Christ has done for us what we could not do for ourselves:

God loves us and created us for a relationship with Himself 11
We have been given the freedom to accept or reject that relationship 12
Our sin and rebellion against God and His laws have created a wall of separation between us and Him 13
Though we are deserving of eternal judgment, God has paid our debt in full by Jesus' death in our place, making eternal life with Him possible.14

Bono gives us his perspective on grace.

"Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff..I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge..It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity."15

We now have the picture of God's plan of the ages coming together. But there still is one missing ingredient. According to Jesus and the authors of the New Testament, each of us individually must respond to the free gift Jesus offers us. He won't force us to take it.