Thank God For His Grace
Thank God for His Grace | Thank God part 2
Today we continue our series thanking God for His character and how He relates to His people. Our starting point is Exodus 34:6 in which the Lord describes Himself to Moses.
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
Last week we examined the mercy of God both in the context of this verse—Moses is about to lead the people through 40 years of wilderness wandering—and in the embodiment of Jesus Christ. God’s mercy has been most demonstrated through Christ who came to save us 2,000 years ago.
This week we are looking at the next word God uses about Himself—gracious. The Lord is gracious to us in that He not only forgives our sins, but He also gives us the means to rise above our sins. God’s grace is perhaps one of the hardest attributes for Christians to get their heads around. It transforms our very being, and when we learn to demonstrate the same kind of grace, it transforms our little worlds. To help us see God’s grace afresh, turn with me to Joshua 2.
Grace in an unlikely place | Joshua & Rahab
The book of Joshua chronicles Joshua, Moses’ successor, who leads the Israelites into the Promised Land. You may recall the Israelites were supposed to enter the land a generation beforehand, but their fear got the best of them. They wandered for 40 years, and the generation that should have entered all died except for just a few. Joshua was one of those few. He takes the mantle, and in chapter 1 the Lord tells Joshua He will be with Joshua throughout his time of leadership, just as he was with Moses. Joshua is to take courage, because the Lord is going to accomplish what He told Moses would happen.
Chapter 2 is the first major test. Jericho is an enormous fortress city with walls far greater than other cities. Archeologists discovered the remnants of Jericho, and one of the most interesting parts about the city to me is that the walls were so fortified, and so large, that people built apartments into the walls. Imagine a city whose defense was a network of buildings interlocked and reinforced on the outside. And we know from extra biblical material, Jericho had French peas who stood atop the wall mocking those passed by and threw milkshakes at them.
To get a lay of the land and the city of Jericho, Joshua sends out two spies. They enter Jericho and take refuge at the house of Rahab. Rahab is a local prostitute, but before this fact offends someone’s church sensibilities, keep in mind this was a strategic move. No one in the city was going to think twice about a couple of strangers who found their way into a local brothel. But, the spies are found out, and the king sends word to Rahab to turn them over. Look with me at her response in 2:4-7
But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.
Joshua 2:4-7
Now, do not miss the significance of her actions. She hides the spies. She lies to the king’s men. She is in the act of treason. But she is also in the act of repentance. She is turning from one side to another. And it is this act of repentance that activates God’s grace.
God’s grace is freely available, but it is received when we repent from our sins.
Jericho is doomed for destruction. Rahab recognizes the truth of her situation. She is a prostitute in a pagan city that will soon come under destruction by the God she does not serve. How does she know this? Look at verses 8-11.
Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.
Joshua 2:8-11
Stories have circulated about the last 40 years. Sometimes we approach these stories without realizing time is moving on around Israel. The different tribes and countries are hearing about these miracles God is doing. According to Rahab, the whole city has heard what has been happening. She is apparently the only one (at least the only one on record) that is ready to turn away from Jericho’s pride in their wall and gods.
It’s very interesting to me that she says the city’s spirit has left the men. They have heard about God’s power, and instead of turning to Him in repentance, they wallow in misery. It reminds me of people today who will wallow in their own misery because it’s more comfortable than turning away from those things that are destroying them. God’s grace is right there waiting for them, but they must take it. Sometimes people will ask the question, “If God freely forgives and gives grace, then why doesn’t He intervene more when people are hurting themselves?” The short answer is this:
God’s grace will not usurp God’s purpose for Creation.
Now, what do I mean? Look again at our story. God’s will and purpose for Israel is to take the Promised Land and fulfill His design for His people that was promised and started way back in Genesis with Abraham. God called Abraham to leave his country to begin a new nation that would come from his family. This new nation would become Israel, it would be a blessing to all nations, and it would be the means by which God would send His Son in order to transform this corrupted world. The Fall that happened in Genesis 3 was going to be corrected, but that could only happen if at the moment in time of Joshua 2 the Israelites conquered Jericho. Jericho’s destruction was necessary for God’s purpose. The people inside could have repented just as Rahab repents. Grace was there waiting for them, but they chose to be disheartened and remain in their imminent destruction.
