A Taste of Grace.
If sin had a flavor, what would it taste like? In our culture sin can be used as a word that means delicious like sinfully delicious chocolate cake, or something unhealthy for your diet. However, the Bible says that the wages of sin is death - Romans 6:23. To put it simply, God detests sin.
What food do you detest? For me, it’s bananas. I cannot stand the smell of bananas let alone their taste. I find them so revolting that if one of my kids is daring enough to eat a banana around me, I have to leave the room. If they eat one in the car, (Lord have mercy) I have to pull over and get that banana peel into the garbage can immediately. For my son, it’s tomatoes; for my daughter, it’s mushrooms. What food, flavor or smell do you personally find revolting?
God is Holy, and because of His holiness, God cannot stand sin. He cannot be in the presence of sin. He has to hide his face from us. The story of the original sin in the book of Genesis tells us that God expelled Adam & Eve from his presence because of their disobedience. As descendants of Adam & Eve, we have all inherited that sinful nature.
Sin is a part of who we are as humans. We regularly see the evidence of sin in our broken world. No matter what you believe spiritually, I think we can all agree that our beautiful world has been polluted by sin. Sin has soured everything from our environment to our relationships. Most of all, sin separates us from knowing God the way he intended.
Alpha’s Nicky Gumbel does a great job sharing the problem of sin in this week’s Alpha video as he breaks down the problem of sin in 4 points:
Pollution of sin (Mark 7:20–23)
Power of sin (John 8:34)
Penalty for sin (Romans 6:23)
Partition of sin (Isaiah 59:2)
The good news is, God has provided a way to bring ultimate forgiveness and restore our relationship with Him. This is through Jesus' life, death and resurrection. Jesus defeated the consequences of sin and makes all things new.
A simple yet profound example of this can be found in a Miracle Berry and a lemon. A Miracle Berry, which is also known as a Lididi Berry, is a berry that grows in West Africa. The small pink olive-like berries contain a unique ingredient called Miraculin. Miraculin molecules cover over the sour receptors of your tongue. So naturally sour foods, such as a lemon or a lime become sweet as candy. It’s a natural berry and has been used in culinary applications for many years. The berries are very perishable and kind of melt within a few hours of harvesting them so we recommend using freeze-dried berries.*
The lemon represents the sourness of sin, this sourness pollutes everything we do. It’s a part of who we are as humans. The miracle berry represents the power of God through the resurrection of Jesus.
We close all of our Theo’s Feast dinner parties with variations of a dessert based on the Miracle Berry and a sour dessert that we call “A Taste of Grace.” But no matter how fancy and complicated we get with our dessert, everyone always remembers the lemon. The lemon blows them away. So for this dish, we are keeping it super simple. All you need is a
Miracle Berry and a lemon.
A Taste of Grace Recipe
1 - Lemon Wedge, per person.
1 - Miracle Berry Tablet, per person.
Please follow these instructions carefully to get the full effect of the Miracle Berry.
Wash your lemon. Then slice it into quarters, lengthwise. Remove the white center pith and seeds. You may need to dig the seeds out with the tip of a paring knife.
Taste the lemon wedge. It’s important to verify that it’s a lemon and how sour it is prior to tasting the Miracle Berry.
Remove the Miracle Berry tablet from the blister pack.
Suck on the Miracle Berry tablet as you would a lozenge. Do not chew on it, get it all over your tongue. Be patient. It should take 4-5 minutes for it to dissolve.
Once the berry has fully dissolved, taste the lemon wedge once again.
You are now experiencing A Taste of Grace. The sweetness that you are tasting in the lemon has always been there. The miracle berry has covered over the sour receptors on your tongue so you are tasting the true sweetness of the lemon.
Whenever I experience a Miracle Berry, I think of Revelations 21:5A, “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.”
A Taste of Grace is a simple yet powerful edible metaphor of a transformation. The lemon that was once sour, and unpleasant, now tastes as sweet as candy. All you taste is the natural sweetness of the lemon that is usually hidden as the sourness overpowers it. A Taste of Grace powerfully communicates the transformation of the heart that can occur when you encounter the forgiveness of Jesus.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8)
Metaphorically, the Miracle Berry represents Jesus covering our sins so that we can be made new and the sweetness of the lemon represents God taking away the sourness of our sinfully polluted, broken world. It’s a taste of hope, a taste of the transformational power of forgiveness, and a taste of God’s coming kingdom.
We call it a taste of grace as once you discover Jesus, and experience God’s grace through the Holy Spirit we experience a transformation of the heart. It’s that transformation that draws us into a deeper, and dynamic relationship with Jesus.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8)
A few questions to ponder as you are sucking on the Miracle Berry:
If you could ask God to change anything in this world, what would it be?
What brings you hope?
If religious morality had a flavor what would it taste like?
If God’s grace had a flavor, what would it taste like?
Have you ever encountered the power of forgiveness?
Have you ever experienced a transformation?
*You can purchase Miracle Berries through our website at Theosfeast.com/store or on Amazon.ca. We recommend the Mberry brand.
Have Fun!
Miracle Berries will make anything that is naturally sour taste sweet. After you taste the Lemon, you can have some fun tasting various fruits, such as strawberries, Kiwi, grapes, watermelon, and raspberries. Cherry tomatoes are amazing as well. Hot sauce and balsamic vinegar are also fun to try. The miraculin on your tongue will naturally wear off as you eat. The more acidic the food, the more profound the flavor, the quicker it will wash off your tongue.
Be sure to take a picture of your Lemon Smile and tag us on Instagram. #theosfeast #ATatseOfGrace #EatingAlpha
let us know if you have any questions in our comments below.