2001 Spring Meeting

April 17 Devotional

Angel Rodriguez

THE MYSTERY OF GOD'S GRACE

I. Introduction

It is called the "big bang theory," and it is possibly the most popular cosmological hypothesis on the origin of the universe. According to this theory, the matter and energy that constitutes the universe we know was originally concentrated in what is often called the primeval atom or cosmic egg. At a particular moment, and for reasons unknown to us, there was an explosion and all the energy and matter concentrated in that primeval atom was released. The universe was born. Everything we see today in the expanding universe was originally located there, including the elements that constitute our bodies and minds. That explosion is the most potent release of energy and power that scientists are able to imagine.

Whether the big bang happened or not is not important for our purpose. We do believe that the process of recreation was initiated by a magnificent release of power or creative energy whose impact on the universe we can hardly begin to comprehend. This most glorious and powerful explosion did not take place in the emptiness of nothingness, but on the cross of Christ. We do not call it the big bang; we call it "the release of grace." This grace, hidden in the divine being, at a particular moment was mysteriously discharged in order to transform, even to recreate, a universe that was tainted and permanently damaged by sin. Allow me this morning to tell you a little about the mystery, the power and the embodiment of grace.

II. The Mystery, Abundance, and Embodiment of Grace

A. The Mystery of Grace

In the Bible grace is not something that God has, but rather the way God is and acts with respect to sinners. I imagine that with the entrance of sin into the world a new question was probably raised in the mind of God's intelligent creatures: How will God now relate to sinful rebellious creatures? The answer required a revelation of an aspect of God's nature that was hidden in the mystery of His being. There are many aspects of God that are beyond the comprehension of any of His intelligent creatures. Throughout eternity God will continue to reveal to us dimensions of His character that are beyond our full comprehension.

Therefore, it should not surprise us at all that after the fall of Adam and Eve an aspect of the multiformity of God's wisdom and nature was revealed to His creatures. We call that aspect of God, that dimension of His being, grace. It was always part of the richness of the mysteries of God, but now it found an occasion to express itself in the context of sin. The angels witnessed a revelation of an aspect of God's character they had never before seen in action. God showed Himself to be by nature kind and mercifully disposed toward sinful creatures, who did not deserve kindness or compassion: "He Himself--said Jesus--is kind to ungrateful and evil men." (Luke 6:35).

Therefore "Grace" designates a dynamic, consistent, and permanent aspect of God's nature revealed to His creatures after the fall. The term is also employed to describe the benefits of grace in our lives like, for instance, salvation (Eph 2:8), sanctification (our growth in grace), or the reception of the gifts of the Spirit. In fact, grace is its own means of expression, it is power and at the same time the objective configuration of the results of that power; it is the conveyor of the gift and the gift itself (we call them graces). We do not have in English, or in any other language that I am acquainted with, a single word that could encompass the richness of content and power of the biblical concept of grace. That grace came to our planet!

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor [ptÇcheuÇ, "to be a beggar, go begging, beg"], so that you through His poverty might become rich." (2 Cor 8:9). I wish I could understand and at the same time be able to explain to you the meaning of that text. "He became poor!" We are confronted here with the mystery of God's grace revealed to us, incarnated in Christ. He became the dispossessed one, the resourceless one, the incapacitated one, the one that could be removed from the universe without impoverishing it because He had nothing to contribute to it. He became a cosmic liability, not an asset.

How did He become that monstrosity? He who had it all gave everything He had on behalf of a sinful human race; a resourceless, dispossessed, and incapacitated race who had no contribution to make to God's creation. He became poor! The Son of God took our place and we received through Him grace and in Him God experienced our "dis-grace," the impenetrable darkness of our misery, sin, and death. He became poor! Here is part of the mystery: God, who is by nature graceful to all of us, was not graceful to His Son! In Jesus our poverty was taken over by God Himself and God did not become the object of His own grace! How could He? Grace flows out from God to the other! Magnificent exchange! Grace for us, but for Him, for Him our griefs, our sorrows, our afflictions, our iniquities, our state of "dis-grace," our death (Isaiah 53). The mystery of grace is located in God's unsearchable being, but it appeared to us as a gift on the cross of Christ. What a model of disinterested service for church leaders and Christians in general! The mystery of that grace should be also incarnated in us.

B. The Abundance of Grace

On the cross there was the most glorious and magnificent explosion of God's grace ever witnessed by the intelligent creatures of the universe. The apostle exclaimed, "Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more." (Rom 5:20) The abundance of grace! There is enough grace to supply the needs of every sinner and to leave a surplus. Ellen G White comments, "The atonement for the world was to be full, abundant, and complete. Christ's offering was exceedingly abundant, reaching every soul that God had created. It could not be restricted nor measured so as not to exceed the number who would accept the great gift. All men are not saved; yet the plan of salvation is not a waste because it does not accomplish all that its liberality has provided for. There must be enough and to spare." (Youth's Instructor, July 19, 1900, p 7). Tremendous release of grace! The very mission of the Church is grounded on the overabundance of grace that does not exclude any individual and that does not know geographical, ethnic, or gender barriers. It is for everyone, and the Church must proclaim and live it.

