Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (II Thessalonians 1:2 ESV)
Grace
The relationship that God gives uniquely to His people is that of Grace.
God’s Grace does not mean, as we often seem to believe, ignoring offense, disobedience, and rebellion.
God in His Grace is not simply being nice.
Grace is much bigger than that. God, in His Holiness, does not tolerate evil and sin. God, in His Love, desires creation to be restored, and relationship with His people reformed.
He COULD have just shrugged His shoulders and said, “Oh well… I suppose I’ll just ignore the dark sin that Adam brought into creation.” But then He would not have been honest or true to His nature.
He COULD have decided to destroy everything broken by the sin Adam brought into creation, and start over. But then He would be acting against the Love He has for creation, and particularly His people.
He COULD have magically transformed everyone into Perfect People, and gone about His heavenly business. But then He would be changing His people so much that we would no longer be what He loved in the first place.
Instead, He chose Grace. He chose to punish and destroy all sin by punishing Christ Jesus instead of us. He chose to attribute Christ Jesus’ perfection as His people’s. He made a swap. He made an exchange. And thus kept both sides of Himself true… hating sin, and loving His people.
It is Grace because He does it for us, instead of us doing it ourselves.
And Grace seems unnatural to the world, because it is. Grace seems too easy because it is. Grace seems unlike anything that occurs naturally in this world, in society and culture, and in our hearts… because it is.
Grace turns the world upside down.