We use the word amazing to describe grace...A LOT. In fact, you probably hear those two words used together about as much as any others. But what's so amazing about it? It's almost impossible to go any further without a definition of something that's so simple to accept and yet complex to understand. One of my professors describes grace in this way: that which cannot be gained through any effort of our own--it is pure, unrecompensed or unpayable kindness and favor. Simply put, we get something amazing for nothing.
I don't know how much you are familiar with the writer of Amazing Grace. I am talking about the hymn of course. I knew very little until I began to do some research for a discussion at our home group. I knew that he had been a slave trader and had come to Christ, but I didn't know much more. What I didn't know was just how many years came between his conversion and his public denouncement of the slave trade.
John Newton grew up in London and spent a brief stint in the Royal Navy before beginning his career in the slave trade. God got his attention in much the same way he did Jonah...while he was at sea in the midst of a violent storm. One night a crewmen who had just taken his place on the deck was swept overboard. Newton commanded the ship for the remainder of the storm, but later confessed his helplessness and his need for the grace of God. He began to treat his so-called human cargo with kindness, but Newton continued to traffik them nonetheless.
He eventually suffered a stroke and was forced from sailing the sea. He would eventually become an ordained minister. A friendship developed between he and a young parlimentarian by the name of William Wilberforce. Wilberforce became the driving force behind the abolition of the slave trade in the United Kingdom. He sought the advice and eventual support of John Newton.
Again, it would be years before Newton would publicly oppose the abolition of the slave trade, but it's said that the words for the song Amazing Grace were inspired by a New Year's message he preached from 1 Chronicles 17.
Let's look at verses 7 through 21. We find the prophet Nathan speaking to David after he had resolved to build the House of the Lord. But God spoke to the prophet saying that David was not the one. Here is the message that was delivered:
7Now, therefore, thus shall you say to my servant David, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel, 8and I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 9And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall waste them no more, as formerly, 10from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that the LORD will build you a house. 11When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, 14but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.'" 15In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
David’s Prayer
16Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 17And this was a small thing in your eyes, O God. You have also spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have shown me future generations, O LORD God! 18And what more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant. 19 For your servant’s sake, O LORD, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20There is none like you, O LORD, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for yourself a name for great and awesome things, in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt?
In his sermon, John Newton makes three points...the first is this: LOOK BACK. David was reminded what he had been and where he had come from. In verse 7 God says, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel. David responds that he has not forgotten by asking: Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house... The John Newton project parallels the passage to the lines from the song: Amazing grace...that saved a wretch like me. Do you remember what you were before grace?
16Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 17And this was a small thing in your eyes, O God. You have also spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have shown me future generations, O LORD God! 18And what more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant. 19 For your servant’s sake, O LORD, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20There is none like you, O LORD, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for yourself a name for great and awesome things, in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt?
In his sermon, John Newton makes three points...the first is this: LOOK BACK. David was reminded what he had been and where he had come from. In verse 7 God says, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel. David responds that he has not forgotten by asking: Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my house... The John Newton project parallels the passage to the lines from the song: Amazing grace...that saved a wretch like me. Do you remember what you were before grace?
Newton's second point is to LOOK AROUND. I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you...God tells David in verse 8. The king begs the question asking why God has brought him this far. And from there came the lines for the song: Through many dangers, toils, and snares / I have already come / 'tis grace hath brought / me safe thus far...
Lastly, the former slave trader encourages us to LOOK FORWARD. God makes a promise to David. Let's go back to verses 11 and 12: When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. Again, David responds in verse 19: For your servant’s sake, O LORD, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. You can see from where Newton draws inspiration, writing: The Lord has promised good to me / His word my hope secures / He will my shield and portion be / as long as life endures.
Lastly, the former slave trader encourages us to LOOK FORWARD. God makes a promise to David. Let's go back to verses 11 and 12: When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. Again, David responds in verse 19: For your servant’s sake, O LORD, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. You can see from where Newton draws inspiration, writing: The Lord has promised good to me / His word my hope secures / He will my shield and portion be / as long as life endures.
