Throne of Grace

Throne of Grace
written by Chris Baker

Have you ever been to a funeral? It is not a pleasant experience. Especially, if the funeral is for a dear loved one! Often times we are confronted with the fact that we will never hear their voice again, never hear their stories or jokes, never feel the warm embrace of their hug, never hear them say they love us again. There is a feeling of finality at the graveside when the person is lowered into the earth. 

Imagine how the disciples must have felt today as their Lord, the person they surrendered their lives to for the last three years, was placed in a tomb. I’m sure they had feelings of finality. This must have been a very somber day indeed for them! Don’t lose sight of that today. Stay in that place for a moment. Way the consequences of sin today, the very sin that He sacrificed His life to cover. Do not lose sight of all that Jesus went through for us. Sin was humanities choice and God did not have to provide a cure for that sin. Praise be to God for His grace! God could not bear the thought of losing us for all eternity. He gave His very own Son so that we could have eternal life. Don’t reject the free gift! His grace and His mercy are a beautiful thing. In fact, Hebrews describes that grace and mercy for us. 

Take a few moments and read Hebrews 4:14-16. Jesus knows exactly what it is like to experience everything that we experience. Let that sink in for a moment. Whatever loss, persecution, feelings of abandonment, loneliness, betrayal, temptation of any kind, whatever it may be, Jesus faced it! Isn’t that good news? Isn’t it a relief to know that our God has faced everything that we face in this life, and as a result, He can relate to us in everything. The passage in Hebrews says that Jesus sympathizes with us. We may fall into sin but He never did. He was able to overcome every single temptation. He knows how it feels to be tempted. He knows the pull of sin and He sympathizes with us. 

Hebrews 4:16 says, “[we can] approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (NIV). Wow! That means, when being tempted, we can cry out to our Lord and He will hear us. We can approach His throne of grace and ask for the mercy and grace to face and overcome the temptation! When we are completely broken over the loss of a loved one we can receive grace and mercy. When facing persecution, feelings of abandonment, loneliness, betrayal, or anything else, we can approach the throne of grace with confidence! 

The throne of grace is available to us because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Tomorrow we celebrate the empty tomb, the Risen Christ, the one who stands forever as our high priest, the one who represents us to the Father. Tomorrow we celebrate but take some time today for quiet reflection. Do not overlook, or take for granted, all that Jesus went through on the cross. Take time on this silent Saturday to reflect on all that our Lord went through to provide salvation. His salvation is truly a gift, free of charge and unable to be earned or worked for. Jesus offers us the free gift of salvation. His throne of grace is available to you. The question is, will you accept it?

John 3:16 says, “for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (NIV).