Amazing Grace

Wilberforce was born in Hull, England, in 1759 to a wealthy family. On the death of his father in 1768 William was sent to stay with his aunt and uncle. It was in their home that he first had contact with evangelical Christianity and was influenced by John Newton, the author of the well-known song from which the film gets its title.

For nearly fifty years Wilberforce served in the House of Commons. He began that long period in English politics as a late night party loving unbeliever. God, however, had His sights on this man’s life. On a break from Parliament he spent time with an old school friend, Isaac Milner. Milner was a committed Christian and challenged Wilberforce to a serious debate. Wanting to gather ammunition for the debate Wilberforce began to read the Bible. Through the pages of the Bible God dealt directly with Wilberforce. Now as he went about his social life he was more and more dissatisfied with its shallowness and superficiality. In his diary at that time he wrote, Surely, there must be more to life than this? God was now clearly knocking on the door of his life. Here are some of his own words describing his thoughts at the time.

I must awake to my dangerous state and never be at rest till I have made my peace with God. My heart is so hard, my blindness so great, that I cannot get a due hatred of sin, though I see I am all corrupt, and blinded to the perception of spiritual things.

And so in God’s time and by God’s power Wilberforce came to a personal knowledge of and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He found out for himself just how amazing that grace really was.

Within a year of becoming a Christian Wilberforce began his life long quest to see the Trans-Atlantic slave trade abolished.

Slavery was horrible, demeaning and cruel. Wilberforce saw it for the wicked thing that it was; human beings chained and sold to become the property of others. Men, women and children were being shackled and imprisoned with no hope of freeing themselves.

... every single human being is a slave ...It might surprise you to know that God says every single human being is a slave. You are either a slave to sin or a slave to Jesus Christ. Speaking to a group of religious people the Lord Jesus Christ stated, I tell you the truth everyone who sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34). That is our natural condition. We are not born neutral able to chose good. We are born as slaves to sin. It is not just that the lives of human beings are a little muddied by wrong things. Mankind is actually under the devil’s control, chained to the guilt and power of sin. Without Jesus Christ sin is our master. The powerful chains of sin are seen most clearly when men and women refuse to trust in Christ alone to rescue them from the guilt and power of sin.

The people to whom Jesus originally spoke these shattering words were furious. They adamantly stated that they had never been slaves of anyone (John 8:33). The reality however was that the shackles of their sin kept them from understanding what Jesus Christ was telling them.

Now what we must realise is that all of us are by nature like these people of old. To start with, we are all chained by the guilt of our sin. For every single one of us has broken God’s law countless times and deserves God’s condemnation. Indeed our sin deserves God’s holy and eternal punishment.

The Bible’s view of humanity is very different from man’s. We like to think how good and powerful we are. We tend to think of ourselves as masters of our own destiny. But Jesus Christ has a very different perspective. Indeed, if you do not submit to Him as your Lord, He regards you as someone living in rebellion against Him. And He views even your best efforts as totally worthless.

So firstly, by nature we are all chained to the guilt of our sin. And, by nature, we are all also slaves to the power of sin and the devil holds us captive. By ourselves we’re incapable of breaking free. Sin is a tyrant that holds people tightly in its grip. What we need is a rescuer. We need someone who will willingly take the punishment that we deserve for our sin. We need someone who can remove our guilt. We need someone more powerful than the devil, someone who can set us free. In short, we need someone to rescue us from our sin and its terrible consequences.

Thank God there is such a wonderful saviour who can totally liberate us. The Lord Jesus Christ is the strong one who can set us free. When He walked on this earth He said, If the Son sets you free you will be free indeed (John 8:36). Freedom is not found in doing our own thing. Freedom is found in following the Lord Jesus Christ.

So why did the Lord Jesus come to earth as a man to live a sinless life and to die in the place of others? Well that is where the Amazing Grace comes in. We don’t deserve what He has done. God, out of great love, freely gave His beloved Son so that guilty people like us could be set free. This holy and gracious God commands you to come to Christ in repentance and to rely on Him to set you free.

... you will be heading to heaven ...Perhaps as you read this you are beginning to see just how guilty you really are before God. Perhaps you have been trying to reform your life by yourself and realise that you simply can’t break free. If you realise your need cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ. Seek His forgiveness and cleansing and you will experience God’s amazing grace. You will discover for yourself that, the Lord sets the prisoners free (Psalm 146:7). You will no longer be living under the condemnation of God. Rather you will be welcomed by God into His family. You will become one of His precious children. And you will enter into a loving and eternal relationship with Him, knowing Him personally as your heavenly Father. Indeed, you will be heading to heaven to dwell with Him there forever.

If the Son sets you free you will be free indeed.