1. Am I a soldier of the Cross—
A follower of the Lamb?
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His name?
2. Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize
And sailed through bloody seas?
3. Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?
4. Since I must fight if I would reign,
Increase my courage, Lord!
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.
In the name, the precious name
Of Him who died for me,
Through grace, I’ll win the promised crown,
Whate’er my cross may be.
https://www.hymnal.net
The words of a hymn like this makes us feel uncomfortable, don’t they?
I often sang this hymn in my youth thinking, “I feel like a hypocrite when I sing these words!”
Everything we do in life, in the end, flows from the way we treat God’s grace. How often we drift back to the idea that our obedience to Jesus puts Him under obligation to us. We give of our resources to help others, not because His furious grace provided and provides everything we need in this life but because we think He owes us.
No way is Jesus obliged to do anything for us. We forfeited that possibility forever, long ago, by confirming Adam’s choice in our own lives. Rebels we were and rebels we will always be but for God’s “furious” grace.
What do I mean by “furious”? Look at the dictionary definition.
“Full of anger or energy, violent and intense…”
How can we use this definition to describe God’s grace?
Was God’s grace full of anger and energy when He sent His Son to save us? Yes, it was!
God’s anger was directed at the sin that destroys us….so angry in fact that He turned His anger on His own Son. Jesus bore God’s wrath in His own body on the cross so that the Father’s anger was spent and satisfied forever. Since Jesus paid our debt, the Father is free to lavish His grace on His children.
Isaiah 53:5-6 NLT
[5] “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. [6] All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.”
1 John 2:2 NIV
[2]”He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Is God’s grace “violent and intense”? Yes, it is!
Since through His grace, the Father made a way to forgive our sin and to restore fellowship with Himself, will He not also provide, through His furious grace, the power to maintain the fellowship we have with Him?
What is the use of a provision so costly that His own beloved Son suffered untold agony for us, only to leave us to our own devices to navigate all the obstacles to that fellowship He made possible by His grace?
Paul urges us not to waste the grace God has provided.
2 Corinthians 6:1 NLT
[1] “As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it.”
God’s grace in salvation is only the beginning of His supply. His offer of divine provision is part of the package. If we ignore His furious (violent and intense) grace when we step out in the morning, we have no excuse for the failures we accumulate in the course of our day.
When we humbly acknowledge our utter inability to live apart from Him,
John 15:5 NLT
[5] “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing”…
Jesus assures us that grace steps in to provide every resource for us to move on unscathed by tests and trials.
2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT
[9] “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”
No only does God plough down the obstacles through us but, through His powerful interventions, He also shines the light on Himself.
“…so that the power of Christ can work through me.”
God’s grace is as many-faceted as the most intricately cut diamond that unveils its hidden beauty. The Bible calls it,
1 Peter 4:10 NIV
[10] “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its VARIOUS forms.”
The Greek word “poilikos”, translated “various” has the idea of “multicoloured” or many-faceted.
This reminds me of the octopus which has the ability to change its form at will to blend into its surroundings. Whatever the shapes and colours of its environment, so it takes on the same.
God’s grace takes on the form of the needs it meets. We become stewards of that grace as we use the Spirit’s gifts flowing through us to meet the needs of others.
God’s grace is not the gentle flowing stream we think it to be. His grace is a violent torrent of power we tap into by faith that sweeps us along with Him in our journey towards our eternal destiny. If we fail to avail ourselves of that power, we may be swept aside into the backwater of His purposes. We may be left to flounder in the shallows of grace and miss the of a life plugged into Jesus and the grace He provides.
To be continued…