Like Newton, I have three thoughts regarding grace; although mine relate to a trio of people types. First, there are those who cannot or simply will not accept the fact that grace is free. They expect to earn it in some way. But in Ephesians 2:8 Paul makes it perfectly clear: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God... If you are trying to earn grace, all I can say is this: you will never have it. That's the harsh reality. Why would you want to live that way? Without grace? Those who try to live a life worthy of grace in their own strength will find their attempts rooted in pride or low self esteem. Both of which have to do with self. Ironic isn't it? God and His grace can be found somewhere in between.
The second group of people I like to call forgiveness users, grace abusers. This is the group I've spent a lot of time in. Maybe you can relate. That's those of us who whether consciously or unconscionsly think we can commit the same sin again and again because of God's grace. He will forgive us. We try to take advantage of it. The author of Hebrews rebukes such thinking at the beginning of chapter 6. 1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Then, there are those who simply accept grace for what it is: free. They realize they cannot earn it. The recognize they are not worthy of it. But God offers grace and they in turn are grateful. The don't beat themselves up with the unworthy whip. They don't actively seek sin while thinking they can get away with it. Oh, I'm not saying they don't fail and fall. What I am saying is they have no agenda when it comes to God's grace. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...
The second group of people I like to call forgiveness users, grace abusers. This is the group I've spent a lot of time in. Maybe you can relate. That's those of us who whether consciously or unconscionsly think we can commit the same sin again and again because of God's grace. He will forgive us. We try to take advantage of it. The author of Hebrews rebukes such thinking at the beginning of chapter 6. 1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Then, there are those who simply accept grace for what it is: free. They realize they cannot earn it. The recognize they are not worthy of it. But God offers grace and they in turn are grateful. The don't beat themselves up with the unworthy whip. They don't actively seek sin while thinking they can get away with it. Oh, I'm not saying they don't fail and fall. What I am saying is they have no agenda when it comes to God's grace. Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...
Grace is a gift. We are made right with God. In His mercy God did not give those who believe what we deserve, and that of course is hell. But in His grace, He gave us what we do NOT deserve: the gift of salvation; the promise of eternal life with Him.
Pastor, speaker, author, and chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary, Chuck Swindoll tells the story of a fellow seminary student he knew years ago. He noticed that when the guy would come to the mailroom to pick up his exam, he would always write a word on it before he ever took a look. Dr. Swindoll later learned that while many of the students were comparing their grades and trying to top one another, this particular student was struggling in school. The word that he would write at the top of paper was grace. Grace if he passed, grace if he failed. That guy recognized that whatever he got, he didn't deserve. Anything good would be a gift from God.
What about the big life stuff? God, why do their children believe in you and mine no longer do? They were raised the same way. The answer: grace. God, why do they have a nice home and a big boat while my family is struggling just to pay the bills? His answer grace. My professor Dr. Tim Ralston made this statement: Grace is not fair. I don't like that, but it's the truth. God gets to choose.
I'm beginning to learn that if I want God's grace, then I can't deny it to others. I can't expect God to give it to me but not to them. The grace He gives me is my business. The grace He gives them is their business. What I do with what He's given me is my chance to offer grace.
There is a lesson my dad taught me not very long ago. It's perhaps the most important thing I've learned from him so far. And it is this: my dad and his siblings had to decide how they would divide my grandparents' estate. It was not going to be even and all of them knew it. Some of them would get more. Therefore, the others would get less. I remember asking my dad what it was that he wanted and begged him to be gracious at the table. But it was he who taught me a great lesson about grace. He said, "Jared, there's nothing I want that badly. None of it belongs to me anway. I've lived without it until now, and I can live without it in the future. Whatever I get is a gift from your grandparents."
Grace...amazing grace.
I want to end this blog with a famous quote from John Newton. It has become on of my favorites: "Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior." Such is the story of grace.
