By Kali Miller, residence life coordinator
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (NRSV)
Grace (noun) – Undeserved kindness & unmerited favor given by God.
I’m sitting in a plain wood chair, one that may give you splinters if you move the wrong way, surrounded by four cold concrete walls. There are no doors or windows, so the room is filled with darkness. The floor is solid beneath my feet, a bit damp for some unknown reason until I feel a drop of water hit my head, the roof must be leaking. I can feel the coldness around me. I’m in this room hiding, though I hope with my whole heart that I can be found. I am surprised when I hear a banging on one of the walls, someone is speaking, but it is muffled. The banging gets louder when finally a burst of light fills the room as the concrete crumbles to the floor. Beyond the room stands God, my Father.
In 1 Corinthians 15:1 – 11, Paul speaks about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul stresses that every Christian must believe that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose again. Paul goes on to share that the love and grace of God is not earned, but given. God doesn’t look at our education, our finances, or success to determine how much love we receive. Paul points to the reckless love of God, which breaks down walls and is displayed on a cross out of love for us, even though we hide from Him in our unworthiness. The way that God loves us and grants us grace is reckless. He is unconcerned with the consequences in regards to His safety and well-being. His love and grace isn’t self-serving. He simply gave Himself to death for the small chance that we may follow Him.
In the times in which I hide from my Father, He pursues me and extends me grace, despite my sins. I would be nothing without the grace of God, I do not have to earn His grace, it is freely given. Our Creator knocks down the barriers so that there is nothing between us and Him. To quote Paul, “But by the Grace of God, I am what I am.”
“Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God
Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the ninety-nine
I couldn’t earn it, and I don’t deserve it, still, You give Yourself away
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah”
– Reckless Love, Cory Asbury
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (NRSV)
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, 2through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. 3For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, 4and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim and so you have come to believe.