2 Corinthians 12:9
“Grace” is the most important concept in the Bible. It is most clearly expressed in the promises of God revealed in Scripture and embodied in Jesus Christ. Grace is the love of God shown to the unlovely; the peace of God given to the restless; the unmerited favour of God. The grace of God is the message everyone needs. The word translated "grace" in the New Testament comes from the Greek word charis, which means “favour, blessing, or kindness.” We can all extend grace to others; but when the word grace is used in connection with God, it takes on a more powerful meaning. Grace is God choosing to bless us rather than curse us and punish us as our sin deserves. It is His benevolence to the undeserving. In this message, let us see how God’s amazing grace is sufficient in our lives.
1. God’s Grace Is Sufficient to SAVE us
“This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them. But I received grace because of this, so that in me, the worst [of them], Christ Jesus might demonstrate the utmost patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” I Timothy 1:15-16
“For by grace you have been saved through faith.” Ephesians 2:8
God’s grace is expressed in numerous ways, foremost of which is in securing our salvation. It was grace that allowed Him to relinquish Heaven’s riches and enter earth’s history in poverty to provide hopeless sinners with the riches of eternal salvation. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). It was grace that led Him to Calvary, where He offered Himself as a sacrifice in our place and where He shed His life’s blood so that we might be forgiven of sin’s guilt and delivered from sin’s penalty. “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).
It is God’s grace that makes salvation available to every sinful person: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men” (Titus 2:11). It is His grace that applies salvation to the hearts and lives of those who believe. “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is His grace which will someday usher us into glory: “Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2). It is all of His unmerited favour.
In order to grasp the reality of God’s grace we must first understand the reality of our own sinfulness. If we are convinced that in spite of the little vices which we all have, we are basically good people deserving of God’s favour, then we shall see no need for His grace. If we believe that God is obligated to let us enter Heaven because we have tried to keep His laws and done the best we can, then grace is totally unnecessary. The whole concept will appear absurd. But if we accept God’s assessment of our lives—that we are unrighteous, deceitful, desperately wicked, guilty, condemned sinners, incapable of measuring up to God’s standard and unworthy of His acceptance—then a deep appreciation for His grace will begin to dawn on our sin-dulled minds. We will get to know the God of all grace.
God takes an unbeliever, chained to his wretchedness and sin and bound for the bitterness of an eternal hell, freely gives him the lovely garments of Christ’s righteousness, then assures him of Heaven’s glory and beauty. What a transformation! That is God’s grace for salvation.
2. God’s Grace is Sufficient to SUSTAIN us
When I say that my foot is shaking, your gracious love, LORD, will sustain me. Psalm 94: 18.
Cast your burden on the Lord and He shall sustain you. Psalm 55:22
God doesn't want to just save you. He gives us grace to sustain us through life. He wants you to do more than just SURVIVE – He wants you to THRIVE! So what is Sustaining Grace? Sustaining Grace is the power to keep going when I feel like giving up. There are three situations in life when you especially need God's sustaining grace. These situations that will come at you and cause you to stumble, that can cause you to quit, that can cause you to not to finish well in life.
First we need the sustaining grace of God in our lives when we are tempted. We are all tempted with things that are not of God. Some of the big ways we are tempted are through sex, greed, addiction, anger, vanity and the pursuit of happiness etc. But the Bible says in the midst of those temptations - that God will give you His sustaining grace. He will give you a way out. He will give you the strength to defeat those temptations (1 Cor. 10:13). That's His Sustaining GRACE!
Next we need the sustaining grace of God when we are tired. Life is often exhausting with the busyness and pace of life, dealing with work and family and schedules and extra activities. It takes a lot of strength and energy to live and fulfil the God given tasks. Isaiah 40:29 says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak’. While building the ark, Noah must have become tired. But God’s sustaining grace was with him for 120 years to finish the work (Gen. 6:8).
Then we need the sustaining grace of God when we are in trouble. When the Apostle Paul faced a painful, physical disability, the God of all grace was there to meet him. “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God’s grace can transform the unpleasantness of suffering into the pleasantness of knowing Christ’s power.
His grace is available for every need. Peter described it as “manifold grace” (1 Peter 4:10). The word “manifold” was used in secular Greek to mean “many-colored.” That is an interesting concept to consider. For every shade of human need God has a matching shade of divine grace. If we are blue with despondency, God’s grace is sufficient to cheer us. If we are yellow with fear, God’s grace is sufficient to encourage us. Whether we are enjoying the golden joys of good health and success, or encountering the blackness of pain or failure, God’s grace is sufficient to sustain us. When temptations assail us, such as the tendency to be red with anger or green with envy, God’s grace is sufficient to resist them. His many colored grace is sufficient for every colour of need.
I Peter 5:10 says, “Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.”
3. God’s Grace is Sufficient to SUPPLY our needs
“And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need…’ II Corinthians 9:8.
“My God shall supply all your needs…’ Phil. 4:19
The child of God can come boldly to His throne of grace, the reservoir of His never-ending supply, and there find grace to help, whatever our need might be (Hebrews 4:16). His grace is available for the taking. As the Apostle John put it, “For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace” (John 1:16). He just keeps pouring it on, filling the believer’s life with grace, piling one gracious provision on top of another, transforming one unpleasant circumstance after another into joy and delight.
There are 3.612 x 10²º gallons of sea water in the ocean. That is 3.612 x 1 with 21 zeros. There are 70 sextillion (7 followed by 22 zeros) stars in the known universe according to the Australian National University. There are 7,500,000,000,000,000,000 or seven quintillion five hundred quadrillion grains of sand in the world. Even if these answers are incorrect, here is my point: God’s grace is bigger than all these numbers! You could empty the oceans and beaches of water and sand and pluck every star from the sky, and God’s grace has only begun!
Once a large sum of money was given to a man named Rowland Hill to dispense to a poor pastor. Thinking that the amount was too much to send all at once, Hill forwarded just a portion along with a note that said simply, ‘More to follow.’ In a few days the man received another envelope containing the same amount and with the same message, ‘More to follow.’ At regular intervals, there came a third, and a fourth. In fact, they continued, along with those cheering words, until the entire sum had been received.
He gives us grace, but there’s more to follow. He is able to make all grace abound and overflow to you so that you will have all sufficiency in all things (2 Cor.9:8). As Paul says in Ephesians 2:6-7, God will display the immeasurable riches of His grace in your life!
The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you ALL.
Amen. Rev. 22:21
