Pastor Elwin Ahu
August 31, 2003 - W0335

What does it mean to ìLive a Transformed Life,î what does it take to change? Oftentimes, it doesnít just happen on the outside, but rather on the inside. And itís all about grace.

Still what does this mean? Well, we tend to look at someoneís outer appearance and think theyíve changed. Or we may think something is different in their life. However, living a transformed life starts with change on the inside. It starts with whatís happening in our souls.

The book of Luke tells a story of a prodigal son. Itís about a son who was not satisfied with life. He wanted a change in his lifestyle or image. So he asked for his share of his inheritance. Culturally at that time, if someone asked for his or her inheritance, it meant that they didnët want to wait until you died. It was actually an insult to the father. Nevertheless, he gave his son his share of the inheritance. As we follow the story, however, we see the son makes some immature and unwise choices. The son later realized that the change he was looking for was not about changing circumstances. Instead change needed to happen in him. So he decided to go home and all the while rehearsing what heíd say to his father. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.î (Luke 15:24) What the son found when he came back home was the greatest gift his father could give him: grace. The son didnít deserve anything else. And even though the son insulted the father to that degree, the father allowed him home and gave the son even more. This boy received the gift of grace - unconditional, undeserved favor, love at its highest level.

The Bible doesnít tell us how this story ends, or how the son lived his life after returning home. When the Bible is silent about the ending, itís Godís way of saying for you finish the story.

We will never be able to write the ending of the story and complete what God has begun in our lives without understanding the simple concept called grace. And thatís why itís important that we focus on this and come back to the cross in communion today.

Like this father, God extends the same love to us. And even though we may choose to separate ourselves from God, He continues to extend His grace of unconditional love to us. Thereís nothing we can do to earn it. In fact, we donët even deserve it. And when weíre able to understand that concept, thatís the greatest security we can have. Grace is not based on our works or the things we do. Itís based purely on His love for us.

This concept was made clear to me while I was a judge presiding over a drug case. During the sentencing phase, I received stacks of letters vouching for the defendantís character. Regardless, the law required that he suffer the penalty for his actions. After listening to all the testimony, a man stood up at the back of the room and asked to approach the bench. The defendantís father requested that he take on the punishment for his son. The love of the father was so strong for his son that he was willing to sacrifice twenty years in prison even though the father did nothing wrong.

And thatís what our heavenly Father did when he allowed Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Although Jesus was without sin, Jesus exchanged his life for ours so that we might live and have a second chance. How then should we be living our lives after His grace saved us? And here are three reasons Why Grace Changes Everything. The first isÖ

1) GRACE FREES US FROM OUR PAST.

Satan would love nothing better than to use our past against us. He wants to use our failures to keep us away from God. He manipulates our thoughts to make us think that we have no right to ask God for forgiveness again and again. Satan will remind us of whom we were and use our past failures to push us away from God. Thatís called condemnation. However, Godís grace identifies who we are, not who we were. And grace will use our past to draw us closer to Him. So if God doesnít look at our past mistakes, how can we but love Him? He loves us unconditionally. He loves us regardless of our past.

Paul was a persecutor and a murderer. Yet by the grace of God, Paul became one of the greatest leaders of the church, despite his sins. God is looking at building a relationship with us. Itís not based on our works, or what we can do, or have done in the past. Rather it is based on His unconditional love for us. And when we understand this, we will see that we are new creations.

When I was training in the judiciary, the first conference I attended was held in Las Vegas. I was a brand new Christian, about three months in the Lord and it was my first time in Las Vegas. Still while everyone went out at night, I stayed in my hotel room to read my Bible and listen to worship tapes. I was on fire for the Lord. One night I happened to open the book of Acts. As I was reading, I thought to myself about how I wanted to be used by God. I wanted to get involved in ministry. However, I thought everything I did in my past would disqualify me from ever serving the Lord. Then as I began to read, I learned about Paul and his life and how God was able to use him through the conversion process. I sat there weeping, identifying with Paul and realizing that God could use me too. God would not allow me to focus on my past. That gave me a new life and I have been flying high ever since. I donít ever want to come down. Now that was eight years ago and Iím still soaring. And thatís because of Godís grace! He freed me from my past.

