Wacky Grace?

I should really be packing, I suppose.  It’s late, and tomorrow morning near noon I’m heading to the airport for the trip referenced in my last post.  But, being a morning person, I’ll get up early and kick it into high gear.  Besides, I’ve got this on my mind and wanted to share it while it is “warm”.  Writing or packing?  Writing wins every time, lol.

Tonight, at the Bible study my husband leads, he was reminding us of the depths of the love of God.  Someone commented that it is hard to fathom how God could love Mother Theresa or Billy Graham and puzzling how He could love everyday Christians, like us.
“We are so prone to think of salvation in terms of merit”, another group member said.

Then, we took it to the other end of the spectrum.
A news item came across my device this afternoon.  The serial child molester, Larry Nassar, the gymnastics team doctor who molested over 150 young girls - - - was sentenced by a judge today.  The judge’s comment, upon giving the man 175 years in prison, was, “I just signed your death warrant.”

Here’s where Christianity gets ultra-wacky, in the eyes of the world.
Just like the thief who was sentenced to death in 29 A.D., and hung beside the Son of God on a cross, this pervert, this “horrible example of humanity” is but one prayer away from redemption.

Crazy Love.  That’s what Francis Chan called it in his book of the same name.
The almighty One, who dwells in unapproachable light, the glorious One, who (inexplicably!) pursues us relentlessly, to the very brink of our physical deaths with His invitation to perfect love...

Consider that that man who abused all those young girls could, with one sincere prayer of repentance and acceptance, be forgiven of every sin he has ever committed.  It doesn’t matter if I forgive him or if you forgive him, or whether we think he “deserves” salvation.  What matters is what the Word of God says, and that is that the only perfectly holy God wants to rescue and redeem him.

More “wackiness”....
Not a single human being ever born has ever “deserved” God’s forgiveness, or eternal salvation.
Not one.

The “Billy Graham” of Jesus’ century was the apostle Paul.  If ever a man was “the perfect Christian”, it was he.  Right?  If ever a man “deserved” to get into Heaven it was Paul. Yes?
Hear his words from Romans 7:24.......

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
(ESV)

Or, this:

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
Romans 7:15 (ESV)

Hmmm....sound familiar?
None of us deserves God’ mercy, God’s favor, God’s forgiveness, His redemption, His restoration.
None.

Salvation is all about Him - - - His sacrifice, His love, His pursuit of each of us, each human soul, all born dead.....dead in our sins.

Larry Nassar .... the apostle Paul
Jim Jones ..... Mother Theresa
Adolph Hitler .... Billy Graham

Same.

The same invitation was extended to all, and still is to all who live and breathe today.
Those guilty sinners (all) who accept the invitation, who accept Him, live ultimately in Heaven forever.
Those who don’t ... don’t, thereby writing their own eternal “death warrant”.  No earthly judge has the power to do that.

“Wacky nonsense”, says the world.
“Devastatingly beautiful, amazing grace”, cries the grateful, rescued sinner!