Searching for grace

God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:25

In the Genesis account, everything that God made, he found it to be good. The scripture above reveals that God even finds the creations that were made wild good. A wonderful picture of God’s heart is revealed in this scripture, as well as insight into His gracious nature.

As we know, in Christ we are made New Creations, we are made from the body and blood of Jesus; completely out of the DNA of Jesus Himself. As a New Creation we are no longer wild, but rather set apart, pure and blameless; connected and united to the Son of God who is the heir of heaven, and we are together with Him citizens of heaven. This however, was not always our reality.

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Titus 3:3-6

In the past we were all separated from the life of God, we were not yet part of the pure and blameless body of Jesus, rather we were still a wild creation. It is only by God’s grace and kindness that we have now been included in Christ, and before we were included in Christ we were like, as Paul describes in his letter to the Romans, ‘a wild olive shoot’.

And you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root. Romans 11:17

It’s wonderful to know that even then, when we were wild, God still looked upon us with grace and loved us; He still showed us kindness and filled our hearts with joy. The wonderful truth about God is that He does not hate us when we are wild, and then, after we accept His Son, change His mind and love us; rather he loves us, even when we are far off, and chooses to be kind to us, and it is in fact this loving kindness that leads us to repentance so that we can receive His Son and be made part of His body!

When Jesus walked the earth, He faced a lot of persecution from the Pharisees. One of the primary reasons for this was because Jesus was not condemning sinners and preaching God’s judgement, but rather was pouring out God’s love and grace upon them and revealing the true nature of God; the God of all grace. This made the Pharisees furious, because they believed God was focused on legalistic righteousness and not the abundance of grace; they actually showed contempt for the riches of God’s kindness, tolerance and patience because they did not realise that it was actually God’s kindness that would lead the lost to repentance!

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?

Jesus came to reveal God’s heart to mankind; a heart that looks at His creation, and, although still wild, loves them. What is more, it is through His loving kindness that God also offers all of wild mankind the opportunity to be made a New Creation, no longer wild, but a Child of the almighty God, part of His very self and an co-heirs with Jesus forever!

I’m so thankful that I belong to such a loving God, who loved me a long time before I loved him and continued to show kindness to me when it was undeserved so that, through his kindness, I could find His Son and truly live!

In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” Acts 14:16-17

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