Grace and Gifts

(Rm8:32; He4:14-16)



God is the Lord of grace.

He gives birth to children through the word of grace, and

Gives to those who long for His gifts and nurtures them (Jas1:17)



Faith is believing Him, and

The life of this faith is seeking His gifts before the throne of grace and living by His grace.



Grace refers to the freely given gift of God:

The natural grace ” through the Creator ” given to all living things;

The special grace ” through the Only Begotten Son ” given to all men.



When God banished Adam out of the Garden

After he was deceived by the devil and sinned (Ge3:21, 24),

God clothed Adam in the garment of skin, which was

A sign that God will restore him one day for

Different from angels, man was made to receive God's mercy (Ex33:19).



The Passover was the origin of their deliverance (Ex12:40-42), since

The Israelites lived by the blood of the lamb (Ex12:12-14), and

Had their beginning with God's grace.

As such, their entire history thereafter ” such as surviving the Red Sea, the desert life, manna,

The water from the rock, their victory in battles etc. ” was a continuous history of

The blood of the lamb, the grace of God.



To remind them of this

God instructed them to build the sanctuary as a visible model (Ex25:8; He9:23), and

The first object to be built was the ark of covenant, also called

The atonement cover or the mercy seat (Ex25:10; Lev16:14), for

The beginning and the heart of the sanctuary was also the grace of God.



There, two types of offerings that they gave with the blood of animals:

Once every year ” in the Most Holy Place ” by the high priest ” the blood was sprinkled before the atonement cover (Lev16:14; He10:3);

Frequently ” in the Holy Place ” by the priests ” the blood was sprinkled before the veil (Lev4:6, 17), For God gives and gives His grace.



However, Jesus said, "Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days (Jn2:19), because

Through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body,

He would complete the sacrifice and give the perfect grace of God to all souls of men, for

He came as the Lamb of God (Jn1:29), the Son of Man,

To give His life as a ransom for man7 (Mt20:28).



As He died, Jesus said, "It is finished (Jn19:30), declaring that He:

Gave glory to the Father who graciously prepared the heavenly sanctuary for the Son (He1:2; Php2:9-11);

Condemned the devil who forgot grace and also caused men to forget it (1Jn3:8); and

Sprinkled His blood on men and gave grace to the souls of men (Eph1:7).



The Father raised Him, and

Jesus sat on the heavenly throne, the throne of grace (He4:16, 8:1-2), which

The Father prepared for the Son before the creation as His grace.



The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of grace, was sent

To those who believe Him (Jn16:7; Ac2:33), and

Lets them understand what God has freely given them (1Co2:10-12).



The difference between grace and gifts are that:

Grace ” through the One and Only Son ” one-time ” the same blood ” to sinners ” for them to boast their weaknesses (Rm5:20);

Gifts ” through the Holy Spirit ” continuously ” various types ” to those who long ” for He understands their weaknesses (He4:15).



The Christian is he who

Boasts God's grace, and

Goes before the throne of grace in times of need and

Prays to seek the gifts (1Co12:4-11; 2Co1:11), for

He who did not spare His Son as grace will graciously give gifts (Mk7:7-11; Rm8:32).



O Lord,

We want to boast Your grace.

Give us the gift of the knowledge, the wisdom and the power of the word!

Give us the martyr's faith, the gift of faith!

Give us the gifts of healing!

We long for all gifts, so please give us!

Amen.