Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved đ
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The angels pointed toward Calvary when they sang: Today is born a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. Peter, James and John went up with Jesus to the mount of transfiguration and Moses [law] and Elijah [prophets] appeared with Jesus.Not knowing how to react, Peter said to build three memorials.God immediately cut him short by saying: This is my beloved Son. Hear ye Him.He didnât say: âHear the lawâ or âhear the prophets.â He said: âHear ye Him.â
Jesus transcended the law and the prophets. He fulfilled the law, not having broken one aspect of it and fulfilled all of the prophesies which pointed toward Him and the salvation of God through His death and resurrection. In fact, He is still fulfilling them.
The first thing Jesus said straight after was: Do not be afraid. God didnât place His Son on the same level as the law and prophets.
Jesus is the Grace of God in action.
Peter means stone.
James [His real name is Jacob. Greek: Iakobos â pro. Ee-ak-o-bos.  It was changed to immortalize the name of King James] means sup-planter.
John means Grace of God.
On the mount this signified that the Law was supplanted by Grace.
How were we made the righteousness of God?
The same way Jesus was made our sin. He never did sin, just as we did nothing to earn our righteousness.
All of our sins provoked the righteous anger and wrath of God. Because Jesus was made our sin, the fiery wrath of God was unleashed on Jesus. When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we were made His righteousness. We stand perfect before God, not because of anything that we did, but because of what Jesus did.
He bore every sickness, disease and infirmity so that we could be whole in our bodies and minds.He became poor so that we could be rich. He didnât become a little poor, so that we could become a âlittleâ prosperous.He took on all of our poverty. He hung naked on the cross. He didnât even have a garment. You may recall that the soldiers cast lots for it.
He was even deprived of a drink of water, given instead a foul tasting drink of myrrh and vinegar which He refused, so that we could have an abundance to drink.
He told the woman at the well: [John 4:13-14] whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
If we could please God or earn our place in Heaven by works, then Jesus died in vain. It is impossible for man to enter Heaven by good works. It is only by grace, through faith in the finished work of Jesus that we can enter in. It is not by trying, but by dying that we may enter in. When we were baptized into Christ, we put off the old man of sin and rose with Him into newness of life.
We are not saved by works, but the inner working of the Holy Spirit prompts us to do that which is pleasing to God. We of ourselves can do nothing. Jesus said,â I do that which the Father shows me.â Whenever we take our eyes off Jesus, the Living Word of God, we mess up. When we do, God doesnât take a whip to us. He gently convicts us through beautiful, majestic Holy Spirit. While we are still approaching His throne to ask for forgiveness, He runs to us with outstretched arms and lovingly, joyfully embraces us, drawing us so close that we can feel the beating of His heart. It is there we feel His overflowing love filling us with unspeakable joy and peace flooding our beings, lifting us up to higher ground.
The problem with sin is that it never brings long term happiness. For a while it seems pleasant, as it did in the Garden of Eden. Then its tentacles reach out and slowly squeeze the peace, joy and abundant life out of us. Sadly we often donât realize the pain and harm that we cause ourselves as well as others because of our actions. Like a giant octopus, sin’s tentacles envelop us and drag us down into the cold depths of darkness, alienating us from the light of Godâs love.
Fortunately Godâs love is totally unconditional. He loved us when we were still aliens to the commonwealth of God and Heâs going to love us no matter how many times, or how far we fall. He will never force us to come back to Him, but when we do, our Father will be waiting for us to come home, with deep longing in His heart and unfathomable love in His eyes.
If you have not yet given your life to God, or if you have fallen into sin, do not allow pride or shame to stop you from coming home. God will never reject you. He loves you as He loves Jesus. He sacrificed the Son of His love in order for us become a part of His royal family. There is no greater love found anywhere than the love of our heavenly Father.