Sermon Central
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God's Amazing Grace
Contributed by Trae Durden on Jan 25, 2015 (message contributor)
Summary: Re-discover grace as God intended. Grace was as much a part of God's charecter before creation and in the Old Testament as it is now under the Law of Christ.
God’s Amazing Grace
Everyone who is saved will be saved by the grace of God. There will be no one saved without the grace of God. Grace is so constituted in God’s character that there is no way to know Him without knowing His grace. Like 1 John 4:8, when we are told God is love, God also is grace! It’s who He is, it’s how He relates to mankind. Let’s re-discover grace this morning!
1. God’s Amazing Grace was manifest before Creation
A. Ephesians 3:8-11 – His eternal purpose was to exhibit & gift grace to His image bearers!
B. Revelation 13:8 – Slain FROM the foundation of the world.
C. 1 Peter 1:18-20 – Foreordained, planned, already decided! Grace before any creation!
D. In God’s infinite mind, He had planned everything before He started the creation. So with
the knowledge of the sacrifice that Jesus would make, He still gave us life.
E. God is love – 1 John 4:8, and you are the object of His love. (Genesis 3:16 – the gospel)
F. 2 Peter 3:9 & 1 Timothy 2:4 – Express the will of God from eternity & throughout history
to mankind, He wants to be with you! His love proves what His grace teaches! Titus 2:12
G. God is as He has always been - James 1:17, Never changing! He is love – John 3:16
2. God’s Amazing Grace was on display in the Old Testament
A. Before the Old Law, in the Patriarchal dispensation, Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord! – Genesis 6:8 Grace! Noah did exactly what God commanded, his obedient
works didn’t justify him, but they were essential to his salvation from the flood!
B. Moses & the people of Israel also clearly enjoyed the blessing of God’s amazing grace!
Exodus 33:12-17 – God’s grace saved them from slavery, set them apart from other
people in the earth. Their obedient actions didn’t earn them the promised land, it was by
obedient faith that they had access to His grace. - Jeremiah 31:2.
C. They could say with us Ephesians 2:8-9, even with all the sacrifices and religious
service, they were still saved by grace. It’s no different for us. The actions done in
obedient faith don’t earn our salvation, they are done to comply with God’s instructions,
so that we may enjoy His grace, if we neglected obedience, we would be rejecting His
grace. Just like Noah or Moses or the children of Israel!
3. God’s Amazing Grace in Christ
A. John 1:14-18 – Here’s the proof of God’s love, by His amazing grace He offers Christ.
B. Now we know grace was present and on display long before Christ came, even from
before the foundation of the creation, Grace was already in place! That’s how grace
teaches! – Titus 2:11-12, notice what grace teaches!
C. Hebrews 10:26-29 – Only by obedient faith can we continue in His grace.
D. Our actions are directly tied to accessing His grace, and continuing in that grace! –
E. No different from Noah, or Moses, or any other saved person that lived under the O.T.
F. Just read Hebrews 11, all these were saved by grace, but not apart from obedient faith!
Conclusion:
A. Noah accessed the grace of God by his obedient faith, Moses complied with God’s
commands and found himself in the grace of God.
B. You and I and every person who lives in the Christian dispensation, are only able to
access the grace of God by being in the place where that is present – IN CHRIST.
Galatians 3:26-27, Romans 10:13-17
C. So to access the grace of God, you need to obey the gospel of Christ, and by the grace
of God you will be added to the church of Christ (Acts 2:47). And you will still say, “We
are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.” Luke 17:10
