“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”- Isaiah 53:6
“Christianity is not the sacrifice we make, but the sacrifice we trust.”- P T. Forsyth
In Chapter 3 (“O Sweet Exchange”) of Grace, author Max Lucado states that today John Newton’s description of sinners as wretched (“Amazing Grace”) sounds so antiquated. People may be misguided or poorly parented, but certainly not wretched! As a rebuttal, Pastor Lucado cites Jesus’ definition of sin:
“A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ “- Luke 19:12-14
Max summarizes this passage by saying that sin is when we tell God that we don’t want Him to be our king. We’d rather have a kingless kingdom or, better still, a kingdom where we’re the king! Until we understand who we are, Max emphasizes, we won’t appreciate what grace does. We must take Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross personally:
“As long as the cross is God’s gift to the world, it will touch you but not change you. Precious as it is to proclaim, ‘Christ died for the world,’ even sweeter it is to whisper, ‘Christ died for me.’ ”
Today’s question 9from Max Lucado): Who or what is king in your life right now? How do you ensure that you honor the gift of grace daily? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Battle Fatigue”
