Who is Jesus? by Caleb Olayiwola - HTML preview

7. Grace 2

We know that God is the giver, and that the gift he has given unto us is Jesus Christ, that whosoever believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). It is one of the most popular verses in the new testament that many of us can recite, even in our sleep.

John 3:16 summarizes his act of love, but also showed that we have our own part to take. We cannot talk about GRACE without talking about LOVE. Love precede the gift that was given; it was his love for us that made him gave what he had given us. He sent his son after he had loved us, not before he loved us.

If we are to understand grace, we must understand love. Love brought Grace. As mentioned earlier (in part one), grace have nothing to do with power and authority, but everything to do with love.

God is all powerful and is authority over all things cannot be questioned, but when it comes to love, he is willing to give all up.

Giving us his son was an expression of love - an act that is beyond friendship or any relationship that we can possibly think of. It is indescribable as it makes no sense in whatever way we think about it.

Why would God give the most treasured possession in his arsenal to man? What did God see in man? The fact is, man need God more than God need man.

We are disposable. He nearly done that during the time of Noah. He nearly wiped us out, yet his love kept us. From the very beginning his love have been in existence. It is not something that happened overnight. No, his love for us go way back before the prophecies of the messiah.

He walked with Enoch. He revealed his glory unto Moses. He made an everlasting covenant with Abraham. God has never left man, not once. Although he chased man out of the garden of Eden, he has not once left him nor forsake him. He has been with us throughout the ages.

He could have killed Adam and Eve when he was disobeyed and end “our” existence in the garden, but he chose not to. He gave us a second chance by chasing us out and letting us live. Man has a lot to learn, and he (God) is willing to stay with him (man) till he knows who he (God) is.

God made man -> sin took over -> God stayed with man till he was able to save him

IMMANUEL is one of the names of Jesus Christ, which simply means “God with us.” The name symbolizes his ever presence with man ever since he left the garden. His love for us goes way too deep for him to leave us in our predicament.

The giver has been preparing his gift from the old testament before we see the manifestation in the new testament.

The scripture says, “God is Love”, this is not the definition of love; it simply means man cannot know love until he knows God. It is when we are able to fully understand the in and out of God that we will be able to know what love is.

And until we fully understand love, we won’t know how hefty the price that was paid for our souls.

It goes beyond the natural and the existence into the unnatural and the inexistence. It is both physical and spiritual. It is not logical. Logic cannot solve this mystery and no wisdom can attain it.

The gift given by the giver is a combination of many things that we “may” not fully understand until his second coming (my next topic and the last in the “Who is Jesus” episode).

As mentioned in part one, grace as a gift is a package full of contents. Only few things are known to us as revealed by the Prophets and Apostles before us. Jesus is a name that symbolizes many things, among which is “Immanuel” that was explained earlier.

Jesus was also referred to as “The Word of God” in Revelation 19:11-16 and as the “Prince of Peace” in Isaiah 9:6.

These are not mere names if we take a closer look. How can man be made perfect? How can man live up to the standard of God? How can man be worthy of God’s inheritance? God wouldn’t just give man his inheritance if he knows that man will squander it. We must be at a certain level of perfection… we must be worth it.

God must have a way by which he can measure our worth - it is by our FAITH.

The scripture says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” - Ephesians 2 vs 8 (NKJV)

Now, when we believe in his son Jesus Christ, we are attesting our faith to him. We are saying, “God I’m qualify to be saved because I believe in your son.” Our faith made us worth something in his hand.

Grace is free to whomever believes it. It cost nothing. Just believe and you are saved.

The giver has given his gift; it remains for us to receive it. That is a decision only we can make. No one can make the decision for us or on our behalf. Will you receive my gift? This is a question that every man will have to answer.

It isn’t by merit, but by confession and acceptance.

Grace as a gift is only meant for those that are willing to accept it. The giver gives freely… but our acceptance is important.