1.	What is the Grace of God?

The grace of God is the unmerited favor of God. It is something we don’t deserve at all.
The most beautiful explanation of grace is given in Titus 2:14-16
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
Jesus is the grace of God.
2.	How was this Grace manifested among us?
This grace was manifested to us in the life of Jesus and the love He showed us.
Quickly I want to take you through the manifestation of this love.
a.	Throughout the life of Jesus, not even a single sin was committed. He was the ONLY PURE AND ELIGIBLE PERSON to be offered as a Living Sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins once and for all. He lived so careful to be holy and acceptable to the Father. Imagine if Jesus committed just one sin, would He be eligible before a righteous and Holy Father to stand and intercede for our sins.

b.	The Anguish at the Garden of Gethsemane: The Bible says that the sweat of Jesus turned into blood. Medically, sweat can only turn into blood when you are under extreme stress, anxiety and pressure. Jesus knew what He was going to face. He knew that the sins of the whole world was laid upon Him.  Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer” (NIV)
Being in the form of human,  He felt weak under that extreme pressure and stress, yet His love for the Father and to us is revealed under those eternal words:
Matt 26:39
“O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” That He was willing to go through so much amount of pain shows His love for us.
c.	The Crown of Thorns:
I got an opportunity by God’s grace to go to the land of Israel and there I had an opportunity to feel the kind of thorns that was placed on Jesus’s head.  On the Mount of Olives, where Jesus goes on a donkey where people praise Him “Hosanna Hosanna” days before His crucifixion, near the same place there were some thorn trees that I got to feel.  I eagerly took pictures and then I gently tried to feel the stem of the thorns. Accidentally, I put my hand on the hook of the thorn. It was so sharp and it pricked/penetrated my hand so fast. All these thorns are about a finger size long or more (about 3 inches long). Now imagine these sharp thorns being pressed on your head. How much blood would have flowed! I could not bear gently touching the hook of the thorn but these thorns were pressed and hit on the head of Jesus. Jesus went through an unimaginable pain for each one of us.
d.	The Scourging’s of Jesus:   Jesus was flogged one less than 40 times. It was common belief that if a man was flogged one more time, it can even kill him. Jesus was flogged the way we see in the passion of Christ movie. They barely left him alive. Here you can see a picture of the flog that was used in those days to flog criminals.

It has glass pieces, sharp nails and other objects that can tear the flesh and worst of all it is like a hook that can get inside your flesh and bring a piece of the flesh with it  when you take the lash back.
After that scourging Jesus was given a heavy cross to climb the hill of Golgotha.
The land of Israel is a mountainous place. When I travelled there, I witnessed there were so many mountains and valleys. The whole area of Jerusalem, Bethlehem was mountainous. Opposite to the Mount of Olives is Mount Zion where the City of David resides.  We were told that Jesus had to pass through the mount zion area with the Cross. He was crucified outside the City Gate. Now, I will tell you my experience. I as a thirty two year old young man, tried to climb this Mount Zion for shopping purposes.  By the time I After I climbed the mount Zion hill and did some shopping and I came back under the hot sun, I honestly felt a bit exhausted. Now imagine Jesus passing through that Hill after having that horrific scourging and climbing all the way to the Hill of Golgotha. I am not sure about the distance from Jerusalem to the Hill of Golgotha. I felt tired covering a part of the distance but He had to carry that heavy cross with Him.  The price that was paid for you and me is very high.  We don’t understand that price really.
e.	The humiliation at the Cross:
He was humiliated at the cross. “If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross”.
When I went near the Place of the Skull today, there is a tour guide named David Cha, he is a Christian believer, he gave me some information that is hard to digest. He told me that Jesus was given vinegar to drink during the Cross as we all know but the vinegar that was given to Him by the Roman empire was cheap vinegar that was used to clean the faeces. In other words, they used vinegar to clean themselves instead of water. I don’t know the source of this information but this information was given to me by the Christian tour guide who serves at the same place Jesus was resurrected in Israel. I did some research on the internet, it says that vinegar could be used for cleaning purposes.

Why was this Unfathomable Grace given to us?
I told unfathomable grace because Jesus took my place and your place on the Cross. It is easy to think all the sins of the world was laid on Him but it is individually for your sins that Jesus died on the Cross. I had a discussion with my father and I asked Him if the whole world was righteous and I was the only unrighteous soul filled with sins. Would Jesus have undergone such pain for me and died just for me on the Cross?
My father told me Yes and He reminded me about the story of ‘The Lost Sheep’
Matt 18:12-14
12 What do you think?  If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go in search of the one that went astray?  13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14  So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Now we know the heart of Jesus but why such unimaginable pain was undertaken?
Titus 2:14 gives the answer “ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
a.	He wants us to redeem us from all wickedness and make us pure and holy. Now Jesus cant come and live the holy life for you, he has shown you how to live a holy life, now you have to follow in His footsteps. For all the pain and sufferings He has taken, this is the least we can do for Him by living a holy life and telling others about who Jesus is , so that they too can be saved and that will rejoice the heart of the Father and Jesus.
b.	He wants us to be in fellowship with Him so we can enjoy His company and listen to Him and talk to Him, sing songs with Him and live with Him forever.
c.	All the good plans that you can ever imagine are with Jesus. No one can ever give the love, peace, joy that Jesus can give you.
We have a huge role to play. The most important thing for Jesus is to win souls for Him. If each one of you decide to bring 1 soul to Him, just imagine how overjoyed Jesus would be? Can we bring some joy to Jesus who has given all He had for us including the last drop of blood?
While we win souls on this earth, there will be moments of temptation, let us decide to say No to sin with the help of the Holy Spirit. I want to encourage you saying that it is possible to live a holy life with the help of Jesus. We as human beings usually do what we like to do. If you like to sin, you will end up sinning. Like to be Holy, Desire to be like Jesus and you will become like Him. Hate sin.
Understand how much God hates sin that He crushed His own Son as a punishment. I am telling you that Jesus is so happy every time you say No to sin. I think He will say like a Proud Father.. That is my Beloved Son, That is my Beloved Daughter. He/She will not give in to sin. May we with all our hearts decide to say No to sin and live for Jesus!
There are two things I am asking you today for all the things that Jesus has done for you.
1.	Live a holy and pleasing life to God.
2.	Tell others about Jesus. Don’t live just for yourselves. This world is a temporary place.
Warnings on Disregarding the Grace of God
Before ending, I would like to remind you a passage in Heb 10:26-31
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”[e] says the Lord.[f] And again, “The LORD will judge His people.”[g] 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
If we continue sinning willfully, we are trampling underfoot the Son of God and insulting the Spirit of Grace and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
We should pray for a proper understanding of how God hates sin and sincerely seek Jesus to be more like Him and to live a holy life.


In summary, today we have seen
1.	What is the Grace of God?
	 	Jesus is the grace of God (Titus 2:12-14)
2.	How was this Grace manifested among us?
a.	Throughout the life of Jesus, not even a single sin was committed.
b.	The Anguish at the Garden of Gethsemane:
c.	The Crown of Thorns:
d.	The Scourging’s of Jesus:
e.	The humiliation at the Cross
3.	Why was this Unfathomable Grace given to us?(The Purpose)
4.	Warnings on Disregarding the Grace of God (Heb 10:26-31)
May God help us to live a holy and pleasing life to the Father just like Jesus lived and to bring many souls to the kingdom of God. Let us pray for a moment and close.