If there is one attribute of God that we might, from a human perspective, marvel at more than all the others, it is the amazing grace He displays towards those He redeems. This attribute of “grace” is described by Millard Ericson as God “dealing with His people not on the basis of their merit or worthiness, what they deserve, but simply according to their need; in other words, he deals with them on the basis of His goodness and generosity … and supplies them with undeserved favors.”
In the New Testament and especially in the writings of the Apostle Paul, God’s grace (His unmerited favor) is a prominent theme. For example, in Titus 2:11 we read, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.”
Now while many might tend to associate God’s grace only with the New Testament, He was also the God of grace in the Old Testament. In fact, He attributes this to Himself in Exodus 34:6-7 when He revealed His character to Moses, saying, “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, …” Sounds like the God of the New Testament, doesn’t it.
In fact, one of the best examples of God’s grace bestowed on totally unworthy people is found in the opening book of the Bible; in His choosing an almost totally dysfunctional family through which to create a people unto Himself, the family of Jacob.
Now Jacob himself had been forced to run for his life after he and his mother Rebekah tricked Isaac, his father, into bestowing the divine blessing on himself instead of Esau (see Genesis 27-28). Because of this, he didn’t return to Canaan for many years, until he had 2 wives, 2 concubines and 11 sons. Through much intrigue and a myriad of circumstances God molded and transformed Jacob from a selfish, manipulating man into a new man, ‘a new creation’ you might say, and changed his name to Israel as a result.
By the time he resettled in Canaan and made peace with his brother Esau, you would have thought that things would be good for him and his family. But unfortunately, his sons were anything but godly men. His oldest, Reuben, had sexual relations with one of Jacob’s concubines, the mother of two of his brothers (see Genesis 35:22). Two other sons, Simeon and Levi, murdered a whole village of men and plundered the city in revenge for one man’s rape of their sister (see Genesis 34). Judah had a one night stand with his daughter-in-law Tamar, who he thought was a prostitute (see Genesis 38), which produced twin boys. And if that wasn’t enough, they took their brother Joseph and, because of their jealousy, sold him into slavery, then lied to their father, telling Jacob that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal (see Genesis 37).
This was the family through whom God chose to create a nation unto Himself, and a greater work of grace has probably never been demonstrated. Through His providential working, Joseph, who was sold into slavery became vice-Pharoah of Egypt and by the time his brothers arrived in Egypt to buy food during a severe drought, God had so worked a change in them that one of the men (Judah) responsible for selling him into slavery was willing to stay and live as a slave in Egypt himself in order to save their younger brother (see Genesis 44).
Now Joseph, the innocent victim of his brother’s treachery, had perceived God’s hand in all that had happened and years later when they became fearful that he might enact revenge on them for what they had done after their father Jacob died, said to them, “But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20- NKJV)
We don’t have room to discuss all that took place from Genesis 37 through 50, but you should take the time to read it to see how God’s grace can bring people to recognize their sinfulness and transform them into souls fit for His purposes. That is always the way of salvation, in both the Old and the New Testament. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9).
For God’s glory and His alone,
Pastor Terry.