The God of Amazing Grace!

By Helen Jesze, 4^th September 2020

“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,”

Romans 5, 7 + 8 NIV

“For it is by GRACE you have been saved, through faith … this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast,”

Eph. 2, 8 + 9 NIV

Arriving back from Germany via Stansted Airport, I boarded the coach to come home to Nottingham. Because of an accident, we were to go by another route and join the motorway later on. It was much pleasanter going through picturesque little villages and suddenly, I saw directly the other side of my window, a signpost with the words: Home of “Amazing Grace”. This was the village of Olney in Buckinghamshire.

Although I knew this marvellous song by John Newton, I had not known it was written here. Born in 1725 to godly parents, John’s father commanded a merchant ship and was often away, but his mother taught him Scripture and helped him learn many hymns by heart. She and John attended a chapel near the Tower of London, and she often prayed he would one day enter Christian ministry. John’s mother died when he was almost 7 years old and his father quickly married again. John was sent to a boarding school, pushed aside and neglected.

When he left school at 10 years old, he went on board ship and became a sailor. Hardened through the lonely life he had led and influenced by an atheistic comrade, John left the Christian principles he had learnt earlier and became a rebellious, cruel, blaspheming young man. He admitted to committing every sin there was and could swear and curse for 2 hours straight,without stopping. Eventually, even the other hardened sailors shunned him. At one point, he himself, was made the prisoner of Princess Peye and became a slave on her island, for over one year. His only food was the scraps from his mistress’ plate, which he had to eat like a dog from the ground, where she threw it.

John was taken onto a slave-trader’s ship and learnt how to capture native men, women and children and take them to be sold. He experienced their terrible suffering first hand, and became ship’s captain. One night there was a terrible storm. Men were washed overboard and John clung to the wheel, vainly trying to steer The Greyhound. During those eleven hours, he reflected on his sinful life and cried out to God to help them. Eventually, they limped into the Irish harbour, just escaping another great storm. This convinced John that God was watching over him and he went to a church and dedicated his life to serving God. His life slowly began to change, but he still saw no wrong in slavery, and returned to this life. However, he was now kinder to the slaves.

John married Mary, his childhood sweetheart, but as his health declined, he left life on the sea and studied for the Christian ministry. He became a Church of England vicar and the parish flourished. The numbers grew and as John often shared experiences from his life, his congregation of lace- makers, farm workers, tradesmen and young people could understand his message and were encouraged that if God could save someone as wicked as he had been, there was hope for them. He began to write hymns to go with the Sunday Bible text of his sermons, and so it was that for the New Year’s day service of 1st January 1773, John Newton wrote his simple yet glorious song, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me…”.

In time, John recognised how wrong the slave trade was, and greatly influenced William Wilberforce, a young politician. Wilberforce supported the campaign for the complete abolition of slavery, continuing his involvement after 1826, when he resigned from the English Parliament because of failing health. This campaign led to the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which abolished slavery in most of the British Empire. John Newton died on 21st December 1807.

I am sure that had John known how beloved his song would become, how many times it would be sung all over the world by Christians and non-believers, he would have been amazed! God had never given up on this man, and this should be an encouragement to us who are perhaps praying and believing for a loved one or friend who at the moment is far from God. God’s grace is boundless and His Holy Spirit is constantly going after those who are lost, and seeking to turn them back to the Father.

These Bible verses remind us that Jesus died for us while we were yet sinners and His enemies. We were not alive at the time He died, but His sacrificial death was eternal and is as real today as it was 2000 years ago. He could see you and me down the corridors of Time and what our life would be like in 2020. The blood He shed has never lost its power to cleanse and release us from the bondages of sin, and make a new creature out of us. It is all because of His GRACE – His unmerited, undeserved favour shown to us.

Have you ever taken this Jesus Christ to be your own personal Saviour? Or have you hidden behind religion and good works, and think that because you are not a sinner like John Newton you don’t need to be saved? Good works and a moral life will not save us, when we stand before God one day. He will be looking to see what we have done with the sacrifice of His Son and if we have repented. Then it will be too late, but now, today, you have the chance to be ‘born again’ into God’s Family, by accepting Jesus as your personal Saviour, or by returning to Him if you have wandered away.

The God of Amazing Grace is waiting for you – TODAY!