Grace Alone: God's Saving Love Revealed

As we study various thoughts/ideas of atonement, it’s difficult to fully comprehend these theories because God’s promises & actions are so far outside-the-box compared to the pagan gods, the gods of modern society, & even our own daily interactions. Let’s consider a few illustrations:

Pagan gods of ancient history are often depicted as petty & jealous & their stories are very relatable because their behavior often mimicked human flaws like being greedy, lustful, vengeful, & sometimes outright evil:

• Greek gods like Aphrodite, Hera, & Zeus were extremely jealous of each other & viciously vindictive towards any humans who might try to eclipse their power, their beauty, or their fortune. (Interestingly, “foodies” declare that Mount Olympus had the best fried-foods of all time, because they cooked in Ancient Greece. Sigh – Editor.)
• Pagan gods of the Philistines, like Dagon, who is described as being half man/ half fish, required great financial or often human sacrifice before bestowing any sort of favors on their believers. (Some scholars suggest the Philistines’ motto was, “In Cod We Trust.”  This will need some verification – Editor.)
• Nordic gods like Thor, were extremely petty, moody, & judgmental to their followers. (The gods of Valhallah once held a cross-country ski race across Norway & Sweden. The winner was whoever crossed the Finnish line first. Ahem – Editor.)

The gods we worship in our current culture like Fame, Fortune, or Power aren’t much better. These gods always seem to require that we sacrifice a healthy work-life balance, or our dignity/self-respect, or any compassion/empathy for others. These modern gods are also notoriously fickle. If you aren’t the frontrunner or already in the winner’s circle, then you will be discarded as fast as yesterday’s 8-Track Tape or Digital Camera. 

Finally, our own lived experiences (be it in marriage, growing up with siblings, or even simply living in a neighborhood) don’t come close to aligning with God’s unique characteristics.

So, it’s no wonder that the love & grace freely & generously offered by our God can seem so hard to fathom. Consider some of the peculiar traits, by conventional standards at least, of our God:

• Our God is intentionally a weak negotiator: He offered each & every one of us the gift of redemption up front without first verifying whether we’d accept His offer, let alone appreciate it. 
• Our God loves to spend time with us. When a toddler is playing on the floor, He doesn’t sit on the couch. He gets down on the floor alongside them drinking imaginary tea & building gigantic 2-foot-tall skyscrapers out of blocks.
• Our God can watch us slam the bedroom door on His face again & again & still slip a gentle note of reconciliation under the door inviting us to join Him for a cup of Andy’s Bootdaddy Concrete.
• Our God can have a billion important meetings on His schedule yet gleefully jump to grab the phone on the 1^st ring just to take our call in prayer.
• Our God is deliberately forgetful; as we seek forgiveness, He can never seem to recall all of our goof-ups & incredibly bad decisions. (Though He MAY pull out a vintage yearbook & say with a smile, “Goodness. That hairstyle was a, um, bold choice.”)
• Our God doesn’t hold grudges, even after we deny His existence, mock His love, & question His wisdom over & over again for years. He’ll still stand on the front porch smiling & enthusiastically waving to us as we come up the sidewalk.
• Our God knows all about our messes & still longs to embrace us. Our God can be wearing a 3-piece suit with a crisp white shirt & tie & still eagerly pick up to hug the baby who had just eaten a spaghetti dinner.
• Uniquely, our God is the only God in the universe of gods who isn’t fickle & who doesn’t abandon us in times of grieving or struggles or sadness. He knows all too well the valleys we’ll encounter in our daily lives & He actually seeks us out to walk alongside us to offer us peace, encouragement, & ultimately hope.

Finally, our God loves us so much that He gives us the freedom to choose from the laundry list of gods to determine whom or what we’d like to worship. So, take your pick! Personally, I’m opting to go with Joshua 24:15: “As for me & my household, we will serve the Lord.”