The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.

                                                                                                                        Jonah 1:4 

He (Jonah) said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.”

                                                                                                                        Jonah 1:9 

We are probably all familiar with the saying, “We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way.” For Jonah, running from God meant that things would have to go the hard way. As Jonah began his journey in an attempt to escape the presence of the Lord, God “hurled a great wind on the sea.” But despite Jonah’s running and God’s response of sending a storm, two things remained intact. One was Jonah’s calling. As we continue to move through this account, we will soon discover that God did not revoke Jonah’s call rather it was still very much in effect. Secondly, Jonah’s identity of knowing God was not altered either. Jonah’s testimony of his belief is all the evidence that we need to see that his faith in God was still there. Jonah identified himself by saying, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” Although Jonah was running (and he had his reasons), his position regarding his calling and his faith remained immovable.

Jonah lived in a time prior to God’s establishing a new covenant with mankind. Today, we live in a period of time in between the first and second coming of Christ. Our acceptance and standing with God is based solely on faith in what Jesus has already accomplished for us on the cross. As believers in Jesus, we can rest assured that our calling and standing with God is unaltered even on those days when we are at our worst. Paul eloquently and clearly explains why this is so:

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.                                                                       

                                                                                                                   Romans 5:18 

It is important for us to understand what our spiritual problem is in the first place. We often think of the sin in our life as the problem, however, Paul describes the real problem. One transgression led to condemnation for all of mankind. The one transgression was not committed by us rather this sin was perpetrated by the first man Adam. All of the sin that we commit along with our sin nature (our propensity to sin) comes from this one transgression. Lust, greed, dishonesty, idolatry, gossip, judgmental attitudes, hatred, and unrighteous anger are merely byproducts of this sin nature. God is not surprised when we engage in such activities nor should it surprise us when we or others around us do the same. These are evidences of our fallen nature.

Likewise, the remedy for our spiritual predicament comes through one action as well. This “one act of righteousness”, that brings justification for all of mankind, was performed by Christ. Jesus stepped into time, into human flesh and took our place. He accomplished what a lifetime of human spiritual endeavor could not. So just as our sin is a byproduct of the one transgression committed by Adam so our standing with God is through faith in Jesus’ one act of righteousness. This is important because it demonstrates that our calling and standing with God does not falter even when we run. Jonah’s calling and spiritual identity remained and so does ours.

But Paul is not quite through. After echoing this truth again (v 19), he goes on to demonstrate that the grace of God is vastly superior to the transgression. Consider the following: 

The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more…

                                                                                                   Romans 5:20 

While some might place great restrictions and limits on the grace of God, Paul has a different idea. Whatever condemnation comes as a result of our transgressing the Law, the grace of God “abounds all the more.” This word “abounds” is a compound word meaning “super-abounds.” In other words, however great the condemnation of our transgressions, God’s grace is greater.

Just like we observe in the life of Jonah, as believers, we need to understand that there is no amount of “running” that will revoke the calling that is on our lives. Our identity in Christ continues to remain even when we are at our worst. Sure, we can choose to do things “the hard way” but why would we. Instead of running from the presence of the Lord, we should be running into the arms of the One that loves, forgives, redeems, and heals us even in the face of our own disobedience. Jonah ran but he could not run beyond the grace of God in his life. Neither can we!