Grace Revisited
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ~ Romans 3:23-24
Too many times throughout this year, I have needed to see a picture of God’s unending grace. I see grace in my relationships with friends, with students and with co-workers. I see grace through my children. I have struggled with the church because it is hard to see grace from leaders who are stuck in the mire, but are so willing to point out the flaws of others. I would accept it as the fallibility of man, but then it would be my stubbornness in refusing to extend grace to others. I’ve written about grace through the illustration of Prince Caspian:
King Peter and Prince Caspian have just returned to the stone table, which is now entombed in a catacomb surrounded by murals of Narnians as an image of Aslan overlooks the table which he sacrificed himself on. Peter has just led a failed raid on King Miraz’s castle in which most of his army died. Peter is desperate to return the kingdom to Prince Caspian, so desperate he ignores Queen Lucy’s pleas to wait for Aslan. Caspian himself is desperate for the throne, so desperate in fact that when the White Witch’s minions offer him the throne for a drop of his blood he gladly accepts. King Peter then becomes ensnared by the Witch’s promise as well. The Witch hasn’t come in full form but instead has iced over Aslan’s mural clouding him from Peter and Caspian’s view…
So many times we let our worldly desires get in the way of what God has for us. We let Satan and sin cloud our sight and we take our eyes off of God. Yet God remains, right there, behind the clouds, or the materialism of this world if you will. We have put on sunglasses in a world without light. To see God we have only to take the sunglasses off, we have only to look through the clouds. In trusting in God, in waiting on him, in asking him to lead the way we can find peace. We can find grace, because by our faith we stand in God’s grace. (Romans 5:2)
It is that same picture of grace that we see in the first Chronicles of Narnia when King Edmond has been rescued from the White Witch’s stronghold and brought before Aslan. Edmond had gone to the witch to become king, and to turn over his brother’s and sisters. He had the intention of betraying them to her so he could rule alone. Yet after his rescue and talk with Aslan, the lion says: (and i’m paraphrasing…)
There is no need to speak of these things to Edmond, what is done is done. It is in the past.
We can assume that Edmond had confessed his intentions to Aslan and Aslan has forgiven him, and as the White Witch comes to make her claim on Edmond “The Traitor” Aslan offers himself instead. It is through this picture we can see more clearly again, God’s grace…
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God’s unending grace. A point that is repeated over and over throughout the Bible and through out our lives, now if only we can remove the shades to see more clearly.
