"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."
- Ephesians 2:8-9
The majority of people in this world take most things in life for granted, myself included. Among those things, and probably the most important and necessary of them all, is the grace of God. The greatest example of grace that we have in the history of mankind is in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. A big theme verse of the Bible is John 3:16, where it is written:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
I once heard a fellow Christian say, "The Bible isn't about our love for God, rather, it is about His love for us."
Although it is impossible to understand God in His entirety, it is very important that we make an attempt to understand the grace of God that has been shown to His people every day since the creation of man. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the saints of Ephesus (which is the book of Ephesians in the Bible) with two main themes included, one being that Christ has restored his relationship with all of creation and that He has united the church (the body of Christ) with himself. The first section of the second chapter of Ephesians, where verses 8-9 are found, withholds one theme: Hopelessness and Helplessness without Christ. According to the ESV study Bible, the common phrase that "God helps those who helps themselves" is not from scripture, but from the ancient Greeks. This phrase is still widely used today. Paul refutes this statement here within verses 1-10 of chapter 2, emphasizing that God helps the helpless! Even more so, He helps His enemies! How crazy is that?
This is where one of the many mysteries of God resides. What kind of love is this, that a man would firstly, step down for His perfect throne into this broken world and lay down his life for all people, even those who will never change. That, my friends, is truly an act of grace. In fact, it is the eternal standard of grace and unconditional love that has been set for all people. We are called to live in a way that reflects the perfect love of Jesus Christ. But, because of this sin-ravaged world, most people are suffering from the deficit of counterfeit love on a daily basis. Our society constantly says through our actions that "if you do this for me, then I will do this for you." In comparison to the love of Christ, that is far from what true love is. True love, as Jesus showed it, is selfless patient, kind, and unconditional. It also has a terrible memory of the wrong doing of others.
Imagine a world where all people, despite of differences, came together with true love in their hearts, willing to take action out of that love, no matter what the cost. How different would the world be? How much more happy would people be in general? How many people would still be alive? How many, unborn children would have made it here to experience and add to the beauty of God's creation? Only God knows. For now, we can only continue to plant seeds of love in our environment of people all around the world, and keep the truth of God's grace and love fresh in our minds daily.
