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Topic: WE HAVE FOUND GRACE UPON GRACE THROUGH JESUS!
The Lord Jesus Christ came to earth and offered Himself as our sacrificial Lamb. It was at the cross, through the shedding of the blood of the spotless Lamb of God, that the grace of God was offered not to one man, not to one nation, but to all who would receive Him. “But the free gift is not like the offense.
For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many” (Romans 5:15).
The Bible teaches us that all men died spiritually when Adams binned. God, through Jesus Christ, brings life to all who will receive Him. His grace is out of all proportion to the fall of man.
The first Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam (Jesus) was made a life-giving Spirit. “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:17).
Through the grace of God, we have received the Spirit of Christ. We are no longer dead in our trespasses and sins. We have received an abundance of grace. “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11).
The prophet Jeremiah foretold the restoration of God’s people.
He could see the church of Jesus Christ through the eyes of faith. “For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:6–7).
God has looked upon His church, and we have found grace in His sight! The prophet Isaiah also saw the glory of the church. “ ‘As for Me,’ says the LORD, ‘this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,’ says the LORD, ‘from this time and forevermore. Arise, shine; for your light has come!
And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people;
but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you’ ” (Isaiah 59:21—60:2).
Isaiah prophesied that there would come forth a stem of Jesse and the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon Him:
the spirit of wisdom,
the spirit of understanding,
the spirit of counsel,
the spirit of might,
the spirit of knowledge,
and the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah said that Jesus, this stemof Jesse, would not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears (Isaiah 11:1–4). God sent Jesus into the world that wnmight become like Him. He is our perfect example.
He dwelt among us that we might know Him. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood,nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God….
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:12–13, 16–17).
By the grace of God that came through Jesus Christ, we have the power to become the sons of God. We can be led by the Spirit of God. We can have the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. We do not have to judge after what our eyes see or our ears hear. Our direction comes fromwithin us—through the Spirit of God who resides in our spirits.
