The SCOPE of God's Grace
The big jet engines roared as the sleek silver bird rolled with ever-increasing speed down the runway at the great airport in Cleveland, Ohio! Soon the giant craft was airborne and out of sight. My father and mother led me, a 5 or 6-yr.-old boy, down the concourse, out to the parking lot, and into our car. En route home, I recall my father, who had been raised in horse-and-buggy days, chuckling about how the missionaries to whom we’d just bidden farewell, would be in Miami, Florida, before we even got back to our home a couple hours away!
I never cease to wonder at the speed of jet travel. Besides the actual speed of the planes, the crossing of time zones makes it possible to arrive at the end of a 2-or-3-hr flight at the same time or even earlier than you started! “Scope and Sequence” begins to get a little confusing or even overwhelming in some of those situations.
However, as amazing and wonderful as is all that, far more amazing and wonderful is the SCOPE of GOD’S GRACE! I love the words of Titus 2 : 11 – 13. (Read these verses in your Bible, before you read the rest of this article). The fact is – these verses tell us that the grace of God is definitely in at least – 3 time zones:
- “For the grace of God that brings salvation HAS APPEARED!” (v.11) That’s the PAST time zone.
- “Teaching us … IN THIS PRESENT WORLD!” (v. 12) That’s the PRESENT time zone.
- “LOOKING FOR that blessed hope!” (v. 13) That’s the FUTURE time zone.
The practical lesson in these verses is so clear and so encouraging: God’s grace has BEEN PROVIDED! God’s grace is HERE! God’s grace WILL TAKE us through!