To the Praise of His Glorious Grace

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Well, thank you so much – what a wonderful evening of music. You know, several months ago, Seth gave me a copy of a CD on which several of these songs appear, and I never gave it back. He actually loaned it to me, and I ended up keeping it, and I eventually bought him another copy. But it quickly became a favorite of mine – I listened to it, probably dozens of times, especially that last song, "To The Praise of His Glorious Grace."

You know, there are certain words that just evoke deep emotion – words like love, peace, home – a biblical word is grace. Grace evokes that same sort of deep emotion, even from those who don't know God. Some of you saw Reagan's funeral this past week, and I was struck with the fact that the place was filled with people, many of whom have no knowledge of God, don't profess any such knowledge, but as they sang together the strains of "Amazing Grace," John Newton's classic hymn, that mournful song, I saw many of them moved to tears because of the word grace and the tone that it evokes. I get the same response when I hear "To the Praise of His Glorious Grace" – wonderful words. Those words aren't original, of course, with D.A. Carson – he borrowed them; he borrowed them from the apostle Paul and his letter to the Ephesians. What Paul wrote exactly was this, in Ephesians 1, he said "to the praise of the glory of His grace."

You know, that phrase is filled with several profound lessons for us. For example, the first lesson that comes off of those words, to me, is a lesson in human depravity. You see, there's a dark side to grace – the word grace implies failure, it implies the absence of merit. You see, grace is necessary because of what we are, and because of what we've done; that's the dark side. Paul addresses this darker side of grace later in his same letter to the Ephesians – just before he focuses again on the light of grace, he writes this: "You were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air" – the reference to Satan and his control of the world system in which we live – that "spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived" – the picture Paul paints next is not a pretty one, but he says this is how we all, and he includes himself – how we all "lived in the cravings of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." What an ugly picture – it pictures us as simply living to satisfy our appetites, regardless of who is hurt, regardless of what God has said. And then he says something fascinating – he says we're "children of wrath" – that's a Hebrew expression. You know what Paul is really saying? He's saying wrath, that is, God's wrath, is as certain for every one of us as if it were our middle name. We are children, sons of wrath. That's the background of grace, that's the dark side of grace, that's what makes grace necessary. You see, our utter failures to obey God, our failures to follow His law, our failures to seek Him, all make grace necessary. I remember when I was shopping for a wedding ring for my wife – I went to the jeweler, and that was really my first introduction to how all of this works. And I remember being fascinated because, before the jeweler would break out the diamonds, he did what every jeweler does – he took a piece of dark cloth and he spread it on the counter, and then broke out the diamonds and placed them, in their brilliance, on that dark cloth. Because, you see, the brilliance of the diamond is brought out by the terribly dark background – the same is true of grace. Grace shines in greater brilliance and beauty because of the dark side, our human depravity.

There's a second lesson in this brief phrase "to the praise of the glory of His grace," and that's a lesson in God's character. A lesson in God's character – you see, Paul calls attention to God's character when he says His grace, this glorious grace that He displays. Really, the best way to understand the word grace is to contrast it with another biblical word, and that's the word mercy. Mercy is God withholding what we deserve. I was teaching our children a series of questions and answers about theology from the Westminster Confession of Faith, and one of those questions is this: What does every sin deserve? If my children were up here, they could tell you – the wrath and curse of God is the answer, and that's exactly right, the wrath and curse of God. In mercy, though, God withholds those from us. But Grace is something positive – grace is, on the other hand, defined as God's unmerited favor, it's God treating us in a way we don't deserve. In the context of that phrase, "to the praise of the glory of His grace" in Ephesians 1, Paul tells us just a couple of the incredible benefits that come to us in grace, how God displays His grace toward us. He says, in love, He predestined us to adoption as sons – adoption. You know, in the Jewish world, there was no legal way to adopt someone who hadn't been born into your family. But Paul grew up as a Gentile, as well as a Pharisee, in the midst of a Gentile city, and he understood Roman law and he took that concept under the inspiration of the Spirit, and he taught us something incredible about God's grace. I mentioned it this morning, and that is that God, in His grace, chose us who didn't belong to His family. Oh, there's some truth in the fact that we are children of God by creation, but that's not what he's talking about here. We were children of wrath. Paul says. We were almost children of Satan, as Christ says, and John. But God, in His great grace, adopted us as sons. In Roman law, an adopted son had absolutely the same privileges as one who was born into the family – God has adopted us in His grace. Paul goes on to say that He's redeemed us because of the riches of His grace. That word has overtones of a slave market – someone, perhaps, who had the best of intentions, but had made poor financial decisions and eventually indentured himself into servitude, into slavery, and was paying for his loose living, for all of the squandering of the resources that perhaps he'd gained through inheritance and eventually ended up finding himself on the block to be sold for his debts. God comes along, as it were, and finds us in that condition – and God sends His own son to die a violent death to buy us back, to pay the debt that we could never pay. That's God's grace. He adds one more – he says this, he said not only has, in grace, God adopted us as He redeemed us, but he says, we have the forgiveness of our sins. There's another one of those words that evokes wonderful, deep emotion – forgiveness. To know that everything is completely dealt with, it's completely gone, that God will never hold our sins against us again, forever – that is the wonder of forgiveness. And all of those are made possible by His grace – no wonder Paul says that God's grace has a glory all its own.

