Every Christian has a time in their life when they put their faith in Christ, repenting of their sinful state, that unfortunate condition we were born in. Some Christians have had hard and difficult pasts, and their conversion was drastic, while others may have grown up in church being spared from the worldly wild realizing they too needed a savior. With either extreme and everything in between, every Christian has experienced God’s full redemptive grace, and we know what it’s like to unload that weight of sin.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
The beauty of the cross not only signifies our salvation in Christ, but Christ himself, who took on our sin and placed his righteousness on us, granting us full access to the throne of God.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
Grace is supplied to us in full at salvation and is continually lavished upon us when we draw near to God’s throne of grace and mercy. Who of all the earthly kings, judges, or rulers of governments would ever grant us complete and full access to their thrones or presence?
The question holds, are we receiving God’s continual grace at his throne?
John Piper says in his article in Desiring God: Draw Near to the Throne of Grace with Confidence:
Every one of us needs help. We are not God. We have needs. We have weaknesses. We have confusion. We have limitations of all kinds. We need help.
But every one of us has something else: sin. And therefore at the bottom of our hearts we know that we do not deserve the help we need. And so we feel trapped. I need help to live my life and to handle death and to cope with eternity — help with my family, my spouse, my children, my loneliness, my job, my health, my finances. I need help. But I don’t deserve the help I need.
So what can I do? I can try to deny it all and be a superman who doesn’t need any help. Or I can try to drown it all and throw my life into a pool of sensual pleasures. Or I can simply give way to the paralysis of despair. But God declares over this hopeless conclusion: Jesus Christ became a High Priest to shatter that despair with hope and to humble that superman or superwoman and to rescue that drowning wretch. Yes, we all need help…the throne of God is a throne of grace. And the help we get at that throne is mercy and grace to help in time of need. Grace to help! Not deserved help — gracious help.
Piper describes our situation well. We don’t feel like we deserve God’s help, or we stay in denial or throw ourselves into fleshy behavior. However, I believe there are other reasons that prevent some of us from pursuing God’s flowing grace from his throne. It’s our natural bent to hide. Out of pride or shame, or a combination of the two that keeps us hidden or trying to hide.
We can look back and see this hiding occurred from the very beginning with Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God in the garden:
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:8-9
God seeking Adam and Eve after they disobeyed! Their disobedience impacted all of mankind and yet it did not stop a holy God from pursuing them and providing for them. Grace undeserved.
Another reason why some of us may not go to the throne is the feeling of being stuck. Stuck with thoughts like, “I’ve been a Christian for such a long time; I should know better,” or “I’m not worthy to go before a Holy God with this struggle,” or “This is the way I am, the way I grew up.” Thoughts like these can be exacerbated by the enemy whispering lies, breeding doubt, unworthiness, and hopelessness with our sin, our pain, telling us there’s no help for us.
Or we don’t want to give up our bitterness or unforgiveness caused by those who have greatly sinned against us, those who have deeply hurt us, and we’re hanging on, holding on, refusing to let go of that pain and hurt. We don’t want to lose our sense of control, so we attempt to hide and avoid the throne of grace and mercy. Every one of us has our own reason, and to be honest, our reasons are not unique, though very personal.
It’s a hard step and feels like a step down to humble ourselves at the throne. Or it seems like we are losing power or control when we give our hurt and sin to the Lord. God wants a humble and contrite heart.
An adulterer and murderer, King David acknowledged this, “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:16-17).
Sacrificing our time with good deeds or serving at church does not replace a broken and contrite heart.
He wants us to go to him with our sin, hurt, anger, bitterness, pain; everything. Christ is at the right hand of our Father, advocating for us. There is healing and wholeness in turning from our own devices, our ways of coping. He wants to help us; there is no end to his flow of grace and mercy from his throne.
Do we live under full grace? Absolutely! Is there more grace to receive? 100% Yes! Do we hinder ourselves from receiving more grace from God? If we are not going to help God in time of need, then yes. God lavishes on us grace upon grace in Christ. His grace is sufficient and made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
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