The other day my friends and I were driving by the Grand Canyon and a song come on the radio. One of my favorites... Amazing Grace: My Chains are Gone. As I looked at the canyon with the song playing in the background, the grace of God took on a different meaning. Sometimes it seems so abstract. Theologians have argued over the correct definition and many books have been written trying to explain it to the common masses. But there before my eyes was the tangible, very visible expression of God's grace.
The canyon was formed by Noah's Flood. The land is scarred from the weight of the punishment that was God's wrath. The wound healed, leaving only a scar, but people travel from all over the world to see that scar. The immensity of the canyon is hard for our minds to comprehend. But the fact that we are here to see it and enjoy it is another act of grace. The wickedness that caused God's wrath to pour out on the earth is still present today. The hearts on mankind are just just as black and the vileness of their sin just as great. But God's made a promise and He never goes back on His own word. Judgment is held off, kept in the storehouse, until the end of the ages. Until God's time is complete. He gives time for us to repent of out sin and turn to Him. Like Noah on the Ark, He provides a way of escape for the coming judgment. But as in that time so it is now. Judgment will come and only those who are covered in His blood will escape.
I was humbled again at the enormity of God's plan. The Flood was so long ago yet the effects are still visible. Jesus died so long ago yet His blood is still potent and powerful. Time is nothing to Him Who created time and exists outside its confines. Yet He orders the ages so that we can see His works and know that He is God... full of grace and truth, abounding in mercy and love toward us, His creation.
