"It was the gracious gift of God.." Ephesians 2:8-9 TPT

God’s grace is sufficient for all of us, It was truly by that same grace that we all have come to faith in Jesus Christ, there is nothing that we could have done or said which could have brought us any merit before our Father God.

God reached out through space and time to mankind so that His creation might be brought back into right relationship with Him again and be the shining reflection of who He is and restore all of creation back to its original form before the fall.  

All of the rituals and liturgy which man has created through centuries past to try and please God may be inspirational but hold no value compared to the surpassing glory revealed in us by our relationship with Jesus, this was the method that God chose to accomplish His work through us.

 Christ is the visible likeness of the invisible God. He is the first-born Son, superior to all created things. Colossians 1:15 (GNT)

As the passage in Colossians 1:15 states “He is the first-born Son”, which from that title indicates that there are many more sons to follow, being restored to their first estate as co-heirs with Jesus.

“And by the blood of his cross, everything in heaven and earth is brought back to himself—back to its original intent, restored to innocence again!  Even though you were once distant from him, living in the shadows of your evil thoughts and actions, he reconnected you back to himself. He released his supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of his own body as the sin-payment on your behalf so that you would dwell in his presence. And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for he sees you as holy, flawless, and restored.” 

Colossians 1:20-22 (TPT)

We now have standing before the Father because of the sacrifice of Jesus, we are restored back to the original intent we were created for which was to be next to the Father. 

As I mentioned, this was God’s grace that brought us to this place of restoration, not our efforts by somehow being good enough, it was “the gracious gift of God that brought us to Christ”, so there is no way we could say we have ever earned this position by our good deeds or human effort, the only work that was acceptable was the sacrifice of Jesus.

This gift of grace is unprecedented in every way, God saw His creation was lost and without any hope of redemption because of sin, God’s enemy sought to corrupt mankind with the same rebellion that he possessed by leading mankind away from the presence of God by tempting us to trust in our own mental faculties rather than trusting in the provision of God, the end result was a catastrophe.

The Father was grieved that man had chosen his own path rather than the path He had designed for man, God wasn’t grieved for Himself for God is perfect in every way, God was grieved for mankind because man needed to find a way back to God’s presence once again so there could be relationship restored once again.

“The light of God’s love shined within us when he sent his matchless Son into the world so that we might live through him.  This is love: He loved us long before we loved him. It was his love, not ours. He proved it by sending his Son to be the pleasing sacrificial offering to take away our sins.”  1 John 4:9-10 (TPT)

God also desired that we are restored to one another with this same love, that the love of Christ may shine from us that others might be restored and brought into the same relationship with God as one of His sons.

“Finally, beloved friends, be cheerful! Repair whatever is broken among you, as your hearts are being knit together in perfect unity. Live continually in peace, and God, the source of love and peace, will mingle with you.”  2 Corinthians 13:11 (TPT)

The beautiful grace of God is always reaching out to remind us that our heavenly Father desires our companionship, not because He is lonely, but because we are lonely without Him.  

Sending Jesus Christ was a rescue mission for us that our lives might be healed and restored into a beautiful reflection of who the Father is.  The goal of this rescue mission was that many sons can come to know the same grace and be healed and restored to their rightful place in the Family of God.

Be Blessed;

Stephen Barnett