Awash in grace …

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Easter is my favorite day of the year. For me, there is no day that holds such true excitement, such deep exhilaration, such real purpose for celebration!

Jesus Christ is alive!

All of Christianity hinges on that single reality, along with all the hopes of humanity.

More still – Easter removes our greatest fears …

  • The fear of forever being separated from God.
  • The fear of death being a final, permanent defeat.
  • Fear of being utterly destroyed by sin’s consequences.

    • Beginning at the cross, the final work of Jesus conquering death through His resurrection makes hope something more than a day dream, makes transformation possible, and offers to all who believe on Him an eternal future beyond human comprehension or capacity to dream of.

    The impact of Easter simply cannot be overstated.

    Because of the combination of the cross and Jesus’ resurrection, we find ourselves awash in grace. Truly, we haven’t earned the slightest bit of what we have gained, a sobering truth described by pastor Barnett Gushin like this …

      Complete these common American phrases:
      If it sounds too good to be true ……………………………… it is.
      We make money the old fashioned way, we ……………………….. earn it.
      There’s no such thing as a free ………………………………. lunch.
      There is no gain without …………………………………….. pain.
      God helps those who …………………………………………. help themselves.

      Everything about the American way of life teaches that you get what you earn in life. You get what you pay for. We value work, sweat, effort, performance. It is called the American Work Ethic. And it’s good. The only problem is it causes a difficulty in our relationship with God because God does not relate to us on performance. God does not relate to us based on our effort, our work, our ethic of how much we try. The Bible says that God relates to us and … every blessing we have in our lives, comes by grace as a free gift. You don’t earn it, you don’t deserve it, you don’t work for it. It’s just a free gift of God. And the Bible says that everything in your life is a gift of grace.

    The authentic Christian feels his soul soar at Easter as he realizes that, because Jesus lives, we are completely free to serve a living, righteous, holy King who loves us without end or measure — all because of grace! Enjoy contemplating that as your worship and celebrate this Easter Day!

    Scotty