The very word “grace” is such a common place word in the vocabulary of believers and the secular world alike, that it has lost its true meaning. Words do wear down, so to speak. It is the nature of any spoken language that given enough time and usage, language wears down. Just look at the difference between the King James Bible and the Message Bible and you see that language changes; it simplifies with time.
We need to recover this great and vital word and keep it fresh and full of its biblical significance. We should speak of it with the wonder and mystery of Paul and the early church, for whom the word was filled with the power of the Gospel revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Grace was the full abundance of God’s riches given to sinners who deserved death and hell but were given mercy. Grace was the realization that God was running to the prodigal son to embrace and receive him home again. Grace was the message that long standing hostilities between Jews and Gentiles were destroyed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace was the offer of life, for those who are dead, because the author of life tasted death and destroyed it. Grace reminds us of our horrible condition as it sheds light on the severe mercy of God’s invincible love.
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