Amazing Grace: How Sweet the Sound!
Ephesians 2:1-10
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.
There are no better known or more powerful words in all of
Christian hymnody. Wherever the words are sung, or the tune played to this old
hymn, everyone sings because everyone knows this song. It is the most sung
Christian hymn in the world. We sing the words and hear the tune, but do we
ever stop to think about the meaning? What is the idea behind this amazing
grace that we sing about?
Ephesians 2:1-10. In this passage of Scripture, the Apostle Paul reminds
the Ephesians of the great work God has done in their lives. Listen to Paul:
[1] Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many
sins. [2] You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin,
obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at
work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. [3] All of us used to live
that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born
with an evil nature, and we were under God’s anger just like everyone else.
[4] But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very
much, [5] that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life
when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor (grace)
that you have been saved!) [6] For he raised us from the dead along with
Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are
one with Christ Jesus. [7] And so God can always point to us as examples of the
incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has
done for us through Christ Jesus.
[8] God saved you by his special favor (grace) when you
believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. [9]
Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can
boast about it. [10] For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in
Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Paul’s words tell us that grace is the centerpiece of God’s
salvation. There are five words that are key to understanding the Christian
gospel. They are grace, truth, faith, love, and hope. Paul says that grace is also
a key ingredient. All God’s salvation is for us begins in grace. Everything
else in the gospel flows from and builds upon our understanding of grace.
So what is grace? I believe grace as “unmerited divine
assistance, approval, favor, mercy, pardon, and privilege.” Those are all nice
words, but it doesn’t quite ring the same when we say “we are saved by God’s
divine assistance,” and it leaves something left unsaid, because if we are
saved simply by God’s assistance, that communicates that we help God in the
saving act, but that is exactly what Paul says isn’t the case. He says that God
is the actor—it is all God. Grace as Paul shares the concept means the
completely undeserved, loving commitment of God to us. For some unknown reason
that is rooted in the nature of who God is, God gives himself to us, attaches
himself to us, and acts to rescue us.
What do we do with the gift of grace God has given us? Do we
cherish it? Or do we simply take it for granted, and never offer God our
gratitude. The danger is for us to view the grace as “cheap grace,” and
therefore, we have a do-nothing religion. After all, I like sinning, and God
likes forgiving, so everybody is happy. As Paul told the Roman Christians, “May
it never be!” (Romans 6:2). Paul would tell the Corinthian Christians that it
was grace that put him to work (1 Cor. 15:10). When our hearts are touched by
grace, we move out in service in gratitude for the wonderful gift. Service is
the way we cherish the gift of God in Jesus Christ.
That brings me to the reason that grace is so amazing and
sounds so sweet—grace works in our lives to transform us from what we are to
what Christ calls us to be.
God’s grace is the gift that keeps on giving. Grace is not a
one time offering on God’s part, nor is God’s salvation a one time event. We
speak so often about being saved, or we make the statements, “I got saved on…,”
or “When I was saved…”, but salvation didn’t start and end when we said “yes”
to God’s saving grace. We must think of salvation as a journey that continues
throughout our lives. This passage makes the stark contrast to the life lived
before God’s grace and the life lived after God’s grace. Before, it was “Once
you were dead…because of your many sins” (v. 1). In contrast though, Paul says,
“But God is so rich in mercy…he gave us life when he raised Christ from the
dead” (v. 4-5). From death to life, that is just the first transformation God’s
grace works.
I suspect John Newton knew the sweet sound of amazing grace
in a mighty way, else how could he have penned such enduring words. They are
autobiographical words.Newton would write, “I cried to the Lord with a cry like
that of the ravens which yet the Lord does not disdain to hear. And I
remembered Jesus whom I had so often derided.”He published the hymn and it contained these
words:
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.
Grace never stops working. That is what I believe. For the grace of God finds you and me(prevenient grace), and that same grace reconciles us (justifying grace), and that same grace transforms us (sanctifying grace), and in the words of John Newton, it is that “grace will lead me home”.
By God’s grace I can say I am,I have lived through 2013 and
its by that grace that we will live to see 2014.
