If we could sum up all that we know about God in one word, it would be the word “grace”. Thousands of books and articles have been written and even more sermons preached about the grace of God, and we are still talking and writing about it. Maybe the best description of the full extent of grace can be found in the well-known words of the song "Amazing Grace", which are as follows: “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.”

 

Isaiah is telling the Israelites about what God said about them. He uses words like “rebelling against God”; “always lying”; “always refusing to listen to the LORD’s teachings” and worst of all “put their trust in Egypt’s king” instead of in God. It is therefore not surprising that God is planning to punish them, but then he said: “And yet the LORD is waiting to be merciful to you … The LORD is compassionate, and when you cry to him for help, he will answer you.”

 

That is indeed amazing grace, a grace that we cannot comprehend. God is actually eager to be merciful to people who rejected him and will answer them if they cry to him for help.

 

In the New Testament, we see the results of God’s eagerness to be merciful to his people, but now it goes much further than only the people of Israel. He now shows his mercy to all of humankind through Jesus Christ. So, you and I are also welcomed into the circle of people to whom God is eager to show his mercy. Paul said to this new people of God: “May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.”

 

Listen again to the words of "Amazing Grace". We are all saved wretches.

 

Prayer: Lord, we stand in awe before you. Thank you for the amazing grace that you have given us, which, though freely ours, came at a great cost. Amen.