Uncommon Grace
An Uncommon Series • Sermon • Submitted
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· 1,379 viewsLooking at how Jesus showed God's grace
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For the past couple of Sundays we have been looking at the characteristics of Christ that caused Him to stick out among everyone else that was claiming to speak for God
In other words, what made Jesus uncommon
So far we have looked at how He was uncommon in the way that He showed love and that He was uncommon in the way that He showed forgiveness
But before we get into today’s topic I want to emphasize to you that although the way that Jesus lived and did things was uncommon, we must understand that it was and is the way that God intended us to live
Uncommon yes! Superior absolutely!!!!!!!
We are all familiar with what God spoke through the prophet Isaiah when He said,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah
Keeping this in mind we consider how Jesus explained in that if we can set aside our ways, the common ways of living and do things God’s way, the way that Jesus demonstrated it will result in a full life
In the same verse however,He points out that to continue in those common ways results in that full life being pillaged and destroyed
Last week’s topic of forgiveness is a fantastic example of this, when we refuse to walk in forgiveness we forfeit the peace and contentment that could be ours and the resentment and bitterness that results in physical, emotional and spiritual problems that are far less than the full life God wants us to have
So let’s move on to this week’s topic which is a little bit different that the last two, this week we are going to look of the example of Christ as it applies to uncommon grace
If I were to ask you to give me a definition for the term “Grace” this morning I am pretty confident that the overwhelming majority of you would say “unmerited favour” or something along those lines
And you would be correct in saying so but hopefully this morning you will see that such a generalized definition gives us a far to common way of thinking about grace and that to understand the grace that Jesus showed we will have to expand the way that we define it
The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible defines grace in this way, “As a general definition, the doctrine of grace pertains to God’s activity rather than to his nature. Although God is gracious, this trait of his nature is revealed only in relation to his created works and to his redemptive enterprise. In other words, grace is to be understood in terms of a dynamic expression of the divine personality rather than as a static attribute of God’s nature. Grace is the dimension of divine activity that enables God to confront human indifference and rebellion with an inexhaustible capacity to forgive and to bless. God is gracious in action.”
“A dynamic expression of the divine personality” wow! When I first read those words it was like something exploded in me
Grace is the characteristics of God in a demonstrable way
Grace is NOT grace unless it includes a demonstration of Godly character in some measurable expression
And so just as it was with the previous 2 topics, this morning we begin with a command to walk in uncommon grace
In his second letter to the younger Timothy Paul encouraged him,
2 Timothy
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Be strong in the dynamic expression of the divine personality that is yours through Jesus Christ and was demonstrated by Him
So let us look at 3 different ways that Christ demonstrated this type of Grace and how He equips us to do the same
The first way in which Jesus demonstrated uncommon grace as an example to us is in the way that He spoke
says,
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
The people were amazed at the uncommon way in which Christ’s speech was filled with Grace
Now let’s flip over to where Paul commands us, “Let your conversation always be full of grace”
So how do we do that? How do we fill our conversations with grace? Does that mean that we talk about nothing but Jesus?
Absolutely not, that would be ridiculous and unpractical
To understand how to speak in Grace we must first understand that God has given the spoken word a special type of authority
Any idea how many times the words “And God said” are recorded in ?
10 separate times it is recorded that God did not “THINK” creation into being but instead “spoke” and it was done
Because we were created in His image, our spoken word is powerful and acts for or against those things to which we speak
You want to walk in the fullness of grace? You need to speak words that are life giving
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
John 11:43-44
Now I am not suggesting that you are supposed to go around raising the physically dead (unless God has asked you to)
What I am saying is that many people are being beat down by the words of others all day long until they feel like they are already dead inside and they need someone who will speak life back into them
To help them understand that they are worthy and loved and precious and valuable
Secondly we need to speak words that are lifting up (uplifting)
Positive affirmation may be all a person needs to hear to get up and try again or to know that what they are experiencing isn’t unique to them
The writer of Hebrews put it this way,
Hebrews 3:13
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
The third way that we speech should be filled with grace is that it should be leveraging
Dictionary.com defines leverage as, “The power or ability to act or to influence people, events, decisions, etc.; to sway”
Jesus may have been full of grace but that never stopped Him when it came to calling out the injustices of His day
Being graceful in speech does not mean never having anything bad to say but instead knowing when and where that needs to be directed
The voices of believers should be heard when it comes to policies in the government, or when it comes to injustices in the system
To paraphrase an old saying, all that’s required for evil to triumph over good is for Godly people to say nothing
Now let’s move on to the second way in which we can walk in uncommon Grace, and that is in the way that we act
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
in the original NIV says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
Notice that it doesn’t say that God is able to make all material blessings abound to you so that you will abound in good works
Paul says that God wants you to have everything that you need in order to abound in Good works and so God Himself will equip you with enough grace to do so
Remember our definition of grace here, a dynamic expression of the divine personality
You don’t need a big bank account to act in compassion, you don’t need all the latest and greatest technology to act in mercy
In short, you already have everything that you need in the grace of God to live out in Godly character which can be summarized by two short verses
Galatians 5:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Print those 9 qualities out on a book mark and then reread the gospels and you will see that every action taken by Jesus Christ demonstrated at least one of these qualities
Of course there are other Godly characteristics that we could add like generosity or compassion but these 9 are as good a place to start as any if we are going to act in uncommon grace
Okay let’s move on to the final area I want to look at this morning in how we are to live in uncommon grace and that is in the way that we hope
Now this may seem like an odd point to raise but as for your testimony this is probably more important than the first two
Let me explain, when people know that you are a follower of Jesus Christ they automatically have certain expectations of you, i.e. the way that you walk and the way that you act
They expect that you don’t swear and the expect that you help those in need because that’s what the Christian life means to them
But the way that you respond in the midst of a crisis, well that’s completely up in the air and offers perhaps the best of all opportunities to allow a dynamic expression of divine character
After all Jesus did say,
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
What that means is that even when things are at their absolute worst, we find a hope that the world does not have because we have the grace of God in our lives
Remember when things were going downhill for the Apostle Paul?
or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:7-
God didn’t take the thorn away for Paul, God didn’t even make it any easier, God gave Paul the grace that he needed so that his response to the situation would be a dynamic demonstration of divine attributes and would bring glory to God the Father
When something like that happens people tend to sit up and take notice because to have such hope in the midst of complete disaster is certainly an uncommon thing
That’s why Peter could say in his first epistle,
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
And the reason for that hope of course is that the grace of God has given me the strength that I need to get through this and to get through it without demeaning His holy name
2000 years ago when Jesus walked upon this earth there were all sorts of people whose goal it was to demonstrate the character of God in the way that they lived
From the average Jew right up to the High Priest and all the religious leaders
But there was something different, something unique in the way that Christ lived the character of God in His life for He did so in grace, but not just any grace, it was an uncommon grace
An uncommon grace that we too can participate in as we give a dynamic expression of His divine character
Let’s pray
This Is Amazing Grace