In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
I’ve visited Niagara Falls three times in the last 10 years or so; each time with one of my boys on the way to a baseball tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y. If you’ve ever visited Niagara Falls you will know what I mean when I say I will never forget the sight and sound of the falls!
People who measure this kind of thing tell us that roughly 200,000 tons of water plunge over the falls and into the Niagara River gorge every minute. Think about that for a moment: 200,000 tons of water roaring over the falls every minute; 60 minutes an hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The result is a thunderous ovation to the lavish, generous, creativity of God.
I think that’s why people come from all over the world to see Niagara Falls; the overwhelming lavishness of the roaring waterfall!
I also think that’s a picture of God’s grace!
God’s grace toward us is not squeezed out of an eye-dropper or carefully rationed like water during a drought. His grace is a Niagara Falls of favor so lavish that we marvel at the sheer unabated and unstoppable power.
Do you think of God's grace in this way? Do you think of God as “lavish”? I hope you do!
But, I fear that many of us, including those of us who have been Christians for a long time, tend to minimize God's grace and to project onto him a kind of stinginess that reflects our own “smallness of heart” and not the God we see in the advent story. Thus, we live in fear that we will somehow manage to exhaust God's grace; that one day he will say to us, “That’s enough! No more grace for you!”
But God is not stingy with his grace!
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us...”
The word is “lavished.”
I think I understand that word at least in part.
Lavishly is how I want to love my wife and my boys.
Lavishly is how I want to love God.
Lavishly is how I want to give.
But I struggle to live and love as lavishly as I would like because my resources are limited; my heart is limited; my love, my joy, my grace, my forgiveness are all limited and imperfect.
The good news is, and this is the gospel, that there is one who can and does love lavishly. There is one who has the resources; who can give extravagantly and at great cost. There is one who can forgive and can offer grace that is undeserved.
And at just the right time;
God so loved the world that he gave...
Pastor Brian Coffey
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