Back a little ways in the New Testament the apostle Paul invented grace, right? So it would seem to us at times, but a search in the Bible text reveals grace mentioned quite early. "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." Genesis 6:8 is the first use of the word, but Adam and Eve received it first. After Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God let them walk out to take up life in a world more like what we know today: a tough place with a lot of thorns and reasons for anxious toil. God gave Noah not the eyes of justice as He gave to the rest of the depraved world but of grace. When the flood came, God let Noah live. Adam and Eve found grace even outside the Garden when God let them live. Indeed we seek nothing less than for God to let us live... forever with Him; that's a lot to ask for sinners!
Praise God that Jesus our Lord died the death we deserve for our sins. We receive grace in place of justice. In the great twist of history, One who deserved nothing less than life died for the sins of the world, while the many who deserve death receive grace. How can this be? God's love must explain this outpouring of grace from Genesis through the Revelation. We live because He loved. Indeed, "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." Note that John 3:16 gives no reason on our part that we should deserve eternal life - only one condition of the heart that must come from God's Holy Spirit - believe.
God's love to you on this fine Monday morning!
Bucky
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