A New Name, A New Life: House Church Recap 4/21/13

To finish up our series on "The Grace by Which We Stand", Abi discussed what it means when God gives us a new name. His grace covers us but also transforms us, and Christ doesn't view us through the lens of our old life, but through what he has made us to be - a new creation. We must learn to see ourselves through this same lens of grace!

The story of the Man of La Mancha, Don Quixote, is a story of redemptive grace and love. To read the synopsis of this story, visit this website.

1. How is this a story of Grace? Don Quixote saw Aldonza differently than she saw herself. Although her past was low and she was treated as an object, he sees only beauty, saying, "Sweet lady... I dare not gaze full upon thy countenance lest I be blinded by beauty... Dulcinea, I see heaven when I see thee Dulcinea."
2. Aldonza refused to believe that she could be any different. She declared that saw was "not any kind of lady... born on a dung heap to die on a dung heap, a strumpet men use and forget... you have shown me the sky but what good is the sky to a creature who'll never do better than crawl... I am no one... I am nothing!"
3. Don Quixote gave her a new name, Dulcinea, which means "overly elegant sweetness" and was the exact opposite of how she appeared to the world because of the life of brokenness she was living.
4. In the end, she realized that she wanted to be Dulcinea. She walked into the grace that was offered.

Text for this week: Romans 5:1-5

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

Paul, the writer of Romans, also had a name and life changing experience.He lines it out in these two verses:

• Galatians 1:13-16 "For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, hwo intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles..."
• 1st Corinthians 15:9-11 "For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed."

Paul was fully aware of the pain he caused, of all of his sin and his shame. Yet he still stood up and took hold of the grace that was given him by Christ. He knew his name was changed.

1st Timothy 1:12-17 "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, aoppointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in Him and receive eternal life."

Paul understood how to walk in grace and had more to say about it than any other writer of the Bible. The word for grace, "charis", is found 68 times in the entire Old Testament, only 13 times in the Gospels, but 144 times in Paul's letters. His goal was to preach the message of grace because it was the message of his life. See Acts 20:24. If this was Paul's story, how do we relate?

• Just like Paul, we do not stand except for the grace of God. What new name does God want to give you? Maybe you already know, but you haven't taken hold of it and lived by it yet. See 2nd Corinthians 5:17... "the old has gone, the new is here!"
• We don't earn this grace, it is given freely. The word for grace is charis and the word for gift is charisma. They share the same root and a similar meaning! See Galatians 2:20 & 21 and Ephesians 2:8-10.
• Grace comes to the humble. See 1st Peter 5:5. When Aldonza realized she was making poor choices, she was able to accept grace.
• Grace is enough, it is sufficient, it is all that we need to live and be strong. See 2nd Corinthians 12:9 & 10. We do not only live, but His power is made perfect in our weakness. When we are weak, we are strong.
• We are not only meant to "get by" but to have an influence for Christ's Kingdom. When we let Satan convince us that our past or our shame will never allow us to move forward, our realm of influence is extremely limited. Standing in God's grace expands that realm because we know it is not us, but Him who does the work.

Ask yourself: Is my realm of influence limited because I'm not standing in grace? What new name and new life has God given me that I need to take hold of? How can I stand in that new name and glorious grace?