Moments of Grace

Grace: God’s Gratuitous Gift of Love through the Cross
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.”


Grace is a participation in the life of God. It is a gift of God to human being initiated by Himself in order for us to know Him and love Him. Grace therefore is the gratuitous gift that God has given us out of His tremendous love.

The cross of Christ which was considered as the image of defeat and meaningless end was then transformed into the image of victory and triumph. Crucifixion was a reality in human history that was never perceived as it was by Jesus Christ. Before the event of crucifixion, the cross caries the meaning of brutality and cruelty. It was an image of penal punishment which was believed as rightful reward for the criminals. Indeed, it was the symbol of death and fear. The cross became a “place” where one is being stripped off of dignity and worth as human being and as person. Christ passed through all these. He was sentenced to die on the cross as a worthless one and as a criminal. Christ was stripped off of his dignity, honor and power.
However, the difference comes in because that failure was never a failure to Christ but rather a triumph and a victory. Through the grace of God as present and active in Jesus Christ as the eternal Son, his crucifixion opened up a new reality and a new understanding. Jesus Christ who, without sin, embraced death as if deserving of it for no reason at all but love. It was that love, that tremendous love of Jesus to us that enabled him to embrace death on the cross. For without that love, his death would have no difference with the thousands and hundreds of crucified persons sentenced to die on the cross. However, because of love, new things came up into the picture and his death became a death “for” and not simply dying for the sake of dying. The truth of Jesus’ death is, he died “for” us, for all, and for everyone (Nicene – Constantinopolitan Creed).
Love changes everything in the conventional meaning of the cross. The cross then receives the meaning of total expression of God’s love: “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend.” It was an up-side-down change of meaning where death gives into life. Christ was offered as the sacrificial lamb who gave up his life willingly and lovingly. However, his death was the consequence of his life. Jesus, therefore in his life lived and proclaimed the message that resulted to his death. There is no doubt that everything was done out of love. There is no doubt that everything was done according to the love and plan of God.
The cross then as it is perceived in Jesus’ way is love. Jesus gives meaning to the very problem of the cross. And it was through his act of living that he loved and in loving he lived. The cross or the suffering was his way of living in order to express his love and out of his love he gave up living. Now, through death on the cross life came into the world. The death of Jesus resulted to salvation of the world from sin and death. Thus, that salvation which was objectively brought into light by Jesus was a grace of God given to all gratuitously. The cross received another meaning which was the meaning of human beings’ future life. It is a hope that when the right time comes, just as it was promised by Jesus, we will become united with God in heaven. In other words, God’s will to bring all people into salvation is to be realized when the right time comes. Thus, it is through that gratuitous love of God that enables us to attain salvation. However, this free gift of God requires human free response and participation. St. Paul says that the gift of God is enough; all we need to do is to participate in the actualization of that gift. This element of participation enables us to recognize that tremendous gift of God through the death of the Son.
As for my experience of God’s grace, it was through an encounter with Him as a God for whom I wanted to offer my life with. The inner desire for God defines my dreams and even my views in life. I have not understood it fully well but as I grow in age and knowledge, my experiences of pain and suffering have taught me more on how to understand and deepen my knowledge of God. The experience of death in the family opens up a totally new world for me. This was a world where death pangs became birth pangs. The image of the cross gives me a clear example and model, a real model of understanding the meaning of death. It was through the experience of Jesus that I have seen how and what it means to live. And indeed, it was a life of living for and dying for God so as to attain the life after this life – a life with God.