Amazing Grace

“Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” The first verse of the hymn “Amazing Grace,” sums up the gospel of Jesus Christ in two sentences. Grace is the unmerited pardon God gives to all who will simply accept it. It was the execution of Jesus that paid the debt for Adam’s sin on behalf of all of humanity. “For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”(1Co. 15:21-22) The original creation was governed by perfect law and justice, the iniquity of Adam flawed the perfection. Since perfection and imperfection are incompatible and since all men have sinned there exists a separation between God and man that cannot be crossed. Once perfection has been blemished, it remains imperfect. The earth and its inhabitants remain locked into an imperfect state until God recreates a new and perfect earth once again. Because the majority of men and women choose to live by their own devices and by their imperfect laws the earth remains hostile and dangerous. “ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”(Ro.3:23)

 Men are helpless within themselves to reverse this deadly condition. Only God can bridge the gap. Because Adam was the first man to break the perfect law of God, the sin nature is passed down through his seed (not genes). The seed received by the woman cannot be passed on by the woman. Therefore, sin is received by both male and female but passed only by the male. The penalty of death was charged to all of humanity without the chance for acquittal. (Perfection made imperfect) The penalty had to be enforced if God was to remain true to His Word. The only answer was to find a man free of Adam’s sin willing to give his life to satisfy the law and liberate Adam’s fallen race from the law of sin and death. “That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death.” (Rom.8:2) The only way to accomplish this was to bypass the seed of Adam and halt the strain of sin. (Imperfection) The new man had to be part of Adam’s race to qualify. He must be willing to give up his life even though he was not guilty of the charge. Above all, he had to have the power to take back his life after death. Jesus had to be all God and all man. “This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah happened. His mother Mary was engaged to marry Joseph. But before they married, he learned that she was expecting a baby. (She was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit) (Matthew 1:18) God became God, the Father, Jesus became God, the Son, and Mary represented Adam’s race. Jesus was born all God and all man and became the perfect candidate to pay the debt for all of humanity.  

God emptied himself of all power and became human in the form of Jesus Christ to pay the sin debt for all of humanity. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch; like me!“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”(Eph. 2:8)  Will you accept the gift of everlasting life? (Thank you, Lord, I accept) For more about your new life in Jesus Christ read the STUDY MORE section found on this website.