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with Pastor Gregory

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1. God’s Inclination to Be Gracious
   
   
1. One of my favorite passages of Scripture – that bring tremendous consolation to my own sinful heart is one that describes God’s great desire to be gracious – Isaiah 30:18
2. The "plot" to rescue man was totally without any input from mankind – God did it all by Himself: He saw the need and without anyone crying out for help, He devised the solution in His Son – Romans 5:8.
3. Having devised the means by which He could be gracious to us, would He not consummate it? – cp. Numbers 23:19; Philippians 1:6.
4. God’s inclination to be gracious is seen in that He takes no delight when He has to punish sinful men – Ezekiel 18:23,32.
5. God loves men – all men – from the vilest to the noblest – and desires to be gracious.
1. Some believe that God loves us "just because" or "for what we are"
2. However, Scripture teaches us differently – that He loves us in spite of what we are.
   
   
2. God’s Intention to Be Gracious
   
   
1. Before ever God spoke a word in creation, He had devised the redemption of mankind as the primary means by which He would glorify Himself through eternity.
2. We are told that "before the foundation of the world" He had already set His decree to save mankind.
1. 1 Peter 1:20 – It was decided that the Son of God would atone for the sins of men through His blood.
2. Ephesians 1:4 – the elect of God were chosen in Christ that they would be blameless and holy.
3. Revelation 13:8 – the names of God’s saints were written in the Book of Life.
4. Titus 1:2 – God the Father promised to the Son that He would give eternal life to men "before the world began" (KJV).
3. The eternal plan of God to redeem men was something that existed totally at the counsel of His good pleasure as a means by which He would glorify Himself through expressing His kindness toward men – Acts 2:23; Ephesians 1:9-12.
   
   
3. God’s Initiative in Being Gracious
   
   
1. When the time was right, God sent forth His Son to fulfill this eternal purpose and redeem men – cp. Galatians 4:4-5.
2. He came to provide redemption to those utterly without hope – lost in their depravity, dead in their sin – Ephesians 2:4-10.
3. This redemption was initiated completely by God – not as a response to something God knew we would do, but as a sovereign choice which finds its origin in God, not us – cp. 1 John 4:10
4. Thus, Jesus came to fulfill the will of the Father – which was the salvation of sinners – cp. John 4:34; 6:38-40.
   
   

1. Our God’s Investment Is Indescribable
   
   
1. The word "indescribable" is a unique term – used nowhere else in Scripture and is not found extra-biblically.
2. Essentially, it takes a intensification of a word that means to "detail" or "fully disclose" and places the negative prefix on it – cannot detail something or it is "indescribable"
3. We possess tremendous detail of the gift of grace given to us through Jesus Christ – but in reality, our understanding of the depth of His investment merely scratches the surface of what is there – cp. Romans 11:33
4. Consider the imponderables that exist in the gift of God’s grace:
1. The "emptying of Himself" of the manifestation of His glory through the incarnation – Philippians 2:7
2. The suffering Christ knew in the atonement: physically and spiritually – (what was the depth of His despair when the Father turned His back on His son?)
5. These are merely two of thousands of issues that we know, but have never been able to fully detail the infinite issues involved.
6. The cost of this investment was tremendous – more than we will ever understand – 1 Peter 1:18-19.
7. All we can say is that the Father, having invested Himself by giving us His Son, freely gives us "all things!" – Romans 8:32
   
   
2. Our Gift’s Impact Is Indescribable
   
   
1. How can we fully or exhaustively detail the tremendous consequence of the atoning work of the Son of God?
2. Clearly we understand that our empirical awareness of the fullness of our inheritance is something that awaits us – being reserved for us safely in Heaven – 1 Peter 1:4
3. We are reminded that we cannot yet know what we shall be and will not until we see Christ – 1 John 3:1-2
4. By it the debt of our sin was paid by the ransom provided by Christ
5. By it the enmity between us and God has been reconciled
6. By it the penalty for our crime has been justly fulfilled and we are new creatures.
7. Truly, this is an indescribable gift!
   
   

1. The Impulse of the Gift’s Beneficiaries
   
   
1. What well up within us is the deepest appreciation we can know – a desire to express gratitude to the Lord for what He has done for us.
2. The word here is Caris - In essence, Paul is saying that we ought to be so completely compelled by a sense of wonder at the grace we have been shown, that a spirit of gratitude ought to dominate our hearts toward God.
3. Can we thank God enough?
   
   
2. The Influence of God’s Benevolence
   
   
1. His giving was without measure – a bountifulness that was given cheerfully and not grudgingly – cp. 2 Corinthians 9:6-7.
2. With such an example, how can we justify the complaints and failures that we often project as to why we don’t give to the Lord.
3. Since God "is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed" – cp. v. 8

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