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“how much more . . . ”
What is Hyper-Grace?
Dr. Paul Ellis
“ . . . the Lord of grace who came from the throne of
grace full of His Father’s grace, and from whom we have received grace upon
grace, never uttered the word grace.”
Here’s something you may not know about grace: Jesus never
defined it.
As far as we know, the Lord of grace who came from the
throne of grace full of His Father’s grace, and from whom we have received
grace upon grace, never uttered the word grace.
But He sure showed it.
Actions speak louder than words.
Jesus did not come to preach grace but to be grace
and He did this by loving unconditionally and forgiving indiscriminately.
Jesus hung out with crooks and conmen and hookers and
tax-collectors. He ate with sinners and Pharisees and reached out to filthy
foreigners.
He told stories of radical grace, defended the guilty, and
forgave the unrepentant.
And in the greatest demonstration of love the world has
ever seen, He gave up His life so that through Him we might truly live.
If grace is Jesus, what is hyper-grace?
Some say it’s a meaningless phrase, like wet water or
sunny sunshine.
Others say hyper-grace is greasy grace, which is bad.
Still others say it’s abundant grace, which is good.
What is hyper-grace?
My view is that hyper-grace is extreme grace. It’s
over-the-top grace. It’s grace on steroids.
In the words of John it’s grace upon grace:
For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon
grace. (John 1:16, ESV)
God isn’t cheap when it comes to lavishing His grace upon
us. He gives abundantly out of His fullness.
God does not give grace in proportion to our needs, but in
accordance with His riches (Ephesians
1:7).
The thirsty man gets to drink from Niagara Falls.
When describing the generosity of
God, Jesus often used the phrase how much more.
“If
you who are evil give good gifts to your children, how much more will
your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him!” (see Matthew 7:11).
When dispensing grace God gives much
more than what you would give to your own children.
You may be the most generous parent in the world, but your
heavenly Father is more generous still.
In the competition for Best Dad Ever, God comes first and
daylight second.
The rushing flood of God’s grace is so great that the
sandcastle of your sin cannot hinder it. Paul wrote that where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound:
But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God’s
unmerited favor) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded. (Romans 5:20b, AMP)
The word Paul uses for describing
grace — superabounding — is made up of two Greek words: (1) huper,
from which we get the English prefix hyper, meaning “over, beyond, and above,”
and (2) perisseuo, which means “superabundant (in quantity) or
superior (in quality).”
So to say that God’s grace is superabundant only takes you
halfway to Paul’s meaning. “It’s more
than that,” says the apostle of grace.
“It’s over,
beyond, and above superabundant. It’s super-superabundant. It’s
hyper-hyper-grace.” That’s not me putting a spin on
Paul’s words. That’s what he actually says.
Some might say, “Don’t
get carried away. You can have too much of a good thing.”
Since grace is Jesus, that’s like saying you can have too
much of Jesus. That’s not possible. While you may have too little of the Lord
in your life, you cannot have too much.
The proof of hyper-grace
Let me prove this with a question: How much does God love
you? Can you quantify His love for you? You cannot.
On a scale of one to the biggest number you can think of,
God’s love for you is greater still. It’s Buzz Lightyear love. It reaches to
infinity and beyond.
In the Bible we are challenged to plumb the depths and
ascend the heights of Christ’s limitless love for us.
Paul prayed that we might have the power to grasp how wide
and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that
surpasses knowledge … (Ephesians 3:18–19)
This is an astonishing request. “May you grasp the ungraspable, comprehend
the incomprehensible, and know the unknowable.”
This is a prayer that can never be fully answered. Try and
locate the boundary of Christ’s love for you and you will never succeed.
His love for you is greater than you can know or imagine.
Again, that’s not me spinning Paul’s words. That’s what he
actually says. The love of Christ surpasses knowledge.
Trying to wrap your head around His love is like using a
thimble to measure the oceans.
Extracted from The Hyper-Grace Gospel,
pp.9-11.
Paul Ellis, a former pastor and
university professor, is the award-winning author of The
Hyper-Grace Gospel and Stuff Jesus Never Said. One of the world’s
leading Christian bloggers, he writes regularly on the good news of God’s
amazing grace at escapetoreality.org.
Bio (80 words): Dr. Paul Ellis is the
multi-award-winning author of several gospel books. A former
Bible smuggler, Paul pastored a multicultural church in Hong Kong for ten
years. He was also a full professor at one of Asia’s leading business schools.
He is ranked as one of the world’s most prolific scholars in the field of
international business. He lives with his wife and their four children in
Auckland, New Zealand. Paul writes regularly about the good news of God’s
amazing grace at escapetoreality.org.
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