Most of you are familiar with the song,
Amazing Grace. You may have heard as
well a little about the song writer. His
name was John Newton.
John was born in 1725, his dad was ship
captain and his mom died when he was very young. While still a very young man, his dad had him
became a sailor, serving as just a deck hand but later he became the captain of
the ship. This was not a military
vessel, part of the British Navy but a cargo ship. It had all kids of cargo including loads of
human cargo, these were slaves, captured, separated from their families and put
in shackles and traded, sold in various ports in South American, North America
and England.
John’s life was a mess, it is reported that
at times he was so drunk and destitute that even his crew was disgusted with
him. You have likely heard the phrase, he
(or she) cussed like a sailor; it could
easily have been named after John. In fact, it was said of John that he
actually created new words, new profanity that exceeded the limits of verbal
debauchery.
Once while piloting the ship, for several
months with a load of lumber, livestock and beeswax, a big storm blew up, threatening
the ship, everyone thought they were going to die. So severe was the storm that the otherwise
seaworthy vessel was in danger of sinking.
A huge wave crashed over the ship and his only friend, who was standing
right next to him, got blown off the ship, never to be seen again. John thought
his life is over, and he found himself in the moment of his greatest trial and
his deepest fear crying out to God, the God that he blasphemed, he called on
and said, Lord, have mercy on us all.
Despite much damage to the ship, when they
finally reached a port in Ireland, John began a sincere effort to become right
with God.
And so this man, named John Newton, started
reading scripture, and was transformed by the grace of God. And he put pen to
paper and wrote the lyrics in 1772, to the hymn that we now know as Amazing
Grace.
So, let’s pause for a moment on the story
of the man behind the hymn, Amazing grace and turn our attention to the
scriptures, Ephesians chapter two, and this is where Paul pens these passionate
verses about the Amazing grace of God:
And you He
made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now
works in the sons of disobedience, among
whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,
just as the others.
But God, who is rich in
mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by
grace you have been saved), and raised us up together,
and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone
should boast. For
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:1-10)
Paul is saying something that is actually quite
intuitive. Everyone has a PAST and Paul
addresses that in the very first verses of Ephesians 2
And you He made alive, who were dead in
trespasses and sins, in which you once walked
according to the course of
this world,
Before you became a follower of Christ, You
WERE something you ARE not today. Can
you follow that?
These verses are a little easier to
understand with a more modern translation like the New Living Translation
Paul says, “You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the
devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of
those who refuse to obey God. All of us
used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our
sinful nature.”
Sometime people are in denial. They even deny that they are sinners….following
their passionate desires of the flesh.
This is what Paul is talking about. We WERE
dead in our trespasses and sins, We were just like the rest of the world, we
followed the evil desires of our heart.
That’s who we were.
What about John Newton?
John Newton, former sea captain, slave
trader, the man with the foul mouth knew who he WAS. Before we become a believer, it’s important
to know who were ARE
It’s said that it’s difficult so save a man
from a burning house when he doesn’t smell the smoke or feel the heat
And Paul
says there is a “BUT” coming
But God, who
is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we
were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ
The key here are the words, “BUT GOD” You were dead in your sins
BUT GOD. You were lost, you saw no way
out BUT GOD, Your marriage was in trouble, your life was a mess, you couldn’t
kick the habit that was destroying your life BUT GOD
Let me tell you why PAUL is using this type of language. Why Paul says, “BUT GOD”. This is PAUL, formerly SAUL who before he was
follower of Christ hated CHRISTIANS so much that he got papers from those in authority,
so he could kill them.
SAUL fortunately had a BUT GOD moment. He was on the way to Damascus to go and kill
some Christians when suddenly Jesus comes to him as a bright light, and it knocks
Saul off his horse. He is blinded and
hears Jesus speak to him and say, “SAUL SAUL, why do you persecute ME”
Saul, also called PAUL is then baptized and
begins to preach Jesus. Suddenly Paul understands
for the first time the true meaning of all of the Old Testament traditions, the
yearly sacrifices, the feat of the Passover…they all pointed to JESUS.
Paul was lost, BUT GOD….Rich in
mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead
through our trespasses, made Paul, made US alive together with Christ
John Newton not only had the BUT GOD moment, but John Newton
went on and became a preacher.
And he penned the words:
Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound,
that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am
found,
Was blind but now I see.
Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
Through many dangers toils and snares
I have already come
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home
When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun
