Grace works because the essence of grace is the nearness of Christ being experienced in your life.
A young child overhears his mother and father fighting in another room . . . parents learning their teenage daughter is pregnant . . . a sleepless, a worried mother, finally, hears her son coming home but he is intoxicated again . . . a confused, lonely husband is struggling to understand how his marriage ended . . . fear, hurt, and pain grip the lives of far too many people who find themselves confronting this thing called life. People desperately wanting to live, needing to live, yet seemingly, always thwarted from living by life itself. They need grace, the desire and the power of God’s will being performed in their lives by God himself. Grace works always to deliver man from his struggles in life.
Many will forge ahead trying to catch their moment in the sun only to find, even if they catch the elusive dream, the moment is lacking. They set out to make it to the top of the mountain only to find that as they near the top some figure or event out of the night knocks them back into the valley. Sadly, their life is spent in a seemingly endless search for meaning, fulfillment, and satisfaction. In desperation, they wonder what is wrong with their lives. Amazingly, God is at work in their struggles preparing them for the nearness of Christ to rescue their soul.
Grace works because Christ is coming.
Jesus said, “. . . I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2,3). God came to earth over 2000 years ago in the form of a man, Jesus of Nazareth. Of the many things God revealed in initially sending his son to dwell among men was that he would send the once dead but now alive Jesus into the lives of all men in every every generation and in every age.
Jesus coming again to be near to you was proclaimed by angelic messengers when Jesus was crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. As the early disciples continued to look upward after Jesus passed out of sight,
. . . two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:10,11).
As His Father raised Jesus into heaven, so will His Father send him back to earth. Grace works because Jesus coming again to be near to you is the work of the heavenly Father. He will send the resurrected Christ to resurrect you out of any time of trouble.
Grace works as illustrated by the life of the early followers of Jesus.
Jesus coming again to work his grace was also believed by Peter, who was often the spokesman for those early followers of Jesus. He said, when ask what was happening on the feast of Pentecost after the ascension of Jesus, “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear” (Acts 2:32,33). Peter connected the risen Jesus with the descend of the Holy Spirit. He would later add, “Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves [prophets of the Old Testament], but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven . . .” (1 Peter 1:12). Jesus ascended and returned by the power of the Holy Spirit to be the means by which the gospel was preached and experienced: “And this is the word [the living word that abideth forever – 1 Peter 1:23] which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1 Peter 1:25). Jesus coming again was essential to the belief of the early disciples of Jesus. They needed grace to work in their lives.
Grace works is essential for believers in every age.
Jesus coming again to bring his nearness to you is crucial today for all who would believe that there is abundant life in Jesus Christ. For understanding Jesus coming again gives the believer a clear knowledge of the ways of life (Acts 2:28). Peter would later add, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13). Grace works, Jesus coming again, to give the answer for every trial of life: “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7). Even now, in the current situation of your life, Jesus coming again can produce unspeakable joy for grace works: “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations” (1 Peter 1:6). The morning will always come for grace works.
Knowing Jesus coming again empowers the believer and he, too, can say, “Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in [this place of unseen terrors] . . .” (Acts 2:26,27). Regardless what may come in life, Jesus coming again can turn pain into gain. It will be joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8) for grace works in every generation and in every age.