So the first point for us to remember is that grace changes everything because it frees us from our past. The second reason why grace changes us is becauseÖ

Itís been said here before, just because youíre a Christian doesnít mean your life will be easy. In fact, there will be trials and challenges because we live in a sinful world. Just look at the life of Paul. He was beaten, whipped, stoned, shipwrecked, and stranded. Yet through it all he was prepared to withstand the toughest of times.

Paul understood Jesus suffered even more than he did and even overcame death. So Paul used his faith in Jesus Christ to face the challenges he went through. And thatís what Godís grace does for all us and the circumstances we face. It keeps things in the proper perspective. The power that Jesus has is in us and we can overcome any challenge we face.

There may be some of you here who are undergoing struggles, trials, or a persistent annoyance. You may even feel that your pleas have not been answered. Would you just hear a word from the Lord right now? His grace is sufficient for you. Allow His power over death to strengthen you in your weakness.

So take your eyes off of what youíre facing and focus your eyes on Jesus. And the things of the earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Then we can begin to understand that grace changes us. It not only frees us from our past and prepares us for our present circumstanceÖ

Finally, hereís a story of a young girl who grew up in a country town. She felt her parentís old fashion values kept her from enjoying life. Then one night after another one of her arguments with her father, she ran away from home. She went to downtown Detroit. There she met a man who took care of her, found her a place to stay, and fed her. Soon she was living in a penthouse and ordering room service whenever she pleased. Eventually, she became a high priced prostitute and all seemed fine for a while. Then after about a year, this same man kicked her out on the street. She had nowhere to go and no money. She found herself sleeping on storefront metal grates to keep warm at night. Then one night as she lay awake, she no longer felt like a woman of the world. She began to visualize the month of May back home when a million cherry trees were blooming all at once. She said to herself, ìGod, why did I leaveî. The pain stabbed at her heart. She thought, ìMy dog back home eats better than I do nowî.

By now she was sobbing and more than anything wanted to go back home. Itís always the cry of the human heart to go home. She made several calls to her parents home, but hung up. Finally she left the following message on the answer machine. ìDad, mom itís me. I was wondering if maybe I could come home. Iím catching a bus and will get there about midnight tomorrow and if youíre not there Iíll just stay on the bus until it hits Canadaî.

On the bus she wondered, what if her parents were out of town and missed her message? Or what if they just wrote her off a long time ago? Her thoughts bounced between those worries and the speech she prepared for her father: ìDad Iím sorry. Itís all my fault. I was wrong. Can you forgive meî?

When the bus finally rolled into the station, she had 15 minutes before the bus would leave for the next destination. As she straightened herself, she wonder if her parents would even be there at all. Still she walked into the terminal not knowing what to expect. However, nothing could have prepared her for what she saw next. There in a cold concrete-walled bus terminal stood a group of forty friends and relatives all wearing goofy party hats and blowing noisemakers. And taped across the wall of the terminal was a computer-generated banner that said, Welcome Home! Then she watched as a man pushed his way to the front of the crowd. It was her dad. She began her apologize. Her father stopped her and said, ìHush child, we have no time for that. No time for apologies. Youíll be late for the banquet waiting for you at homeî. Now thatís the heart of a father. Thatís grace.

And thatís the heart of our Father. Godís grace gives us free access to His blessings. We can be certain that we have security in our future with Godís grace. So no matter what our past, His grace assures that it will set us free from that and prepare us for life and all the challenges we face. So my prayer, as we launch into our 8^th year, is that we not only learn how to live in Godís presence, but also be a people of Godís grace.