Funeral Sermon (Grace Abumere Omokhuale)
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Notes: You have honored everyone.
Notes: You have honored everyone.
Opener
Grace Abumere Omokhuale lived her faith. She is with The Lord Jesus because as her name says she was saved by the grace of God. She was a child of God. She lived out this grace sacrificing her life to raise her children and many grandchildren. She no doubt is instrumental and the legacy of godly offspring who trust in the name of our Lord Jesus that our here with us today. The Bible says there is no greater joy than to see your children walking in the truth. I have no doubt she is rejoicing in heaven now over everyone of her family members who calls upon the name of The Lord Jesus.
Today I want to speak with you all about this grace that saves. Please joining me in reading Ephesians 2:1-10.
Key Text:
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
By grace you have been saved. By GRACE.
“No other system of religious thought, past or present, contains an emphasis on divine grace comparable to that of the Bible”
Bilezikian, G. (1988). Grace. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 898). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
“Grace is the dimension of divine activity that enables God to confront human indifference and rebellion with an inexhaustible capacity to forgive and to bless. God is gracious in action”
Bilezikian, G. (1988). Grace. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 898). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
6 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;
God was gracious when when he offered a hope of redemption to Adam and Eve in the garden. He was gracious when He spared Noah and his faily. He was gracious when He called Abraham and promised him his descendants… descendants of faith.... would be like the sand of the sea. God was gracious when He worked together bad for good in the life of Jospeh taking him from salve and prisoner to king rescuing his chosen people. He was gracious to Moses and the Israelites when he led them out of Egypt and brought them to the promised land. The Psalmist 18 times in the book of Psalms cries out “be gracious to me.” “Be gracious to me”. “Be gracious to me O God.” And though Israel would sin again and again and again to the point of being exiled out the land God was gracious and promised them hope saying:
12 “Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever.
And oh is God gracious. If you understand grace. You understand the Gospel.
16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
You see Jesus is God exegeted, God revealed. He is the fullness of God in bodily form the Bible says. And John’s Gospel tells us what that fullness is like… it is GRACE. Jesus was the embodiment of this divine attribute as He was God. And He showed it most clearly on the cross.
As Ephesians 2:1-4 tells us the condition of every human. We are sinners. To be a sinner is to violate God’s Law. A young man once said to me “I don’t really like Christianity because it is so negative. it is all about what you can’t do.” And certainly God’s Law tells us not to do things. Don’t murder. Don’t lie. Don’t steal. Don’t worship anything or anyone but God. And to violate those commands is sin. But I thought it was interesting comment because God is most consumed with, even in His LAW, with positive imparatives. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strngth. Love your neighbor as yourself. You see God hasn’t just called us to be not eveil. He has called us to be good. And anytime we Don’t love God and we don’t love others it is SIN.
The problem a sinner has is that the wages of sin is death. Ephesians 2:1-4 says the sinners is “Dead in their tresspasses.” It says the sinner is under the rule of the devil. And most importantly it says the sinner is under the wrath of God. And the Bible says all have sinned and all have fallen short of his glory. All our justly under the penalty of sin. But Ephesians Doesn’t stop there. It says these beautiful words:
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
And
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Jesus on that cross takes our sin upon Himself. He who knew no sin became sin so that we who believe upon Him could be come the righteousness of God. The just for the unjust!
Jesus gets what He doesn’t deserve so that we wouldn’t get what we don;t deserve.
THat is grace. Unmeritted favor.
““When the prodigal came home, grace met him and embraced him. Law said, ‘Stone him!’—grace said, ‘Embrace him!’ Law said, ‘Smite him!’—grace said, ‘Kiss him!’ Law went after him and bound him. Grace said, ‘Loose him and let him go!’ Law tells me how crooked I am; grace comes and makes me straight.” John Pollock.
The grace of God doesn’t just stop with the forgivensss of sins though. It actually reconciles us to God. It makes us children of God. The implications of this are very important for you to understand today.
When a Christian dies. The immediately go to be in the presence of The Lord. To be abscent from the body is to be at home with The Lord.
Jesus says to the theif on the cross. TODAY you will be with me in paradise. Not in 2000 + years at te resurection. but today.
King David in the Psalms could say, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
God showed us grace so that He could bring sons and daughter to be with Him forever. The Bible says better is one day in His courts than a thousand elsewhere. Grace Omokhuale knows the fullness of this first hand. She knows at this moment in fullness by experience what we can only know in part by revelation. She is with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She dwells with God.
And this is the hope of everyone who will put faith in Jesus.
““Lord, give me grace to feel my need of grace, and give me grace to ask for grace and give me grace to receive grace, and O Lord, when grace is given, give me grace to use it.”
Stott, J. (2018). The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott. (M. Meynell, Ed.). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.