GRACE
January 2020
Rex Meehan said in a message many years ago to be naturally supernatural. Grace is a supernatural gift from God to help us live life better, and its available to each one of you now.
What is grace? In the New Testament grace is the Greek word charis. In the Old Testament it is the Hebrew word chen, which is translated in charis in the LXX, or Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament, translated about 250 BC. Basic meaning is favour, or a gift. It is a gift we didn’t earn; we just make a choice to receive it with thanks, just like you normally receive a birthday present or a Christmas present.
I would like to talk about grace in the context of God’s relationship with the human race rather than as an academic concept. Our relationship with God is real. I believe the best way to do that is to look at some of the Bible verses where the word is used. Grace is a Person, Jesus is Grace.
John 1:14, 16 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” NIV Jn 1:16
“For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” NIV
Jesus embodies grace and He has shared it with us. If you are a Christian already you will have experienced it. If not, it is in you, you are made in His image, you just haven’t realised it yet. God made you so He could love you, His breath gave you life. In a mystical way you died with Him 2,000 or so years ago, and you were resurrected with Him after that. The word repentance in the Bible was quite possibly a mistranslation. The Greek verb word “metanoeo” really means to change your mind and change your life to go in a better direction. If you read the Mirror translation of the Bible you will get a better understanding of God.
I relate best to God by thinking about Jesus. He really is God in the flesh and came to reveal what God is really like. In theology He is called the Incarnation. Many of you like Jesus but don’t like religion. And its true that many religions have some not so likeable aspects. You may not even like the Christians you have met or have heard of or have heard them preaching or evangelizing. That’s fair enough. They are still learning, as I am. Some of their theology is bad. Either in their theology or what they say or what they do has painted a bad picture. You may even have your own thoughts about what God or Jesus is really like, or what He should be like, and you may well be right!
Anyway, the point of the title of my book is that God wants to help you get healthier and He can make changing your way of eating (WOE) easier than you thought. In AD30 (or AD33 ) Jesus changed God’s address on earth from the temple in Jerusalem to you. See Cor 6:19 “Do you not realize that your body is the sacred shrine of the Spirit of God, echoing within you.” (Mirror). If you honour Him, He will help you maintain your body.
My advice on diet and eating is not new. Most of it you can find in books by Dr John McDougall, Dr Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr Michael Greger, Dr T Colin Campbell. My book just gives you another way to put it into practice. I want to give you another way to get motivated. And I would love to help you realise your godly potential and meet my lovely Jesus!
Just make a start on the pathway!