By Grace We Are Saved

Man's original identity was firmly rooted in being made by God in His image, enabled to think, feel, reason and decide; enabled by God to be and do what He desires. Man's original purpose was to do something in response, to glorify God His Maker and Sustainer. As he did what he was made for he would reflect the glory of God while working for the good of others. But that image and purpose was marred in the Fall. Man tried to go independent and in the process lost what God had given him. Rejecting God and deceived by the enemy, mankind's bent turned from seeking God to self, replacing God with the many idols the human heart now had a propensity to cling to. Seeking God became a counterintuitive impossible pursuit rather than a natural one. Man's lifelong passion due to sinful rebellion against God became obsession with self. No one seeks God, all have gone to their own ways. But God did not leave man without hope, He had promised a savior back in the garden (Gen. 3:15) and from then on, as the creation groaned under the burden of sin, people waited for this savior, who would deliver them from bondage to decay to the glorious liberty of the children of God. Along the way God sent many to call people to turn from sin to God, to leave their selfish ways and live by faith, but most persisted in unbelief. And when He arrived in God's perfect time they rejected Him too. Man's love affair with sin continued. Unable to pull himself out of the mire man only sunk lower. Only by grace, God's undeserved kindness, could men go free. Jesus took the wrath our sins deserved. When God awakens us to that reality, making the dead live, we see. Until then we are blind, deaf and dumb. Dead. Unable due to sin to make a move towards God. But God, being rich in mercy, with great love, makes us alive together with Christ. By grace we are saved.