Second Coming of the Lamb of God and GRACE

The Lamb of God is God's Grace in action. Grace is a defining feature of Christianity. Unlike other religions people must do or earn certain things, or can never be entirely certain of their own destiny. Christianity holds that there is nothing mankind can do to save itself. That is why the Lamb of God died for you and I, and why we can be saved only through God’s grace. And that is why, therefore, salvation through Jesus is available to everyone, regardless of who they are or what they have done.

So what is grace? It is an entirely unmerited ‘undeserved kindness’. It allows us the chance of a new beginning. It comes as a loving gift from God, given freely and unconditionally. I heard a pastor once said, it is God’s riches at Christ’s expense.

But while it is free and unconditional it does require us to respond to it. We must be receptive to God’s grace for it to work in our lives. To use another analogy, we must activate the ‘grace receptors’, which we all have, in order to receive the full effect.

The key to activating those receptors is faith. Whoever comes to God through faith in his Son, the Lamb of God will receive that grace, and can begin to rebuild a new life and a new beginning. Grace is liberating: it sets us free from those bonds which may have trapped us in a life of wrongdoing. If our lives are to be likened to a pair of scales, a balance between good and evil, then grace allows us (if we genuinely turn to God) to receive the full weight on the good side of the balance.

Grace also heals and reconciles. Grace allows us to feel good about ourselves once more, to have a sense of self-esteem, to be generous to one another without counting the cost.

John Newton, writer of the well-known song Amazing Grace, knew all about grace. He had been a sea captain: not to put too fine a point on it, he ran a slave ship. However, he became a Christian—a new beginning if ever there was one!—and was blown away by God’s kindness to him despite all he realised he had done to his fellow-man. He went on to become a priest, and was vicar of St Mary Woolnoth, a famous church in London. He wrote some other well-know hymns, too, but it is Amazing Grace for which he will forever be remembered:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now am found; was blind, but now I see. Glory to God. What a wonderful God we serve indeed.