What would God have had to do to humanity, Israel, and individuals apart from His sovereign grace?
Apart from His sovereign grace, God would have had to destroy the human race, Israel, and each individual, including you and me. Instead, He withdrew into His sovereignty and poured out mercy at Calvary, offering salvation because of His sovereign grace alone.
Les teaches that as Christ hung on the cross, Israel had demanded His death and Rome was pounding the spikes into His hands. God could have cleansed the earth of the whole human race, but He withdrew into His sovereignty. As the sovereign God who could do whatever He wanted, He poured out mercy—not just for Israel but for the whole human race, only because He is sovereign. In any other circumstance, He would have had to destroy the human race, Israel, and you and I. Even today, what keeps God from totally doing what He was going to do to Israel is His sovereign grace. He is sovereign and in grace, and He poured out His mercy at the cross of Calvary.