July 5: Affirming His Grace.
HIS LAVISHNESS.
"Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me." So he divided his wealth between them.--Luke 15:12
"My lord, my daughter is getting married and I don't have money for the wedding. Could you help me, sire, with the expenses?" The king asked, "How much do you need?" The official named what seemed like an astronomical amount. The king granted the request on the spot. Later a confidant of the king asked: "My king, why did you grant this outrageous request?" "This man honored me in two ways: he believed that I am incredibly wealthy and astoundingly generous," was the king's response.
When Jesus was being friendly with sinners, the Pharisees objected. In response, Jesus told them a story. A wealthy father had two sons; one of them was very good but the other was very bad. The good son was working hard, while the bad one was dreaming about running away. He did not care much about the farm nor the harvest that needed to be gathered. Outrageously, he demanded his inheritance. No doubt, this was extremely insulting to the father because the inheritance was given only after the father had passed away. In effect, he was saying, "Dad, I want you dead." The father, however, displayed amazing patience and generosity. Completely overlooking the insult, he "divided his wealth [From the Greek bios: livelihood, property, possessiona]" (Luke 15:12). The father in the story represents God. And, thus, we learn from the opening part of the story that our God is incredibly wealthy and astoundingly generous. He lavishes His wealth of grace upon all of us, sharing His possessions, even when we run away from Him and squander it as we see further in the story. Jesus died for us to secure our part of the inheritance, even though we do not deserve it. In Christ, we find indescribable riches: love, grace, acceptance, patience, salvation, et cetera. Our incredibly wealthy God, Jesus Christ, laid down his life for us, and lavishes us with His grace today. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us" (Ephesians 1:7, 8).
HIS LAVISHNESS.
"Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me." So he divided his wealth between them.--Luke 15:12
"My lord, my daughter is getting married and I don't have money for the wedding. Could you help me, sire, with the expenses?" The king asked, "How much do you need?" The official named what seemed like an astronomical amount. The king granted the request on the spot. Later a confidant of the king asked: "My king, why did you grant this outrageous request?" "This man honored me in two ways: he believed that I am incredibly wealthy and astoundingly generous," was the king's response.
When Jesus was being friendly with sinners, the Pharisees objected. In response, Jesus told them a story. A wealthy father had two sons; one of them was very good but the other was very bad. The good son was working hard, while the bad one was dreaming about running away. He did not care much about the farm nor the harvest that needed to be gathered. Outrageously, he demanded his inheritance. No doubt, this was extremely insulting to the father because the inheritance was given only after the father had passed away. In effect, he was saying, "Dad, I want you dead." The father, however, displayed amazing patience and generosity. Completely overlooking the insult, he "divided his wealth [From the Greek bios: livelihood, property, possessiona]" (Luke 15:12). The father in the story represents God. And, thus, we learn from the opening part of the story that our God is incredibly wealthy and astoundingly generous. He lavishes His wealth of grace upon all of us, sharing His possessions, even when we run away from Him and squander it as we see further in the story. Jesus died for us to secure our part of the inheritance, even though we do not deserve it. In Christ, we find indescribable riches: love, grace, acceptance, patience, salvation, et cetera. Our incredibly wealthy God, Jesus Christ, laid down his life for us, and lavishes us with His grace today. "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us" (Ephesians 1:7, 8).
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