So, Rahab strikes a deal with the two spies, and the two spies comply. They go and tell Joshua about the deal and about the people who are disheartened. Israel is ready to take the city. A couple of chapters later, Joshua leads the people in marching around the city and the Lord takes down its massive wall using one of the strangest war strategies in history. At the end of the battle, read with me how Joshua treats Rahab:
But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute's house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord. But Rahab the prostitute and her father's household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
Joshua 6:22-25
Look at the grace God showed Rahab. First, notice the spies had to go get her from the house. We skipped the part where Rahab’s house was part of the wall that was coming down. God kept her house intact during the razing. Second, the spies take her whole family out of the city and camp. They will not witness the destruction that is going to happen to the people and city. Third, she and her family have remained in Israel even to the day in which this story is chronicled in Scripture. Her family is well-known for her actions that day. In fact, that fame remains in the New Testament era. Turn with me to Matthew 1.
Matthew 1 gives the genealogy of Jesus, and if we look at verse 4, we read:
and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Ammidnadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king.
Matthew 1:4-6
Rahab would go on to marry an Israelite named Salmon, and they had little Boaz. Boaz grew up to be the same Boaz who met Ruth and married—a beautiful story chronicled in the book of Ruth. It is also another story that displays grace from God to someone outside Israel. These two stories are examples of God’s grace working to bring about His purpose.
God’s grace helps fulfill His purpose and will for Creation.
Through God’s grace toward those outside Israel, He works in bringing about the Messiah.
God’s grace in embodied in Jesus Christ
Turn with me to Ephesians 1, and let’s see how the story of Rahab is an illustration of what Christ does many centuries later.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Ephesians 1:3-10
The passage opens with a blessing toward God for blessing us in Christ “with every spiritual blessing.” He chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless, but, as we discussed last week, we have fallen terribly short of this design. We are in need of God’s mercy because of our sin, but in God’s grace He goes even further.
God’s love for us is the source of His mercy and His grace.
God’s mercy is showed in Christ because “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,” but God goes further on in giving us grace that he “lavishes” on us. He makes known the “mystery of His will.”
Christians will happily receive God’s mercy and grace, but many times we fail to remember God’s grace goes beyond forgiveness. He grants us knowledge of His will. Now, I understand that we all want that giant neon sign that tells us the next steps for our lives, but look again at verse 10.
God’s will, accomplished by His grace through Christ Jesus, is for “the fullness of time”—meaning the whole plan for all of time pivots on the work of Christ. And look at what Christ accomplishes. God’s plan is to “unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.” So many times we get stuck thinking about the day to day that we forget God is working all things for our good in order to unite heaven and earth. We are a part of the Great Transformation in which all of heaven and all of earth are united, and all the sin and problems of this present world fade away as a blip in history.
God’s grace is given to us in order to make us ready for eternity.
Consider the story of Rahab one more time in light of Christ. She is the unknown prostitute living in the walls of a city doomed to destruction. She is outside of God’s people. She is bound to a career and world system that offers no hope. She has done nothing to deserve God’s grace or mercy.
But one day, she hears about this band of nomads who have conquered cities and kings. They serve the God of Heaven and Earth who brings down Israel’s enemies. The city she lives in is talking about these people headed toward Jericho. She makes the decision to put her faith in this new God and this new people. And that decision changes her life and destiny.
She responds in faith to the Lord of Heaven and Earth, and in that response she discovers her new people, her new God, and her family is blessed with salvation and a new inheritance. The spies could have let her live and then sent her on her way. But the Lord prompts Joshua to not just save her, but give her a new legacy altogether. She becomes instrumental in the salvation of the entire world.
Today, you may believe you have no hope. You are bound to a city, a house, or a family that is doomed for destruction. But, the truth is God has come to us. He sent His Son as the means and gift of grace. And through the grace shed on the cross by Christ Jesus, we can have hope—hope for today and eternity. Through the grace of Christ, we are saved from our sinful destruction and given an inheritance in the Kingdom of God.