Grace! I'm not talking about a blue eyed blond. I'm talking about the mercy and forgiveness God offers. Having grown up with the mentality that I had to earn God's forgiveness and mercy through my actions and behavior, the concept of grace was a welcome relief. No matter how hard I tried I still found myself doing the very things I didn't want to do. It haunted me until I discovered the Apostle Paul went through the same struggles. I could identify with Paul's internal battle in Romans 7. And I took comfort that I was not alone.
However, it was years later that the full implication of Romans 8 became clear to me and I finally discovered grace as God intended it. A seminary professor I once had posed this question to our class, "Is God fair?" It caused a lot of debate. Many defended God's honor in their minds by professing His fairness, attempting to explain away the dichotomy of God's actions throughout the scripture as His sovereignty.
But if you look closely at this passage in Ezekiel, the question of fairness becomes a bit more complicated. Truth is, God isn't fair. Furthermore, I don't want Him to be fair. I'd rather have grace instead of fairness. 2 Corinthians 5 says that God made Jesus, who never sinned to be sin in our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. What that simply means is that Jesus, who never sinned, who was perfect, had to pay the penalty for my sin and everyone else's sin. Does that seem fair to you? Doesn't to me. Jesus, who deserved life, got death. And I, and everyone else for that matter, who sin, got life. That's grace.
Today's text simply says that when we, who screwed up our life and past come to God with a sorrowful heart and seek Him, God offers forgiveness and eternal life. It doesn't matter what I've done or you've done in our past, God wipes our slate clean. He expunges our record of sin. He eliminates our debt. He reformats our hard drive. And He welcomes our desire to build a relationship with Him. That's grace. I can move forward with my life freed from my guilt, all because of what Jesus did for me on the the cross and through His resurrection. I'm a new person. I get a new life. Not just turn over a new leaf. I get a new life!
God, I'm sure glad your not fair. Because if you were fair I get the punishment that I deserve. I'm glad you offer grace. Thanks for providing me with a way of escape from myself and my past and my tendencies. Thanks not only for my forgiveness, thanks also for giving me your Holy Spirit to live within me to help me live by your truths and do the things I want to do and you want me to do. You're an awesome God.
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