In order to understand better the dynamic nature of grace, theologians usually talk about common grace and salvific or sanctifying grace. From the Adventist perspective, common grace is the kind disposition of God manifested toward us in the preservation of life on the planet and the work of the Spirit in the human heart calling us to repentance, confession, and conversion. The death of Christ on the cross released an atmosphere of grace that surrounded the planet: "In the matchless gift of His Son God has encircled the whole world with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air which circulates around the globe. All who choose to breathe this life-giving atmosphere will live and grow up to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus." (Steps to Christ, p. 68) There is grace all around the planet--common grace--and we can choose to receive its fullest benefits by breathing it, by appropriating it by faith in Christ--salvific/sanctifying grace.

It is because of common grace that God "brings clouds to . . . water his earth and shows his love." (Job 37:13). Paul writes, "For in him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28). That sphere of His grace was made possible through the cross. Again, the psalmist adds, "O Lord, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love!" (Ps 36:6, 7). The abundance of grace reaches the animal world! God provides for the temporal needs of all. Paul and Barnabas, addressing a group of pagans, said to them, "He [God] has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." (Acts 14:17). It is He who "makes grass grow for the cattle and plants for man to cultivate--bringing forth fruit from the earth." (Ps 104:14). Even the lions "seek their food from God." (Ps 104:21). One more passage from the Psalms: "You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained." (Ps 65:9). All of this is totally undeserved by His creatures and is an expression of God's loving grace through Christ.

It is well known that every good thing that we have or experience is the result of God's grace. James wrote, "Every good and perfect gift is from God." (James 1:17). Even what appears to be the natural goodness of the heart of sinners is the work of the grace of God in us:

"It is true that men sometimes become ashamed of their sinful ways and give up some of their evil habits before they are conscious that they are being drawn to Christ. But whenever they make an effort to reform, from a sincere desire to do right, it is the power of Christ that is drawing them. An influence of which they are unconscious works upon the soul, and the conscience is quickened and the outward life is amended." (E. G. White, Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 2, p. 600.)

All the good gifts and blessings that the human race enjoy from God are the result of His grace and have the purpose of leading us through the Spirit to the cross of Calvary. Paul asked, "Do you show contempt for the richness of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? (Rom 2:4). There is a great need on the part of all of us to keep fresh in our memories the fact that it was the kindness of God that led us to Jesus (Gal 1:6). Our repentance does not create kindness and love in God toward us. Neither does salvation come into existence when we repent or believe. It was already acquired for us by Jesus and now through the work of the Spirit it is offered to us as a free gift from God. Grace is not irresistible or forced on us by God. Grace, because of its very nature, respects human freedom and allows humans to reject it or to fall from it. Grace respects human choices for or against it because it is not irrational sentimentality. By implication we, as beneficiaries of that grace and as church leaders, should not give the impression to the Church that grace is sentimental permissiveness; it is rather the power of love that acknowledges and respects human choices for or against God and His will and that is accompanied by particular consequences.

C. The Embodiment of Grace

The grace that saves has been bestowed upon us in the beloved (Eph 1:6). In fact He is what theologians call the embodiment of God's grace. God's kind disposition towards sinners is not a passive emotion but a dynamic dimension of His character that was incarnated in Christ and to which we have full access when we are by faith incorporated into Him (Eph 2:8). Grace is found only in Jesus and it is the Spirit's work to take us to Jesus, to the cross: "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the richness of His grace." (Eph 1:7).

Everything we need is located in Jesus. Outside Him there is disruption, "dis-grace," and sin as a controlling and slaving power. Outside Him we exist in alienation from God in a state of total poverty, destined to total extinction. He is the divine expression of grace in bodily form. He was born in union with God. After the fall of Adam no one was born in union with God. The Adamic humanity was characterized by rebellion and total distance from God. By nature we belong to that humanity; we are naturally born in Adam. To be in Adam is to belong to the old creation and therefore destined to eternal death because in Adam all die (1 Cor 15:22).

But grace has achieved the unimaginable! The power of grace is of such a magnitude that it confronted the power of sin, defeated it, and brought into existence a new creation in Christ. The release of divine power required to recreate sinful creatures is of a major magnitude than the power displayed by God when He created the universe. God created in an effortless way; He commanded and it was. But God's grace brought into existence a new creation in the context of a cosmic conflict. In the new creation grace was displayed as a power that was able to defeat all evil powers, creating a new humanity in union with God. At the head of it is Jesus, the second Adam (Rom 5:14).

Some scientists speculate that the expansion of the universe that resulted from the big bang will, at a particular moment, slow down and will eventually reverse itself by gravity. Then the universe will collapse catastrophically upon itself and probably fuse once more into the primeval atom, only to begin the process again. Grace will bring the universe back to the original unity and harmony that characterized it when it came from the hands of the Creator. Grace will restore all, and it has begun this process in the Church. As leaders of the Church we should never loose sight of the wonder of God's grace that rescued sinners like me and you and then gave us the privilege, the grace, of being servants of His church. Servanthood and grace are inseparable. May the power of His grace in Christ be constantly manifested in our ministry to His Church.

Angel Manuel Rodriguez
Spring Council 2002