Boldness and Grace

UV 918/10,000 Boldness and Grace Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4 v 16 The purpose of the old covenant of law was not salvation but to show people how far they have fallen short of God’s holiness and absolute standards of justice, love and righteousness. The purpose of the new covenant as personified in the life and ministry of Jesus is to fill the yawning gap between sinful man and the holy God, the gap between our standards and God’s. The word ‘gap’ represents good, acceptable and perfect. Each of us have been declared by our faith in Jesus as good, acceptable and perfect. We cannot “become” perfect but we are perfect in the eyes of God. This is the reason Jesus says, “ Be perfect because your Father in heaven is perfect.” He does not say, “ Become perfect”. Since we are justified by the mercy of God we can now enter boldly or with confidence into the very presence of God, before His throne of grace beyond the mercy seat. Last week there were photographs of a little boy who sat boldly on the high seat of the present Pope Francis, hugged his legs and moved around the rostrum while the latter was speaking. This illustrates the boldness of a child in the presence of his father. Similarly, we can approach the Lord God knowing that He will not rebuke us for doing so and knowing that He loves to help us as an Ebenezer in our times of need. We need not be hesitant, diffident or fearful in reaching out to God. Our need contains the seed of our growth. The times of our need are the periods of accelerated spiritual growth in our lives. These are the times when we walk closest to the Lord and cling to Him for dear life. He may not at times straight away meet or fulfill the need but He will give us grace to help or the inner strength to carry on with the cross we are bearing. He sustains us with hope so that we “ beat the challenge” and “ meet the need.” He uses these times to build our faith and to fill the gaps in our character. In our crises or times of need, the Lord tests us whether we rely on our own flesh and our own abilities, on other people in our circle or on the Lord to whom we have entrusted our whole lives and being. He checks how we behave before the time of need, at the time of need, during it and afterwards. If we truly believe that the Lord is God and our Father, if we truly believe that He is absolutely good and loving, if we truly believe that He can do all things, if we truly believe that He listens to our prayers and keeps His promises, our faith, hope and love will only grow stronger and not weaker with time. In the past couple of years, our family was facing a situation where the equivalent of a borrowed axe had fallen in the water but as we sought the Lord's help He helped us by doing the equivalent of making it float as in the case of Elijah. Prateep V Philip