05/04/2026
https://www.redeemeroxford.org/sermons/a-breakthrough/
The story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38 teaches us that because God’s grace has broken through in Jesus Christ, the guilty can be forgiven, the wicked can be transformed, and brokenness can be redeemed! Is there any better news than this? You are guilty in your sin, condemned by God’s righteous Law, but because of God’s grace in Jesus you can be declared righteous! You are wicked by nature, unable to please God, but by the working of God’s grace you can repent and be transformed! You are living in the carnage of the consequences of sinful choices, but through the wonder of grace this brokenness can be healed and redeemed for the glory of God!
W.H. Griffith Thomas' reflection on the wonder of divine grace is worth reading in full: “Only divine grace could dare to take up these sorry elements of human life and use them for its own blessed purpose. There is nothing more marvelous than the power and possibilities of grace. Grace forgives, uplifts, transmutes, transforms, and then uses for its own glory. ‘Shall we then sin that grace may abound? God forbid.’ We may not, must not, dare not. And yet, ‘if any man may sin we have’ the blessed assurance that grace will not leave us in the mire of degradation, defeat, and despair. While it is eternally true that what is done can never be undone, it is equally true that what has been broken can be mended, and the glory of grace is its power to heal broken hearts and mend broken lives. While life can never be as though sin had not been committed, yet ... grace has wonderful transforming power. Nature knows nothing of this, and can only tell of law broken and penalty exacted. But the Gospel comes to hearts broken by sin and despairing of redemption, and tells of pardon, peace and purity, in the blessed healing and transforming influences of Divine mercy, love, and grace.”