Is My Sin Stronger Than God’s Grace?

By Fin Sheridan

The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?

Jeremiah 32:26-27

There are lots of ways we can think of God. God as our Father. God as our saviour. God as our protector. God as our healer. God as our provider. The list can go on and on. The Bible is filled with ways and names that God uses to reveal himself; ways that we can relate to him and find whatever we need.

In this verse though, God reveals himself in a way that subtle and yet very powerful. The God of all flesh. Now, in the Bible, flesh is used 2 ways. Firstly, it’s used to describe human beings as a whole – “I will pour out my spirit on all flesh” for example. It’s also used to describe our “human-ness”; our sinful nature, the part of us not yet completely transformed. Our flesh is at war with the Spirit of God. Our flesh doesn’t want to be holy. I’ll make this personal: my flesh stinks.

I struggle with my flesh, some days more successfully than others. I struggle to keep my mind and thoughts pure. I struggle to keep my heart free from cynicism. I struggle to keep my tongue in check. All that is bad within me, comes out when my flesh rules my life. The same is true for you.

“He’s not just the God of my good decisions, my pure motives and my right actions: he’s the God of the bad and ugly too.”

So when God says that he is the “God of all flesh”, that brings me hope. He’s not just the God of my good decisions, my pure motives and my right actions: he’s the God of the bad and ugly too. He’s the God who claims me, even in my sin. He doesn’t finish there either. He then asks Jeremiah a question: “Is anything too hard for me?”

The answer is “no”. Which is huge hope for big sinners like you and I. Whatever comes to your mind when we hear the word “flesh”, whatever struggle, addiction or sin crowds our mind at that moment, the promise of God is that he sees it and that he is strong enough to free us from it.

Is a porn addiction too hard for him to break? No.

Is depression too dark for him to clear? No.

Is grief too strong for him to heal? No.

Is anxiety too crippling for him to calm? No.

Is anything too hard for him? No.

Prince of Peace

Everlasting Father

 in Blogs, God, Purpose
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