Book Notes

I had the chance to download for free a chapter of Andy Stanley's soon to be released book, "The Grace of God." Here are a few of my favorite quotes from this 1st chapter...

“God’s 24/7 extension of grace generally go unnoticed, until they are taken away.”

"God declared each phase of creation good because it was good for us."

"God created the world, filled it with goodness, then gave it away. He handed us the keys. He created a world perfectly suited to sustain the human race. What did we do to deserve this incredible, this pristine abundance? Absolutely nothing."

"From the standpoint of human experience, the creation of the universe and God’s giving it to humanity was the beginning of grace."

"Grace is never just enough. Grace is always far more than enough. And from the outset, God established his pattern of lavishing grace upon those he loves."

"When he saw that humanity was incomplete he acted. “I will make a helper suitable for him (Genesis 2:18). Why? Because he had to? No, the text is clear. Because he wanted to. “So God created human beings in his own image. In his image he created them; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27 NLT)

"In doing so, he created a capacity for love and intimacy that Adam, on his own, would never have experienced. He created the experience of sexual fulfillment. He created the potential for children and the unique love that only a parent can comprehend. With the creation of man and woman came the ability to enjoy life in its fullest expression."

"God gave Adam and Eve a purpose for living. That’s just one more aspect of God’s grace."

"Put simply, they were to extend and maintain the order he had given the world. But he didn’t give them any real guidelines. In fact, there was really only one rule."

"When God had the world just the way he wanted it, there was just one commandment."

"Perhaps from your perspective, God’s requirements are innumerable and his grace minimal. If that is the case, you are not alone. You are in the majority."

"Grace in its purest form can have no strings attached."

"God completely trusted mankind with his creation."

"Much of our confusion around grace stems from our confusion about sin. Simply put, we severely underestimate the impact of sin our souls and on our world.”

"Our problem is that this corrupted world is all we know. So while from time to time we are bothered by what we see around us; upset by the way things are going; or frustrated that things are not like they used to be, we really have no idea how bad it truly is."

"But since a broken world is all we’ve ever experienced, we can’t begin go appreciate how far things are from the way God intended them to be."

"…in a world that’s far from the way God intended it to be, sin is reduced to a mistake."

"When anyone refuses to accept responsibility for this behavior, he goes looking for someone to blame.”

"God demonstrated mercy by holding back the swift, final administration of justice that Adam and Eve had earned through their disobedience. Instead, he delayed their physical death, buying time – as it were – to put into place a redemption. Instead of destroying Adam and Eve for their sin, God cursed them and their offspring to live with the consequences of their wrongdoing."

"To curse in Hebrew means “to surround someone with obstacles” or “to render someone powerless to resist.”