Yesterday ended is a podcast dedicated to the healing words of Jesus Christ and his story of redemption. Each podcast contains an original poem so that I can portray a confession of our faith of scripture in unique and succinct ways. Come with me on a journey to become a new creation and to declare old things dead and our life anew in Christ. What we meditate on will determine the direction and fruit of our lives. Let's live today speaking the words of life.
The victory we have in Christ can be felt in our everyday life. We can overcome depression. We can overcome fear. We can be confident. We can be free from worry. We can be free from anxiety. We can have emotional healing. We can have hope. We can be set free from our past. The Bible declares the goodness of God. The Bible is more than Christian psychology it is truth. The truth of God brings mental health, spiritual health and physical health. We can walk in peace. We can overcome the traumas of life.
Do you see God's grace in your life? Do you know how to receive God's grace? Do you think you have to be good to receive God's grace? What is His grace? Welcome to yesterday ended, healing the traumas of life. Are you living in God's grace or waiting for it? Do you think you've used up all of God's grace for your life? I'm your host Dennis Dobbin and I'm here to teach you so much more about Grace. Give a listen.
Do you see God's grace in your life? Do you know how to receive God's grace? Do you think you have to be good to receive God's grace? What is his grace? Welcome to yesterday ended Healing the Traumas of Life. Are you living in God's grace or waiting for it? Or do you think you've used up all of God's grace for your life? I'm your host, Dennis Dobbin, and I'm here to teach you so much more about grace. Give a listen. For many years, anytime I heard a definition of the grace of God, all it was was unmerited favor. Something we got that we didn't deserve. And yet it says in Luke chapter 2 that the grace of God was upon Jesus. If anybody merited favor as God's only begotten Son, it would be Jesus. So what is grace and how do we obtain it? Let's turn to the scriptures and see what they say. We need to come to realize concerning our learning that there is so much more about grace. By it we are elected and saved, no longer by law and works enslaved. By it we are justified and defined. Through its power we are refined. It is the grace of God given us in Christ. By it the Lord we can serve, no end to it can we observe, in it we freely stand, given to us before time began. It is the grace of God given us in Christ. Some say grace is just unmerited favor, but there is so much more to savor. So great by it this age is named, by it God's love is proclaimed. It is the grace of God given us in Christ. How important is grace to our lives? One key to studying the Bible is to pay attention to the language that is used repeatedly throughout the many different books. What are the key words that are used and where are they located? There are a couple words that are repeated at the beginning of almost every book in the New Testament, from Romans through the book of Revelation. We find the first example in Romans chapter 1, verse 7. To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. With the exception of the books of Hebrews, James, 1st and 3 John and Jude, grace and peace are always within the first several verses of each book. Consider the time in which the New Testament was written. In the age of Rome and Greece and Egypt and many other nations that had multiple gods who usually weren't very gracious. The impact that the communications from God and his son Jesus started with an offering of grace and peace is pretty astounding. No guilt is being held over God's people like it was in the law. Israel's relationship with God was established through their sacrifices in the tabernacle or temple. An Israelite had to give sin or trespass offerings when they failed the law. Though God's presence was within the tabernacle or temple, access to him was only through the sacrifices and priesthood. The high priest was the only one who ever came into the holy of holies only once a year, and that's where God would visit. Our relationship with God is based on the sacrifice of Jesus. We now are the tabernacle or temple of God through the Spirit. He now lives within us by his grace. So where does grace come from? And when did it fully arrive? We learn about this in John chapter 1, verse 17. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Not only do we learn that grace came through Jesus, but we can see that there is a difference implied between what Moses was responsible for and what Jesus was responsible for. There is a difference between law and grace and truth. The election of the children of Israel was through Abraham. The election of the children of God is through grace in Christ. According to Ephesians chapter 1, verse 4, we were chosen by God before the foundation of the world. Consider the beginning of God's gift of grace taught to us in 2 Timothy 1, verse 9. Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. Israelites had to work for their reconciliation, forgiveness, and cleansing through their sacrifices. We see here clearly it's not according to our works. So quit working. Freely receive the gift of grace Jesus died for. God has had us in his heart before the beginning, and it is through his grace that we have salvation. There is a way to understand God's relationship with his people that divides time into certain segments according to his covenant relationship with them. These segments of time are called administrations or dispensations. The first dispensation was with Adam and Eve in the garden, known as the original or paradise dispensation. The next was the patriarchal dispensation, noted by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then Moses was given the law by God, and that was the dispensation of the law. Towards the end of the dispensation of the law, Christ was born and came to fulfill the law. With the crucifixion and ascension of Christ, the law came to an end, and on the day of Pentecost, the dispensation in which we now live began, and it is called the dispensation of grace. Kind of important. Ephesians chapter 3, verse 2. If indeed you have heard of the dispensation of grace of God which was given to me for you. The Apostle