the Face of the Cross, is now the full expression of God’s love for mankind — and through Grace, the promise of eternal life comes to all who come in repentant obedience to the cross message spoken by the One in suspension: “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Mat 11:27-30).”
Grace is the reward received that is otherwise unattainable. Grace is bestowing a most precious gift upon one most undeserving: “He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay, I needed someone to wash my sin away And now I sing that brand new song — Amazing Grace — For Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.” Just like Abraham, we have been received back from death by the things that are not — the Face of Grace: “But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ (Rom 5:15-17)!”
Scott and Jane Johnson minister with East Faulknew Church of Christ and BRG Bible. Bible questions can be sent to [email protected].
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He Is Risen
A boy and his father were driving on a spring afternoon. All of a sudden a bumblebee flew in the car window. The little boy, deathly allergic to bee stings, began to squirm in his seat. His father saw the bee and quickly caught it in his hand. He squeezed his hand shut and then released the bee. As the bee flew out of his hand the child became frantic again. His father saw the look on the child’s face and once again stuck out his hand. This time he opened his hand to reveal the stinger in his palm. He explained to his son that he no longer had to be afraid of the bee anymore. He had taken the sting for him.
This is the message of Easter. Jesus faced death, and by the victory of His resurrection we can have new life in Him. In I Corinthians 15:55 Paul writes, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?” Christ took the sting for us and He is risen!
Last year we had an Easter Egg hunt at church for the kids. All the eggs had been filled with treats. There were ordinary eggs, special decorative eggs and the one large prize egg! The children enjoyed opening their eggs and finding their goodies. The child who found the large prize egg was disappointed to find that it was empty. How could the prize egg contain no prize? I explained that the prize was the emptiness! The greatest prize mankind ever received was on the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion when they looked for Him in the tomb and it was empty!
If He can rise from the dead, you can rise from the bed! Let the tomb be empty, not your church!
He Is Risen!
Peace and Blessings,
Captain Jason Perdieu is corps officer of the Salvation Army of El Dorado.