There's one last lesson, I think, in this phrase, and that is a lesson in God's ultimate purpose. This is really Paul's main point, he wants us to highlight, he wants us to see why God acted in grace. Why is it that God adopted sinners as His children? Why is it that He delivers rebels from the just punishment they deserve? Why does He forgive our sins against His holy character? There's only one reason – it's not because we're good, it's not because we certainly deserve it, it's not because of anything in us at all – it's because of His grace. It's "to the praise of the glory of His grace" – that's why God acted on our behalf. If you've already experienced God's grace, which I think for most of us here tonight, then what God intends, He wants His grace to be a constant source of praise. He wants your heart and your tongue and your life to be a fountain of praise, overflowing in adoration of His holy character, particularly His grace. Christian, are you still amazed by God's grace? That's what God wants – He wants your life to be a constant symphony to His grace.

But perhaps you've realized tonight, by the work of God in your heart, that you actually live on the darker side of grace – you still find yourself dead to God, you find yourself living to indulge your own appetites, contrary to what God has told us to do – you are, by nature, a child of wrath, walking around, as it were, with a cloud hanging over your head, ready for God's wrath to fall at any moment. How can you enjoy God's grace? That's the question, how can you enjoy grace? Obviously, you can't merit it – grace can't be merited, by definition, grace can't be earned, by definition – so, how? Well, Paul tells us later in the same letter, he says this: "By grace you have been saved." That's what we already know, God has to do it, but he adds this: "through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." You see, God has chosen to adopt, to redeem, to forgive those who believe in His son. It's as simple as this: acknowledge your own depravity and your desire to have a new heart, acknowledge that before God, come before God and cry out for Him to give you and show you His grace in Christ, and embrace Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you'll do those things, God will display grace, not because you've done those things, but because He's determined those who believe, He shows grace.

My prayer for you tonight is that if you haven't already, you will come to know what it means to live a life "to the praise of the glory of His grace." And if you already have come to understand what that means, then my prayer for you is that you'll live in that way, constantly carried away, constantly amazed by God's grace, even as John Newton was when he penned those words. D.A. Carson wrote the words you just heard:

What astonishing mercy and power

In accord with His pleasure and will.

He created each planet, each flower,

Every galaxy, microbe and hill.

He suspended this planet in space,

To the praise of His glorious grace.

But then he goes on to say:

With despicable self-love and rage,

We rebelled and fell under the curse.

Yet God did not rip out the page,

And destroy all who love the perverse.

No, He chose us to make a new race,

To the praise of His glorious grace.

Long before the creation began,

He foreknew those He'd ransom in Christ.

Long before time's cold hourglass ran,

He ordained the supreme sacrifice.

In the cross He removed our disgrace,

To the praise of His glorious grace.

Let's pray together.

Father, how can we begin to thank You for Your amazing grace? Forgive us, Father, for taking it for granted – forgive us for not living every moment with words of praise upon our lips and in our hearts. Lord, I pray for someone here tonight who still lives on the dark side of grace – Lord, I pray that tonight You would open their hearts to help them to see Christ and to seek Him with all of their heart, to turn to Him as Lord and Savior, to cry out to You, to show them the grace they don't deserve.

We pray this in Jesus' name – Amen.

Seth is going to come and lead us in a song that will give us all a chance to express our praise and adoration for what God has done in His grace.