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My Soul Has Received Grace
(Jn1:1-2, 14-17)
God is the God of grace (Ps111:4).
He is gracious in all His works (Ps145:7) and
He is gracious to whom He is gracious (Ex33:19) and
He lets those who know grace and prepay it serve before His throne (Rev22:3).
Faith is receiving God’s grace and considering all things as grace (Ps141:5) and
The life of this faith is repaying Him for all His goodness (Ps116:12) for
Grace refers to freely given gift and
Ingratitude is the mark of the lowest trait of human being.
The Bible is the dispensation of God’s grace:
The former grace—general grace—nature—>flesh;
The latter grace—special grace—the only begotten Son—>soul.
Forgetting grace, Adam the ancestor sinned and was driven out of the Garden (Ge3:24), and
All mankind became unable to escape the fate of heading to hell with the devil (Mt25:41).
When warned about the deluge, Noah in holy fear built an ark and his family was saved (He11:7) for
It was the good things that God stored up for those who fear Him (Ps31:19).
For Abraham recognized God’s coming to him as His favor and welcomed Him,
He received a son at the age of 100 (Ge18:3-10).
Lot welcomed the angels who came to his house and was shown great kindness, that is,
He was saved from the destruction of Sodom (Ge19:1-19).
After 20 years of servitude, Jacob acknowledged all kindness shown by God and
He was spared from death at the hands of his brother and
Received the promise of numerous descendants (Ge32:10-12).
For God showed His favor to Israel, they were delivered from their slavery of 400 years (Ps85:1) and
They left Egypt with all its treasures (Ex12:36).
While the wilderness was where Jehovah in His mercy led the people whom He redeemed (Ex15:13),
All those who grumbled in spite of finding grace there for 40 years died in the wilderness (Jer31:2).
The atonement cover above the ark of the testimony inside the Most Holy Place was the mercy seat.
Although it reminded them the promise that
If they kept the commandments, He would show mercy to 1000 generations (Ex20:6) and
Even if they sinned, if they returned, they would be shown compassion (2Ch30:9),
Since they were stiff-necked, rebellious people serving other gods
They could not escape the cruse of being thrown out of Jerusalem (Jer16:13).
Consequently, the prophets cried out for them to rend their hearts and return to God (Joel2:13).
According to the prophecy,
He who would proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor appeared (Is61:1-2) — Yeshua.
And He said, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days,” because
Through the death and the resurrection of the temple of His body (Jn2:19-21):
The Law—given through Moses—grace—>flesh;
Grace and truth—came through the only begotten Son—grace—>soul.
Eventually, the prophecy of many peoples and powerful nations coming to Jerusalem
To seek the LORD Almighty to entreat Him led Yeshua to His death (Zec8:22).
As He died, He said, “It is finished” (Jn19:30), for He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets (Mt11:13):
1) He offered His life to give thanks for the grace of the Father (Jnh2:8-9);
2) He judged the ungrateful devil (1Jn3:8); and
3) His death—redeemed all mankind—set free them from the price of sin,
He sprinkled His blood—souls—eternal grace (Is53:4-6).
He resurrected and ascended to heaven and
He is the Lamb seated on the mercy seat (He4:16; Rev22:3).
From there, even now, the river of the water of life, the river of grace, flows out (Rev22:1).
The Spirit of grace makes the gospel of grace be known and lets believers testify it (Ac20:24):
The Law—the law that reveals sin—no flesh is justified by works (Rm3:19-20);
The Gospel—by grace—through the blood of Yeshua redeemed and forgiven (Eph1:7)
—the blood of Yeshua purifies us from all sins (1Jn1:7)
—justified by the blood of Yeshua (Rm5:9)
—receive the name (blood) of Yeshua and become children of God (Jn1:12).
A Christian is he who knows that
He is a soul who has received the greatest gift God prepared before the creation of the world, thus:
1) His profound sense of grace and gratitude never fades—for the Lord, who suffered in place of someone like me, longed to be gracious (Is30:18), exchanging His precious blood for my soul (1Pe1:18-19) etc;
2) He becomes the praise of His glory (Ps22:3; Eph1:12);
3) To find grace to help him in his time of need, with confidence he approaches God’s throne of grace in prayer (He4:16);
4) He serves faithfully according to the grace given (Rm12:6);
5) He considers suffering with Christ as grace (Ps141:5); and
6) As a debtor to His grace, he gives his life to testify the gospel of His grace (Ac20:22-24; Rm1:14).
O Lord,
All I have to say is…
It is all by the grace of the Lord! Amen.