Great Grace Upon AllSample

Day One: The Gift of Grace

“And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33). Who is not included in the word all? I will come back to this verse later but first let us dwell for a few moments on this word, grace. Grace is the key word of the New Testament. Had it not been for grace, we would all be lost. Romans 5:20 tells us, “Moreover, the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”

This word, grace, is one of the most precious and powerful words in scripture. It is a word used to designate anything that is called out of the heart—wonder, admiration, pleasure, joy. The word grace also came to signify the doing of a favor graciously, spontaneously, a favor done without expectation of return but arising only out of the generosity of the giver. Grace is a gift which implies the presence of the giver. The giver and gift are so involved that the gift cannot be handed over unless the giver is involved.

God’s grace is that matchless, wonderful, marvelous act on His part when He out of the spontaneous infinite love of His heart steps down from His judgment throne in heaven to take upon Himself the guilt of our sin and the penalty which is justly ours, doing this not for His friends but for His enemies. We were guilty, condemned to die, but Jesus signed our pardon.