Uncommon: Uncommon Grace
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: God gives us uncommon grace to thrive when we are grounded in the eternal life of Christ.
General Revelation
Special Revelation
Common Grace
Special Grace
General Revelation
God has given revelation of his existence, power and love to and through all creation.
Psalm 145:1-21 ESV
“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.”
“All the beauty we have looked for in art or faces or places—and all the love we have looked for in the arms of other people—is only fully present in God himself.”
-Timothy Keller
Special Revelation
God gives special revelation of his love and care to the world through Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:4-6 ESV
“In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
“The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.”
-Timothy Keller
Common Grace
God cares for everyone and desires to show them his grace in Christ.
I Timothy 2:3-6 ESV
“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”
This does not mean that people, though cared for, will not be judged.
Ezekial 33:10-11 ESV
“"And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: 'Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?' Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?”
God’s patience means that God is giving people time and opportunity to come to faith and repentance in Christ.
2 Peter 3:8-10 ESV
“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.”
This is why our witness to the gospel is so important as we daily, intentionally, share our faith with our family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers.
We testify to Christ’s historic incarnation, his sinless life, his sacrificial death on the cross for our wrongdoings and the forgiveness of those wrongs by his resurrection from the dead as people repent and believe the good news.
We testify that people can be reconciled, brought back into friendship with God through Jesus and actually one God intimately - this is eternal life (John 17:3).
“While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world’s sorrows, tasting the coming joy.”
-Timothy Keller
We also testify that Jesus has come to give abundant life - life to the full (John 10:10) - and to destroy the work of the devil in our lives (I John 3:8).
Yet what does it look like that God gives us grace to live day by day?
Special Grace
There is special grace to bear up under any circumstance when you are in the will of God through Christ.
How do I know that this special grace exists?
We see and hear it in the testimony of those who’ve walked through difficulties with supernatural grace while being rooted in Jesus Christ.
The power of God is demonstrated not only when our circumstances change, but the grace that he gives us while we wait for our eternal hope and still thrive in the face of suffering.
"It’s possible to practice this in the smaller deaths that we all experience, such as the loss of a career, friend, or loved one. In those painful situations, you have to do essentially the same thing that you have to do when you're told you’re going die: You have to take something abstract that you believe about God and make it real to your heart so He becomes your consolation. You're no longer looking to the things of this world to be your salvation.”
-Timothy Keller
Proof that there is an eternal life is Christ’s resurrection from the dead and the uncommon grace that people who know him demonstrate intimating that there is a reality beyond the grave.
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher