Grace Series: FOUND GRACE

Grace Series: FOUND GRACE
 
Where sin exists, grace comes forth. You don’t find grace; grace finds you. Grace actively seeks sinners before sinners seek God. 

Chapter Markers
- 0:00 Introduction to Grace in the Old Testament
- 2:15 The Nature of Grace
- 5:50 Grace Before the Law
- 10:30 Defining Grace and Favor
- 15:00 The Two Ps of Grace: Provision and Personality
- 20:10 Understanding "Found Grace"
- 25:45 The Four Is of God's Grace
- 30:00 Grace as God's Invitation and Interaction
- 35:20 Conclusion: Living Under Grace

Chapters

• 0:00 Framing Grace Across Scripture
• 1:23 Old Testament Roots Of Grace
• 3:32 Defining Grace And Favor
• 6:47 Grace Versus Favor In Practice
• 8:07 The Two P’s: Provision And Personality
• 9:15 Found Grace: What It Really Means
• 12:21 Grace Initiates: The Four I’s
• 16:26 Access And Boldness Through Grace

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Today, I want to speak to you from one of the most popular themes in the Bible, and that is grace. Grace is so extensive, it's all over the scripture in the New Testament and also in the Old Testament. But today I'm gonna focus mainly on looking at grace in the Old Testament, and we can title this message as Found Grace from the Old Testament. We're gonna look at several scriptures in the Old Testament to know and understand what it means to find grace, and we're gonna look at instances in the lives of individuals who found grace in the sight of God. I have my note here ready. So the grace of God seeks sinners, we all need God's grace. As Christians, we have already found grace in the sight of God because of the accomplished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. So you and I we have obtained salvation. And not only have we found grace in the sight of God, but we also live under the grace of God. Grace has been present throughout history. It appears where there is sin. Where we see sin, grace is present. Grace comes for sinners. Grace was demonstrated in the Old Testament. The word grace is translated in its usage in the Old Testament about 38 times. Just the Old Testament, not the New Testament. When we see grace in the Old Testament, it shows that grace is not solely a New Testament doctrine or theme. We can also see, even before the law was given, grace has been throughout history. Grace was in the days of Adam. Like I said, where there is sin, grace appears. So we can trace grace all the way to Adam, Noah, and Abraham found grace and were under grace before the law was given to Moses. Even Moses, the Lord deliverer, found grace, and grace also followed the children of Israel as the angel of the Lord. Believers, Christians, we are now under the new covenant of grace. Because Jesus is the fullness of grace, and Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses. So under this new covenant, only the fullness of grace came by Jesus Christ, and the law came from Moses. Look what it says in John chapter 1 16 to 17. It says, and of his fullness we have all received and grace for grace, for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And now we as believers we are under the new covenant of grace. Let's define what grace is from a biblical point of view. In the Abraic sense, if you have a strong concordance, you can look up this number for your own personal study. The number is H2580. Grace is according to the definition, it means pleasant, precious, well favor, and that keyword favor is very essential in this in this aspect. So we also have charm, we have elegance, we have acceptance. Origin of the word grace in our English language derives from Old French, obviously from Latin gracia, you know, gracios, which means pleasing, thankful, gracios, gracios, you know, if you are Spanish speaking, gracios means thank you, pleasing. So that's where we derive the word grace. In a simple description of what grace is, grace, as most of us know in the Christian jargon, that grace is God's unmerited favor bestowed on us freely. Let me say it again. Grace is God's unmerited favor bestowed on us freely. The free and unmerited favor of God as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. There are two aspects of grace. Grace is free, grace is unmerited. You cannot pay for grace, and you cannot work for grace. Grace is freely given to us from God, and you and I, we don't have to work for grace. In essence, grace is free, and grace is unmerited. All we have to do is just to believe, receive, and accept the fullness of grace in our lives, who is Jesus Christ. To continue to shed some description of what grace is, grace is God's favor, favor in a sense of as a feeling, an attitude, a disposition of favorable regard to do that which is pleasing, good, liking, showing kindness without merit or input extended freely. So the difference now between grace and favor is that grace only comes from God, whereas favor can come from God and man. Let me provide you guys instances to differentiate between grace and favor. Grace is from God, favor you and I we can obtain either from God or from man. Look what it says in Luke chapter 2 verse 52 concerning Jesus, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. Like I said previously, at times in our in our scripture, the word grace is sometimes used interchangeably with the word favor. But there's a distinction between the word grace and favor. And one of them is that grace initially comes from God, whereas favor can also come from God and man. Look what it says concerning the boy Samuel in 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 26. And the child Samuel grew in stature and in favor both with the Lord and man. And now look what it says in Proverbs chapter 3, verse 4. And