God is generous with His grace for us because we need it. It is all of grace. None of us merit it. God is generous because that is the kind of God He is!
In Genesis 2:9 God caused “all kinds of trees to grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.” This is harvest time.
All kinds of things that are good for food are growing out of the ground! That is God’s generosity on display!
Jeremiah 32:40-41 NIV 40I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
This is a wonderful expression of God’s grace. Do you wonder what the people could have done to deserve this blessing? Maybe the people were repentant and especially good. Maybe they finally got it, and started obeying all of God’s commands. Just ten verses earlier God described the spiritual condition of His people with these words:
Jeremiah 32:30 “The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but provoke me with what their hands have made, declares the LORD.”
God’s grace is extravagant. His generosity and grace is abundant and free.
His grace is free! Grace is God’s “unmerited favor” toward us. We cannot merit it by our actions.
The Apostle Peter is a perfect illustration of God’s grace. Peter had a history of blowing things spiritually. Peter had the opportunity to do something in the spiritual realm no other human being had done. Jesus invited him to walk on water! Jesus came to the Disciple walking on the Sea of Galilee. Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water." Jesus said: “come.” Peter stepped out of the boat, walked a few feet on the water. When he began to think about where he was and what was happening around him, he grew fearful and began to sink.
Matthew 14:31 NKJV And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
In Matthew 16 Jesus predicted his coming death on the cross. Then in Matthew16:22 “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. `Never, Lord!’ he said. `This shall never happen to you!’” Jesus stopped Peter with these words Matthew 16:23 NIV 23Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
Then, on the night that Jesus was betrayed, Peter rushed to defend Jesus with his sword, only to be rebuked again: "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" John 18:11
Peter boldly told Jesus he would never desert him. He would always remain loyal. But Jesus knew Peter better than he knew himself. He told him: "I tell you the truth … this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." Matthew 26:34
Peter appears to be a total failure and disappointment. He could not say anything right. He could not do anything right. His faith is weak. He is a “stumbling block” to Jesus. He is unfaithful to Jesus at the Lord’s moment of greatest need. Peter did not appear to be the person you would want on you team.
Then you come to the Acts. Peter is the one God choose to be His spokesman on the Day of Pentecost. Peter the man who had not done anything right was standing before a hostile crowd. Peter preaches one sermons and thousands were saved! (Acts 2:14ff) God choose Peter to be the individual to open the door of the Gospel to the Gentile world. He was the one who never could say the right thing. Peter brought the Gospel to Cornelius’ home and the world was changed. (Acts 10:34ff)
At the Council of Jerusalem, Peter, who was a “stumbling block” to Jesus, resolved a problem that was about to rip the church apart. (Acts 15:7ff)
It seems as if Peter is finally cured. It appears he over his impulsiveness. His faith appears to be strong. He seems to have conquered his spiritual insensitivity, just in time to blow it again. In the middle of his strength and leadership, he compromises his faith in the grace of God by siding with the legalists in Antioch. He separates himself from the Gentile Christians.
Galatians 2:11 NIV 11When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.
He fell flat on his face again! Through all of his experiences of failure and restoration, Peter learned an important truth about God. He records it in the first of his two books:
1 Peter 5:10-11 “The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
Peter learned that God is the God of “all grace.” He is in the feel like giving up. Can you relate to Peter? Have you blown it again and again? We need a God of “all grace!” He is generous in His kindness to us. He is extravagant in His grace to us. He has given us everything we need. It is unmerited favor!
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