Grace came first

So the last few days have been hard quiet times for me - looking at today's quiet time I can understand why - You can't just say - Well I have grace so it doesn't matter what I do, you have to realize first that sin is evil and that God hates sin, and that sin has consequences.

I heard about a 'health and wealth" teaching that said that if you have trials in your life you either aren't saved, or you are saved and just living in sin - that you will not have trials if you are saved and not living in sin. This is absolutely wrong. I almost think the way to tell if someone is a Christian is to look at their life and see trials - the devil doesn't come after the lost and God corrects those he counts as sons and daughters.

God's grace came first - for a modern day Christian we obviously think God's grace came first - Jesus came and died before we were even born, so of course, God's grace came first. But we need to stop thinking of grace as a one time event that happens when you get saved and start thinking of it as a gift, God's favor poured out over us because of His love for us, which is continual and ongoing.

(Do we sin so that grace may abound? Absolutely not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?- Romans 6:1-2)
I have been studying about David and I learned something new today - it takes a minute to get there - so stay with me

2Samuel 12:7-10
"7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. 8 I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. 9 Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. 10 From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own."
v13-14
"Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. Nevertheless, because you have shown utter contempt for the Lord by doing this, your child will die.”
v18
" Then on the seventh day the child died. David’s advisers were afraid to tell him. “He wouldn’t listen to reason while the child was ill,” they said. “What drastic thing will he do when we tell him the child is dead?”
v23-25
"But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.” Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child and sent word through Nathan the prophet that they should name him Jedidiah (which means “beloved of the Lord”), as the Lord had commanded."
This is definitely the cliff notes - David sinned with Bathsheba, David gets called out on it, the punishment for sin is death - the child born to them dies - but God is merciful and blesses them with Solomon

1 Chronicles 22:1-13
"So David gave orders to call together the foreigners living in Israel, and he assigned them the task of preparing finished stone for building the Temple of God. 3 David provided large amounts of iron for the nails that would be needed for the doors in the gates and for the clamps, and he gave more bronze than could be weighed. 4 He also provided innumerable cedar logs, for the men of Tyre and Sidon had brought vast amounts of cedar to David. 5 David said, “My son Solomon is still young and inexperienced. And since the Temple to be built for the Lord must be a magnificent structure, famous and glorious throughout the world, I will begin making preparations for it now.” So David collected vast amounts of building materials before his death. 6 Then David sent for his son Solomon and instructed him to build a Temple for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 “My son, I wanted to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God,” David told him. 8 “But the Lord said to me, ‘You have killed many men in the battles you have fought. And since you have shed so much blood in my sight, you will not be the one to build a Temple to honor my name. 9 But you will have a son who will be a man of peace. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon,[a] and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a Temple to honor my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will secure the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ 11 “Now, my son, may the Lord be with you and give you success as you follow his directions in building the Temple of the Lord your God. 12 And may the Lord give you wisdom and understanding, that you may obey the Law of the Lord your God as you rule over Israel. 13 For you will be successful if you carefully obey the decrees and regulations that the Lord gave to Israel through Moses. Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or lose heart!"

Instructions from a father to a son - very good - hold on - you're about to see it

2 Samuel 7:1-16
"1 When King David was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all the surrounding enemies, 2 the king summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace,but the Ark of God is out there in a tent!” 3 Nathan replied to the king, “Go ahead and do whatever you have in mind, for the Lord is with you.” 4 But that same night the Lord said to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord has declared: Are you the one to build a house for me to live in? 6 I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. I have always moved from one place to another with a tent and a Tabernacle as my dwelling. 7 Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel’s tribal leaders, the shepherds of my people Israel. I have never asked them, “Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar house?”’ 8 “Now go and say to my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth! 10 And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won’t oppress them as they’ve done in the past, 11 starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. “‘Furthermore, the Lord declares that he will make a house for you—a dynasty of kings! 12 For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. 13 He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he sins, I will correct and discipline him with the rod, like any father would do. 15 But my favor will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from your sight. 16 Your house and your kingdom will continue before me[b] for all time, and your throne will be secure forever.’”

Take the time to get this. Grace came first.

God knew in 2 Samuel 7 that David would sin with Bathsheba - He knew the consequences of that sin, he knew the look on David's face when confronted with sin, God knew the schemes, the affair, the plotting, the murder and even the death of that first child - all the way back in 2 Samuel 7 - Where he blesses David beyond his wildest dreams - He gives David a covenant that is recognized though out Christianity today - even the New Testament references this covenant several times. ALL of this - BEFORE David even laid eyes on Bathsheba in Chapter 11. And David knows this - and recalls it to his son in 1 Chronicles 22:7-10

"7 “My son, I wanted to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God,” David told him. 8 “But the Lord said to me, ‘You have killed many men in the battles you have fought. And since you have shed so much blood in my sight, you will not be the one to build a Temple to honor my name. 9 But you will have a son who will be a man of peace. I will give him peace with his enemies in all the surrounding lands. His name will be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a Temple to honor my name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will secure the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’"
David marvels at God's grace, I am also amazed to see it this way. Grace isn't a one time event that saves us, it is an ongoing event.

This week is Easter and it is a great time to refocus on Christ and the gift of grace that He poured out for us. It is also important to remember that this wasn't a one time thing, that while we celebrate our deliverance - we can still be delivered day by day - Grace still comes first, walk in that. No matter what you have done, even as a Christian, there is still grace for you. If you are alive, there is a future, there is hope because there is God.