GRACE THAT STILL AMAZES

“Amazing grace! how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…”  (John Newton, 1772)

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”  (Galatians 5:1)

Two hundred and fifty years ago, a nation took its first breath. America’s story began with a longing for liberty -- a conviction that people should live free, speak free, worship free, and hope free. That longing ignited courage. That courage demanded sacrifice. And that sacrifice wrote the early chapters of our national story in blood.

Around the same time, on the other side of the ocean, another kind of freedom was being born -- not in a nation, but in a soul. John Newton, once a slave trader, encountered the transforming mercy of Christ. His life was turned upside down by grace so powerful it broke chains no government could touch. Out of that encounter came a hymn that has outlived empires, comforted generations, and become a soundtrack for redemption: “Amazing grace! how sweet the sound…”

As America celebrates 250 years, it’s striking to remember that both our national freedom and Newton’s hymn emerged in the same era -- one declaring political liberty, the other proclaiming spiritual liberty. One was secured by the blood of patriots. The other was secured by the blood of Christ. Both freedoms matter. Both freedoms cost something. But only one freedom lasts forever.

The founders fought for a nation where people could live unshackled from tyranny. Jesus died for a Kingdom where people could live unshackled from sin. The Revolution opened the door to earthly liberty. The Cross opened the door to eternal liberty.

Newton’s hymn reminds us that the deepest freedom is not found in documents, declarations, or anniversaries -- but in God’s grace. Grace that rescues. Grace that restores. Grace that rewrites stories. Grace that still amazes.

So as we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, we give thanks for the gift of living in a land shaped by courage. And we give even greater thanks for the grace that shapes our souls -- the grace that found us, saved us, and set us free. 

Lord, thank You for the freedoms we enjoy in this country. And thank You for the grace that gives us a freedom in Christ that no nation can grant and no enemy can steal. As America marks 250 years, we pray that grace -- not fear, anger, or division – would define how we live. Help us live as people amazed by grace and committed to sharing it. Amen. 

-- SOUND BITES Ministry™

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GOD’S AMAZING GRACE

“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32 NIV)

Take all your anxieties to Calvary, Paul urged. Stand in the shadow of God’s crucified Son. Now pose your questions. Is Jesus on my side? Look at the wound in His. Will He stay with me? Having given the supreme and costliest gift, “how can He fail to lavish upon us all He has to give?” (Romans 8:32 NEB)

“’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” When John Newton penned this promise, he did so out of personal experience. His greatest test came the day he buried his wife, Mary. He had loved her dearly and prayed his death would precede hers. But his prayer was not answered.

Yet God’s grace proved sufficient. On the day she died Newton found strength to preach a Sunday sermon. The next day he visited church members, and later he officiated at his wife’s funeral. He grieved but in his grief found God’s provision. He later wrote, “The Bank of England is too poor to compensate for such a loss as mine. But the Lord, the all-sufficient God, speaks, and it is done. Let those who know Him, and trust Him, be of good courage. He can give them strength as their trials increase… and what He can do He had promised that He will do.” (From “But Now I See: The Life of John Newton” by Josiah Bull.)

Let God’s grace dethrone your fears. Anxiety still comes, for certain. The globe still heats up; wars still flare up; the economy acts up. Disease, calamity, and trouble populate your world. But they don’t control it! Grace does. 

-- Max Lucado in “Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine”

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