The Fundamentality of Grace

"Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him, and all nations shall serve Him; for He shall deliver the needy when he crieth. The poor also, and he that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their souls from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in His sight." Ps. 72:11-14

That which will cause every knee to bow in the end will be the understanding and acknowledgment of God's goodness and grace. Christ's humiliation was and is the grounds for His exaltation (Phil. 2:8-9), and that humiliation was to become a man and die on the Cross. We do not draw men unto God by lifting up clever arguments and sound speeches. Those things are useful, but they are not the needful thing (I. Cor. 2:1-5). The needful thing is the elevation of Christ as the demonstration of God's love towards us (John 12:32 & Rom. 5:8).
Any old god can garner worship out of fear and terror, and our God is a God of wrath and judgment. It is grace, however, that serves as the grounds for worship, His goodness as the foundation of praise. Of course, His grace and goodness is complex; from our limited and fallen perspective, His love towards us can often look like hate. We will see the goodness of it all in the end, however; we will see the hidden workings of grace, and we will know that in all things the Divine was and is not indifferent towards us and has directly involved Himself in our salvation; and with all the nations of men left on the earth, we will cry, "Holy, holy, holy."

-Jon Vowell