Wrapping up Outrageous Grace

For the last five weeks we've been looking at the 5 most outrageous stories Jesus tells about grace.  You can view the various messages here.

In these stories Jesus makes several outrageous claims about God's grace:

1) God's grace is far more expansive than we can ever imagine.

2) God's grace is only offered to sinners/losers/spiritually dead people.

3) God's grace is always unfair.

4) God's grace will go to death and hell to find the "lost."

5) God's grace covers and embraces us before we can ask for it.  In fact, we can't ask for it because we are spiritually dead.

6) Faith in God's grace is a result of God's grace--God's grace resurrects us, breathing faith into us.

7) It is not our job to determine the parameters of God's grace.  That's God's job.  And as all of these grace stories remind us, this grace is far more expansive than we can ever imagine (see point 1).

One final word on grace...for now.  Grace is never forced on us.  It wouldn't be grace if it was.  We can never do anything to get God to grace us.  It wouldn't be grace if we could.  But grace is ultimately an irresistible force.  It is a power, a love, a compassion, a hope that keeps on calling to us until finally we can resist the gift no longer.  As I said this past weekend: Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, (in heaven and on earth and under the earth) that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).  This is not a threat.  This is not coercion.  This is a promise of grace.  It is the reality of an irresistible grace.  No one can resist that powerful, sacrificial, unconditional, transforming gift forever.  It's too explosive.  It's too combustible.  It's too overwhelming.  It's ultimately too good.

And that irresistible grace will lead us into life and it will lead us home!