THE GOD OF ALL GRACE
THE GOD OF ALL GRACE
“And the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen” (I Pet. 5:10).
The nature of God is no longer a mystery. He is a God of all grace! “In the past God spoken go our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being . . .” (Heb. 1:1-3). Jesus is the “exact representation of his being”. “In Christ all the fulness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Col. 2:9). “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (Jn. 1:18). Jesus is the “Word of God”, that is, He is the vehicle by which God is known.
Jesus personifies the fact that God is “the God of all grace”. John reminds us that Jesus is “full of grace and truth” and that “Grace and truth” came by Jesus Christ (Jn. 1:14,17). Not truth and grace, but “grace and truth”! God is both grace and truth, but grace comes first! Grace is the priority!
Elisha met a prophet’s widow who had to pay a debt or her two sons would be sold into slavery (2 Ki. 4:1-7). God did not erase the debt but instead performed a miracle so that the debt could be paid. She had a little bit of oil, but God multiplied the little amount of oil to be enough to pay the debt and save her sons from slavery. The Scriptures are clear: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Our sin debt, however, has been paid by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In this way “We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24). “He did this to demonstrate justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26).
John wrote: “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17). It clear that the law does not accurately reflect the nature of God. The law is only a “shadow” and not “reality” (Heb. 10:1). God, by contrast, is the “Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (Ja. 1:17). The nature of God is better described by “grace” rather than “law”. Upon one occasion the teachers of the law brought a woman to Jesus who was caught in the act of adultery (Jn. 8:1-11). The Law of Moses was clear that such a woman should be stoned (Lev. 20:10; Jn. 8:5). Jesus, however, forgave her and told her to go and sin no more!
Jesus once healed a paralyzed man for the specific purpose of enabling us to “Know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . .” (Mk. 2:10). God did not compromise “truth” to forgive sins, but like the widow’s oil paid her debt, Jesus paid sin’s debt and “gave himself as a ransom for all men” (1 Tim. 2:6).
John 3:16 has been called the “Golden Text” of the Bible. It states: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”. “Giving Jesus” involved His death on the cross to ransom us from death. Just before the Golden Text Jesus said: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up” (Jn. 3:14). Being “lifted up” from the earth specifically refers to His crucifixion (Jn. 12:32,33). The Scriptures are crystal clear: “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God; smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced ford our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Is. 53:4-6).
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age” (Titus 2:11,12).