Wonderful Grace of Jesus

“Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin…”

Have you ever noticed that some songs can take you back decades in an instant?

The first few notes begin to play, and suddenly you’re no longer sitting in your living room. You’re transported back to another place… another time… another season of life.

That’s exactly what happens to me every time I hear Wonderful Grace of Jesus.

As a young adult, I couldn’t wait for Sunday night hymn sings at church.

There was no praise team. No giant screens. No carefully planned playlist.

Someone would simply call out a hymn number.

The pianist would quickly find the page, and we’d sing with all our hearts. Before long, someone else would call out another hymn number, and we’d start all over again—singing at the top of our lungs.

There was one hymn I always hoped someone would choose.

“Wonderful Grace of Jesus.”

The moment I heard those words, I couldn’t help but smile.

It was joyful.

It was triumphant.

It was filled with hope.

Even before I fully understood the theology behind the lyrics, I knew that hymn was celebrating something incredibly beautiful.

Yesterday, I asked you to write down your definition of mercy.

Today, I have another challenge.

Imagine you’re a contestant on a game show.

The host smiles and says,

“You have 15 seconds to describe the grace of God. Ready… begin!”

Go ahead.

Write it down.

I’ll wait.

(Can you hear the familiar game show music? Da… da… da… da… da… da… da… da… )

Time’s up!

How did you do?

Now don’t throw your paper away.

Tuck it inside your Bible and leave it there for the next 28 days.

At the end of this study, I’m going to ask you to pull it back out and read what you wrote today.

Then we’ll compare your answer with what we’ve discovered together from God’s Word.

My prayer is that by then, you’ll not only have a clearer definition of grace—you’ll stand in amazement at the incredible grace of God that has pursued you, forgiven you, strengthened you, and never once let you go.

But before we can understand the depth of God’s grace…

We first need to answer one very important question.

What is grace?

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Tomorrow we’ll begin answering that question.

And I’d like you to meet my 96-year-old friend, Sara.

One day she looked at me and said with complete honesty,

“I don’t know anything about the Bible… but I want to learn.”

That simple statement opened the door to sharing the Bible, hoping to give her an understanding of God’s grace, mercy, and His unconditional love for her.

I have a feeling you’re going to love meeting Sara, too.

Until then, may you rejoice in the words of that old hymn…

“Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin.”

Ephesians 2:8–9 (NIV)

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”