Good Words for Today: February 22
Joseph Parker called grace “the surprise of heaven.” He’s right. Nothing is more surprising than that God should save sinners. When we talk about “amazing grace,” we tend to think of people we regard as wretched sinners–murderers and thieves. But that’s not exactly right.
The real surprise is that God would save you and me because we are the “chief of sinners.” It has been said there will be three surprises in heaven:
First, some people are there we didn’t expect to be there.
Second, some people aren’t there we were sure would be there,
Third, the greatest surprise will be that we ourselves are there.
Perhaps we should slightly amend John Newton’s famous hymn: “Surprising grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”
Grace is both surprising and amazing, and it’s the only reason we are going to heaven.
Joseph Parker called grace “the surprise of heaven.” He’s right. Nothing is more surprising than that God should save sinners. When we talk about “amazing grace,” we tend to think of people we regard as wretched sinners–murderers and thieves. But that’s not exactly right.
The real surprise is that God would save you and me because we are the “chief of sinners.” It has been said there will be three surprises in heaven:
First, some people are there we didn’t expect to be there.
Second, some people aren’t there we were sure would be there,
Third, the greatest surprise will be that we ourselves are there.
Perhaps we should slightly amend John Newton’s famous hymn: “Surprising grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.”
Grace is both surprising and amazing, and it’s the only reason we are going to heaven.
February 22, 2019