Great Grace!

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

That’s Acts 4.33 above.  The early church had not just grace but great grace, with the Greek word for grace being megas, it would not be wrong to declare that the early church had mega-grace operating in the life of the church and the life of the people in the church.

What does that mean to operate in mega-grace?  It means that there was a great freedom for people to be themselves, it means that they had a special favour from God, that miracles were easy, that the gifts were flowing, that people had a genuine love for one another and cared for one another, encouraged one another.  It meant people had no agendas, but just loved one another.

People lived in the revelation that God’s method of dealing with them was grace – so they believed for healing, for debt release, for fruitfulness, for increase, for life, for abundance, for happiness.  And they walked in it.

People knew that the only way they could receive was grace, so they showed grace.  Secure in who they were in Christ, they loved others as themselves, they gave freely with no thought for reward, they served and loved.

Isn’t that awesome?

But did you know that God loves us as much as the early church?  God doesn’t want them to have had great grace and we get little grace.  They don’t get mega-grace, and we have to make do with micro-grace!  No way!

So how can we, in our churches today, flow in mega-grace.  Well, the answer is there in the verse plain to see: the apostles were giving testimony to the risen Christ.  This is so simple, we have missed it: the more we talk about the resurrection of Jesus the more we operate in the grace.

The more we talk about the law, about behaviour, about how sinful we all are, the more we talk about us and how wonderful we all are, the more we talk about psychology and pontificate – the less we operate in grace.

The more we talk about Jesus Christ and the fact that He is alive – He has defeated sin and hell, He has defeated sickness and shame, He has defeated poverty and lack.

And He is here right now.  With us – in the midst of us, for us not against us – able to save to the uttermost anyone who believes.  The more we can believe that His power and goodness will come through for us no matter what, and the more we flow in mega-grace.

You want a church of mega-grace: then mega-preach mega-resurrection.