Against Nothingness

I am a failure.  How do you feel when you read those words? Does a part of you revolt, wanting to immediately respond by offering encouragement, telling me how wrong I am, and righting the obvious wrong in the sentence? Or, does a part of you cringe in recognition? Do you see in those words your assessment of yourself?  Either way, I have to tell you this: it is true. I am a failure. So are you.  You may wonder why I am bringing this up. Let me tell you. I am bringing it up because I believe that unless you respond to this statement correctly you have misunderstood the grace of God.  According to Paul we have, in Jesus Christ, redemption and forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace (Ephesians 1:7). It has long been the testimony of Christians that God's grace is nothing short of amazing. We sing exactly that; Amazing Grace. God loved us into being, refused to abandon us when we abandoned Him, made a way for us to not onl...

"We have all of us been told that grace is to be found in the universe. But in our human foolishness and shortsightedness we imagine divine grace to be finite... But the moment comes when our eyes are opened, and we see and realize that grace is infinite. Grace, my friends, demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude." - General Loewenhielm, Babette's Feast ( quoted in "What's so Amazing About Grace?" by Phillip Yancey, pg. 25)