Grace in the Garden,

 Genesis 3:1-21, NIV:

1.     Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2.     The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 

3.     but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

4.     "You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. 

5.     "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6.     When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 

7.     Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8.     Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 

9.     But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"

10.  He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

11.  And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

12.  The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

13.  Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"

The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

14.  So the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,

"Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
    and you will eat dust
    all the days of your life.

15.  And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel."

16.  To the woman he said,

"I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
  with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you."

17.  To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,'

"Cursed is the ground because of you;
      through painful toil you will eat food from it
       all the days of your life.
18. It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
19. By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
    until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
    for dust you are
    and to dust you will return."

20. Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

21. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

Grace Through the Storm and the Flood, Genesis 6:1-6, KJV:

1.     And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

2.     That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3.     And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4.     There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

5.     And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6.     And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Grace in the Wilderness, Exodus 14 (summarized):

God's Final Gift of Grace, Jesus:

Matthew 27:45-54, NIV

45.   From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 

46.  About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?").

47.  When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."

48.  Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 

49.  The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."

50.  And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

51.  At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 

52.  and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 

53.  They came out of the tombs after Jesus' resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

54.  When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"

And this is that gift of grace, Romans 6:22-23, NIV & 7:4-6, NET:

Romans 6:22-23

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 7:4-6

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful desires, aroused by the law, were active in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.

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Sincerely,

Aleita J. 'Leigh' Morton