Great Grace Deserves Great Gratitude
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us … full of grace and truth.
John 1:14
John 1 describes a transformation that’s more amazing than any metamorphosis in the animal kingdom—and infinitely more significant. There you’ll read about the incarnation, God coming to earth in human form. Why would he do that?
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Jonathan Edwards probes the meaning of the incarnation and God’s matchless, marvelous grace.
WALK WITH JONATHAN EDWARDS
“It was total grace that God gave us his only begotten Son.
“The grace is great because of the excellency of what is given. The gift was infinitely precious because it was a person of infinite glory, one infinitely near and dear to God, one infinitely worthy.
“The grace is great in proportion to the benefit we have in him: deliverance from an infinite, eternal misery, and enjoyment of eternal joy and glory.
“The grace is great in proportion to our unworthiness; instead of deserving such a gift, we merited infinite ill from God’s hands.
“The grace in bestowing this gift is most free. It was what God was under no obligation to bestow.
“It was what we did nothing to merit.
“It was given while we were yet enemies, and before we had so much as repented. “It was from the love of God that saw no excellency in us to attract it. “And it was given without expectation of ever being repaid for it.”
WALK CLOSER TO GOD
“Grace” is something more than prayer before a meal. It is God sending his only Son to die as a criminal so that God’s enemies might live.
From the perspective of most human beings, grace is a free gift—undeserved and unearned.
From God’s perspective, grace is a priceless sacrifice—costly and precious. Such great grace deserves great gratitude. You may never be able to thank God adequately for what he has done for you in Christ. But it’s never too late to start.
