“They were the best of times. They were the worst of times.” That is how Charles Dickens begins his classic, Tale of Two Cities. We can say the same thing about the world in which we live.

It is most certainly the worst of times. But it is also the best of times. Sure, we live in an evil stage of history – we have the front row seat for the perversion of Sodom, and a constant reminder of the mockery of God that prompted the flood of Noah. We have the immorality, greed and anger that took the Lord Jesus Christ to the Cross of Calvary. We live in the “last days” of the creation that rolled off the tongue of God. Yet, as Christians, we have available to us the same resources as every group of believers that have walked across the paths of time. The inexhaustible grace of God has never diminished. After two thousand years of use by multitudes of Christians, God’s grace is all there – the cup is still full. Every bit of it is still available for us. No matter how much was used up by the martyrs and all the servants of Jesus Christ that have ever lived, it is all still there. That is the mystery of the grace of God. What is grace? It’s nothing more (or less) than “the power and the desire to do God’s will.” What a God! He created us. He called us to holiness. He judged us as sinners when we disobeyed His commands. He loved us so much that He gave His own Son to pay our death penalty by shedding His precious blood on Calvary’s hill. He offered to us the gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life by faith alone. He calls us to serve Him. And He provides the power and the desire to do it. That’s Grace! “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV)

Sin cera, Pastor Erik

Erik O. Garthe is Associate Pastor at Canton Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.

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