so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. So what we see here is a differentiation of grace and favor. Grace derives solely and only from God, whereas favor we can get it from either God or man or men in general. Let's look at two components of grace, which I refer to as the two P's of grace. Number one, we have the provision of grace. What do I mean by the provision of grace? Grace is given to us freely. Grace is unmerited. God gives grace to you and I. Look what it states in Psalms eighty-four verse eleven. For the Lord God is a son and shield. The Lord will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly. We are the righteous in Jesus. And as a matter of fact, God has given us grace along with glory and goodness. So there is a provision of grace which is freely given to us without any work on our end. The second P is the personality of grace. Jesus, as the Bible states in John chapter 1 from verse 16 to 17, is the fullness of grace, and of his fullness we have all received and grace for grace, for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. So what we see here is that grace is a person and Jesus is the personification of grace. Jesus embodies grace because it is the full content of grace. When I give my life to Jesus, when I pray to Jesus, when I approach Jesus, when I relate with Jesus, I am pretty much relating with grace. So grace is personified in Jesus, and Jesus is grace. Just as at times we refer to Jesus as peace, and and he has this title being the Prince of Peace. So Jesus is grace and he is the fullness of grace. Now let's look at the phrase found grace. What does the phrase found grace mean? Found grace means being sought by God. Found is the past tense of find. Find now is the base verb for found, and find means to discover, uncover, to learn the location of an object, to gain or learn an information not previously known, to be caught, to attain, to achieve, a state, to have or be in possession of. Now the word found has several interesting descriptions that I'm gonna highlight. As a verb, it means to establish or originate in an instance, establish an institution or an organization, especially by providing endowments. Found as a verb can mean plan or begin the building of a town or colony. For example, we could say this town was founded in 1989. Usually be founded on or upon means construct or being the basis or principle or other abstract things according to a particular principle or grounds. When we say when we use the phrase be founded on or be founded upon, we're pretty much saying that this is the basis or this is the ground of uh of a concept or a principle or a subject matter. Found as a verb could also mean of a thing, serve as a base for, a basis for. Found as an adjective means having been discovered by chance or unexpectedly. Having been discovered by chance or unexpectedly. So when we say found grace, pretty much we're saying that if you found grace, you have been discovered by God. Not because of your own merit or input or initiation. God initiated the provision of grace, and you see yourself being the recipient of God's grace. You don't discover grace, you don't search for grace, you don't seek grace, grace finds you. Grace initiated because if you are the one looking for grace, you're pretty much working to achieve grace. And because by definition, grace is freely given and grace is on unmerited, you have to just sit down and allow God to initiate and provide grace to you freely without your input, without any work on your own, any special work on your own. Profound grace is God taking initiative to give you something that you don't deserve, to give you something that you really need, to give you something that you don't have. So now let's look at the four eyes of God's grace showing to us. Number one, grace is God's intention in his will and plan to seek us, not our own will or plans. So grace is God's desire, God's will, God's intention to according to his will and program and plan to seek you and I freely, without our input, without any role or any contribution or any participation on our end. The second I is grace is God's initiative in reaching out to us without again our input or our merit. God initiates to talk to you, God initiates the salvation process by convicting you of your sin, by encouraging you that you need a savior, by presenting to you Jesus Christ, by putting you in a place where you can hear the gospel message so that you can believe and accept and receive Jesus Christ as your personal savior. So God initiates the process of grace for you to find grace, for you to be found with the grace of God. It's God's invitation for us to come to Him without any work on our own. And the last I is grace is God's interaction for us to engage with him, but because we are sinners, and because we cannot relate with God, we cannot connect with God, and because of sin, we have been disconnected from God, and God is spirit, and uh and on unbelievers, they cannot communicate, they cannot connect with God because they their spirit is dead, so they have to be alive in Christ and receive the Holy Spirit for them to be able to communicate and connect with God. Grace now allows you to interact with God. So grace is God's interaction for us to engage with Him. It gives us access to interact and engage with God. What do I mean by that? For you to talk to God in your prayers, for you to ask something from God, for you to engage with God, for you to ask questions, for God to get involved in your life. Grace of God in Jesus Christ made it possible for you and I to converse, for you and I to relate, to interact with God freely, without any fear, for us to come to the throne of grace boldly with confidence, knowing that His mercy is extended to us.