THE BIG PICTURE: GOD'S GRACE
Why did God create you? In all that God does he reveals different aspects of his character and nature. In his creation and interaction with people there are many such things he has revealed, such as his holiness and judicial nature. But in his interaction with people, the primary character quality which seems to be the major theme of the Bible - and indeed of the gospel message - is God Graciousness. And in the end people end up either glorifying God's judicial nature by being cast into hell and suffering eternal torment, or glorifying his graciousness by being forgiven of sin and spending eternity in a loving relationship with God.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:16,17
There is no such salvation message for the devil and his angels of whom the Bible says that the everlasting fire was prepared.(Mat 25:41) But in creating people God revealed his graciousness which he hadn't revealed previously in his dealings with the devil and his angels, other than delaying the time of their ultimate condemnation. In view of God's holiness and judicial nature it's difficult even for Christians to grasp the extent of God's graciousness to us that the Bible describes. But it is important for Christians to keep in mind that God's very purpose in creating you is to reveal his graciousness. He does so both by the way he treats you, and how He treats others through you, and by the message of the gospel that you speak to others.
Paul writes concerning his own experience of salvation, "The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life." 1Tim 1:14-16
However while the Christian life is primarily about God's grace, that grace might be greatly devalued unless we have the right perspective concerning God's holiness and his judicial nature. Those who have a low view of God's holiness and judicial nature really can't appreciate God's graciousness and may not even recognize it. In fact I think the major reason why there are people who don't believe the gospel is either because they have too low a view of God's holiness and judicial nature, or because they can't believe that God could be as gracious as the gospel portrays him. And that while such people may come up with all kinds of objections, I think that these are at the root of their unbelief.
Therefore the Christian life and message are primarily about these three things -
Why did God create you? In all that God does he reveals different aspects of his character and nature. In his creation and interaction with people there are many such things he has revealed, such as his holiness and judicial nature. But in his interaction with people, the primary character quality which seems to be the major theme of the Bible - and indeed of the gospel message - is God Graciousness. And in the end people end up either glorifying God's judicial nature by being cast into hell and suffering eternal torment, or glorifying his graciousness by being forgiven of sin and spending eternity in a loving relationship with God.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:16,17
There is no such salvation message for the devil and his angels of whom the Bible says that the everlasting fire was prepared.(Mat 25:41) But in creating people God revealed his graciousness which he hadn't revealed previously in his dealings with the devil and his angels, other than delaying the time of their ultimate condemnation. In view of God's holiness and judicial nature it's difficult even for Christians to grasp the extent of God's graciousness to us that the Bible describes. But it is important for Christians to keep in mind that God's very purpose in creating you is to reveal his graciousness. He does so both by the way he treats you, and how He treats others through you, and by the message of the gospel that you speak to others.
Paul writes concerning his own experience of salvation, "The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life." 1Tim 1:14-16
However while the Christian life is primarily about God's grace, that grace might be greatly devalued unless we have the right perspective concerning God's holiness and his judicial nature. Those who have a low view of God's holiness and judicial nature really can't appreciate God's graciousness and may not even recognize it. In fact I think the major reason why there are people who don't believe the gospel is either because they have too low a view of God's holiness and judicial nature, or because they can't believe that God could be as gracious as the gospel portrays him. And that while such people may come up with all kinds of objections, I think that these are at the root of their unbelief.
Therefore the Christian life and message are primarily about these three things -
- God's GRACE in view of
- God's HOLINESS and
- his JUDICIAL NATURE.