Paul was given a responsibility to reveal the grace of God to all people. He tried to teach the children of Israel, but they pretty much rejected him. He finally went to the Gentiles who received him with great thanks. In the course of his travels, Paul was on his way to Jerusalem at one point and was warned that there might be troubles there for him. Here is his response. Acts chapter 20, verse 24. But none of these things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I receive from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Paul's joy was to testify, to speak about the good news of the grace of God. No longer was humanity, that includes you, held under the guilt and shame of the fall of Adam and the imperfect sacrifices of the Mosaic law. God's new covenant relationship with all people, not just Israel, in this dispensation, is based upon his grace. I repeat, we are no longer under the law, but under grace. Say hallelujah. The law, all six hundred and thirteen commandments of it, emphasized the separation that existed between God and all people. We are no longer defined by sin, we are now defined by grace. Now exhale with a great sigh of relief. Let's learn about this more in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 10. But by the grace of God I am what I am. And his grace toward me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. When I finally learned this verse and its impact, it was life-changing. Paul, in a number of places in the scriptures, describes himself as the chief of sinners and unworthy to be called an apostle because he persecuted the church. But Paul came to a realization that he reveals here. He states that by the grace of God I am what I am. Grace now defined who he was. His past was not that which defined him anymore. In a few verses here and there, Paul reveals his past, but it no longer has a hold on him. Does your past have a hold on you? Are you defined by your failures? Are you defined by your past actions? We are now defined by God's grace. The blood of Jesus has washed us clean, and we are forgiven. In the second part of this great verse, Paul states that he labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Grace did the heavy lifting. Grace labored within his heart, giving him the ability to serve. We find out more about the power of grace in Hebrews chapter twelve, verse twenty eight. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Here it states clearly that it is by grace that we serve God. Grace is not simply unmerited favor, it is the presence of God within us to empower us to do His will. We live our lives by the grace of God. For our boasting is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshy wisdom, but by the grace of God and more abundantly towards you. This is a very long sentence, but the short of it is that they conducted themselves by the grace of God. They conducted or behaved themselves in the power of grace. The law was given to endeavor to guide God's people into a relationship with him, but the law was weak because of man's inability to fulfill it. That's why we needed a Savior. That's why we needed grace. We need God's ability within us. Ephesians chapter four verse seven. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. The grace spoken of here is in the context of how we all work together in the body of Christ. We need God's grace to do God's work and function together in the body of Christ. We see this again in Romans chapter twelve, verse six. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. Our gifts or our offices in the body of Christ are empowered by grace. Without it, we can't do what God has called us to do. If we try to live by rules and regulations, they will only carry us to a certain point, usually a dead point. Grace is offered to us as a gift, but there's one thing we must do to receive it Romans chapter five verse two. Through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. We have access by faith into grace. And it says that we stand in this grace. Grace is an amazing environment that God has provided for us to live and move in. Our salvation is by grace. Our salvation is not of works, and the rest of our lives after salvation are empowered by grace. A question that some people have brought up is does grace run out? Can you use up all the grace that God offers? We saw in the beginning of this podcast that grace and truth came by Jesus. Moses brought the law. Remember, I showed the difference between the two? Law is the enemy of grace. Law tells you you must do. Grace tells you you can do. The book of Galatians was written to show the end of the law and the establishment of grace. Galatians chapter 5, verse 4. You have become estranged from Christ. You who attempt to be justified by the law, you have fallen from grace. Living by the law, anything that we endeavor to use to be self-justified, excludes us from grace. Your relationship with God is not a do-it-yourself project. You need Jesus and his grace and mercy. You need the Holy Spirit to guide and teach and comfort. You need the Father to open his arms to you and hug you. All of this is by grace. Until the return of Christ, grace is always and forever available to God's children. As mercy is new every day and endures forever, so does grace. Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. By it we are elected and saved, no longer by law and works enslaved. By it we are justified and defined, through its power we are refined. It is the grace of God given us in Christ. By it the Lord we can serve, no end to it can we observe. In it we freely stand, given to us before time began. It is the grace of God given us in Christ. Some say grace is just unmerited favor, but there is so much more to savor. So great by it this age is named. By it God's love is proclaimed. It is the grace of God given us in Christ. Each episode is a great challenge to me to write a poem that artistically expresses the truth I'm endeavoring to teach at that time. Not trying to boast, but I think I did a pretty good job with this poem. It gives wonderful highlights of what grace is. Hopefully, there's a line in there that touches your heart and helps you understand God's grace greater. We are all indebted to John Newton, the writer of one of the greatest Christian hymns. With one word, he perfectly described God's grace. It is amazing.
