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ATR (Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed) Week 6 Summary |
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Written by Monica Wamsley
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Saturday, 01 May 2010 21:38 |
Viewer Guide Session 6. Speaker: Kay Arthur
God Is Gracious
I John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (NIV)
Kay tells us, “If you are not dead, no matter what you have done, God is not finished with you.” So what do we do with this sin that has taken us farther than we intended to go, kept us longer than we intended to stay, and cost us more than we expected to pay?
We can’t cover it. We can’t ignore it. We are at a crossroad. Do we choose to go deeper into a life of sin or choose to confess and repent and go deeper still in God’s grace?
Grace. That which saves through faith. Grace for everyday. Grace to take us out of our sin - every sin, every failure. Grace to use us to fulfill God’s purposes in us.
Kay shows us 4 things about grace.
1) Grace is favor. It is a benefit or a kindness - unearned. It is given to us out of God’s very nature. Grace is who God is. Nehemiah 9:17 - But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. (NIV)
I John 1:9 - (Amplified Version) - If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].
Salvation comes from grace.
2) Grace is available. Grace is available because of who God is. Because of His very nature. Grace and truth were revealed through Jesus Christ. John 1:1,2&14 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
3) Grace is power. 2 Corinthians 12:9 - But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Grace will get you through. His grace is always sufficient.
4) Grace is previous. Ephesians 1:4 - For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. Before the creation of the world, before we ever entered into sin, our redemptions was planned. God doesn’t always remove the consequences of our sins, but if we let Him have it, have all of our life, His grace will cover our sin. Then, like David, we can let God use it to draw others to Him. Psalm 51:12&13 - Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
Week 6 Day 1
Navigating Crossroads
2 Samuel 12:7 - Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!”
When the prophet Nathan confronted David with his sin, David was faced with another crossroad. He could repent and ask for God’s forgiveness or he could go further in his sin by denying or trying to cover it up. He could have reacted with anger. He was the King. Who was Nathan to question the King’s actions? But David had a heart for God and was convicted in his soul. David’s sins were forgiven, but the consequences were four-fold. (2 Samuel 12:10,11, &14).
1) David’s house would always be at war.
2) Evil would rise up from David’s own house.
3) Even David’s wives would be given to another - publicly.
4) The child born out of David’s sin would die.
Sin has consequences. Is it possible to endure the consequences with dignity? How is it possible to teach transgressors God’s ways when we’ve been such a poor example? David shows us it is possible. David believed God’s promises of forgiveness. He let God have his heart and his life. Despite his sin, David is still called ‘A man after God’s own heart’ in the New Testament. David went past his shame, past his guilt, and went deeper still with God. David was able to fulfill God’s purpose in his generation. This was possible only because of God’s grace.
Week 6 Day 2:
Persevering Through Discipline
Hebrews 12:11 - No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
David went deeper with God. He persevered. He endured God’s discipline with out becoming bitter. Through out the rest of 2 Samuel, we see David enduring the discipline of the Lord. He pressed on, knowing that God’s grace was sufficient to see him through the toughest nights. David was crying out to God in Psalm 3 during a time when there was heartache and trouble in his family. (One of the very consequences of his sin with Bathsheba.) This shows how great God’s grace is. That even if the difficulty we find ourselves in is a direct result of our sin, our merciful and gracious God still cares about our suffering and trouble. God’s grace was even on David as he comforted Bathsheba after the death of their son. (2 Samuel 12:22-25.)
God’s grace will sustain us through the discipline.
Psalm 3:3&4 - But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.
Even when shame and guilt try to drag us down, we have to stand on the grace of God - Believing that we are forgiven and that God can take us through the tough times. Let’s call on him, crying out to him. Believing that he will answer. Let Him be your strength. Let Him lift your head and hold it high so you can go on to fulfill His purposes for your life in your own generation.
Week 6 Day 3:
Swayed by the Deceiver
2 Samuel 24:10 - Now David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” (NASB)
Once again, David found himself in need of grace. 2 Samuel 24:10-17 tells us that this man after God’s own heart made another wrong turn at a crossroad. David’s sin was numbering his army. God’s desire was for David to boast in Him. To trust in Him for victory. David was not to put his trust in the vast army he had to fight for him. God’s punishment was David’s choice; seven years of famine in the land, three months of fleeing from the enemy, or three days of plague on the people. Davis was unable to choose. His sin would once again affect the nation of Israel. He turned the decision over to God. God sent a plague that killed seventy thousand people in the land. David purchased a threshing floor where he built an alter to sacrifice on behalf of the people. Sin always brings death. But God’s grace is always sufficient.
2 Samuel 24:25 - David built there an alter to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Thus the LORD was moved by prayer for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel. (NASB)
Week 6 Day 4:
His Crossroad of Grace
Psalm 111:9 - He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever - holy and awesome is his name.
Because God is righteous and just, he must judge sin. He can not overlook it. He is holy.
We see David, a man after God’s own heart, did not rush the will of God. He allowed God to establish his kingdom in God’s own time and God’s own way. We also see that when David sinned, he didn’t complain or murmur. His respect and honor of God’s righteousness and holiness is evident in his reactions to God’s discipline and the consequences of his own sin. David allowed God’s grace - unearned and unmerited - to take him past his failures. And we can, too.
God’s grace was a pre-existing condition. Looking back to 2 Samuel 7:12-15, we see the LORD God telling David that one of his offspring will build the house for the Ark of the LORD that David desired to build. God promised to love this son of David, to love him forever. This is promised before David even knew Bathsheba.
Now jump to 2 Samuel 12:24&25. After his sin with Bathsheba, after Uriah’s murder, and after the death of the son born to David and Bathsheba out of that sin, God provides the very offspring spoken of in 2 Samuel 7:12-15. God even gives him (Solomon) the name “Jedidiah” which means “loved by the LORD.”
God’s grace was in place even before David sinned. God’s grace is in place in our lives as well. It has been since before the world began. Revelation 13:8 mentions “the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world”.
Week 6 Day 5:
Celebrating God’s Grace
I Chronicles 29:14a - “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?”
David finds himself here, past devastation, past guilt, and in a place of praise and adoration before his God. David was not allowed to build the temple for the Ark of the LORD, but according to I Chronicles 28:11-19, David was given the details and plans. I Chronicles 29 tells us of the provisions of gold, silver, bronze, precious stones, and many other materials as well as the craftsmen to work with them in building the temple. David was able to oversee the preparations. I’m sure he had a vivid picture in his mind of just how magnificent God’s “footstool” would be.
David celebrated God’s grace. He was able to receive the plans, assemble the materials, and workers and then even commission his son Solomon and all the officials of the land. I Chronicles 29:28 tells us that David died at “a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth, and honor.” May we live under God’s grace in such a way that at the end of our lives we will be able to say as David did….”Who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?”
I Peter 3:18 - For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
This is grace. This is the love of a holy God who want to use your life, no matter what turns you've taken at your own crossroads. He is no respecter of persons. The same grace he poured out on David, He will pour out on each of us. He loves us that much.
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