God created man and woman to be like
branches on a vine, drawing life from Him.
God warned Adam that if He chose to sin
He would experience the reality of death
in the same way that a branch,
separated from the vine, will die.
So it was, when Adam and Eve rebelled against God,
their sin introduced death and decay into their souls
and into the perfect beauty of Eden.
God’s response was to
come to them, call to them, cover them
and make promises to them of a someday
Redeemer / Deliverer.
The first sinners were expecting death.
Instead, in the garden of their failure
they encountered an explosion of grace.
In Noah’s day the world had become flooded
with evil, violence and corruption, yet for 120 years
God proclaimed through the building of the ark
the certainty of judgment, the possibility of deliverance.
When the ground and sky exploded with fire and water
there was a habitation of grace, an ark of grace
for every man and woman who truly desired grace.
Grace exploded in the midst of wrath.
God was born in human form
in a humble stable, laid in a feeding trough,
grew into manhood, the God / Man
who walked the dusty, thirsty roads of Galilee
healing the sick, feeding the hungry
casting down powers of darkness,
forgiving and cleansing the guilty.
Grace exploded across the land.
Celebrating a last Passover with His disciples
Jesus took the bread, blessed it and said,
This is my body, given for you.
He took the cup of wine, gave thanks and said,
This cup is the new covenant in My blood
poured out for you.
Grace exploded in the midst of Passover.
In the morning He was nailed to a Roman cross
and there as our Great High Priest, Jesus offered Himself
as the holy, unblemished Sacrifice for sin,
the holy Lamb poured out His life shouting, It is done.
Grace exploded into time,
time past and time to come.
He was buried in a borrowed tomb
but three days later the tomb burst,
death was broken from the inside out
Grace exploded across the universe.
So throughout the history of nations
in the corrupt and violent palaces of power
in cathedrals fallen to darkness and ruin
in the clamor of desperate streets
and in hearts hopelessly broken and polluted
there is this continual, relentless, unexpected
explosion of grace flowing from the soul
of a gracious Redeemer whose passion
will not be denied.
Study Questions:
1. What does sin create?
2. What is God’s response?