Peace and Grace

MARIA SCHLOZ

The prophet Isaiah exclaims, "The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." This divine message is a voice "with healing in his wings." What joy the words contain for the one who has found God; and what comfort and gentle invitation they include for the one straying in the world of materialism and sin, and, like a tired wanderer, striving to find his way home!

Without doubt the words just quoted must have been a constant support and comfort to the Christians of the early centuries. How could they have borne the persecutions they met with and have kept their faith, had they not been conscious of God's presence? They understood the wonderful secret of grace, a secret, however, only to those standing outside, to those who are not seeking Soul but the gratification of the material senses. One of the loyal Christians, the Apostle Paul, wrote to the congregation in Ephesus, "By grace are ye saved ... and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast."

Grace is the free gift of divine Love, the royal gift of God; it is the seal wherewith we as God's children are sealed for all eternity. Because of this the Lord's beloved disciple, John, was led to exclaim, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." The sons of God! Think what it means to be a son of God! It is to possess the highest nobility, because man, created in and of God, is the royal reflection. Do we not recognize this in the example of our Master, who knew no higher honor than to be called the Son of God? It was he who recognized and proved so perfectly man's sonship with God. The purpose of his wonderful mission was to bring to human consciousness the understanding of man's unity or sonship with God; for in this realization lay salvation, liberation from the yoke of the bondage of evil, from the dream of life in matter.

We are God's children; we do not have to petition to become God's children. We need not fear that we shall not be chosen to sonship with God. Sonship with God is an eternal, immutable fact, which has always existed. On page 476 of our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, we read, "Mortals will disappear, and immortals, or the children of God, will appear as the only and eternal verities of man." Are Christian Scientists proving this? Are we who stand on this foundation overbearing, arrogant, presumptuous? Hear the words of Christ Jesus, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." How wonderful is this grace, this knowledge of the sonship of God!

You who are sad and discouraged, look up and remember that now we are the children of God! You who wish to be free from the illusion of sickness, sin, and fear, throw off the chains of self-condemnation and doubt, and accept the promise, "My kindness shall not depart from thee." No material condition can alter the fact of the presence of peace and grace. The storm may rage, but we cannot sink. God's everlasting covenant of peace with man exists. We cannot perish, "for in him we live, and move, and have our being." This being so, our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, writes in Science and Health (p. 495): "Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious—as Life eternally is—can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not." Here is the wonder of grace for us: "God has made man capable of this" (ibid., p. 393). We are His children!

Oh, may we look up to Him with shouts of praise and lives of loyal exemplification; for His kindness shall not depart from us, neither shall the covenant of His peace be removed.

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