Grace is the favor of a surperior to an inferior. It is the spiritual manifested in the realm of the natural. It is supernatural! It is our union with God by the Holy Ghost.
John the Baptist put it this way; "This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. And of His fullness we have all recieved, and grace for grace." (John 1:15-16)[@more@]
Grace- favour, acceptance, precious; all this is undeserved and comes from God.
Ephesians 2:8 says "For by Grace are you saved, through faith not of works lest any man should boast."
As Christians, we are quite familiar with this Grace. But, what is Grace times two; or Grace added to Grace; or Grace to the second power, or grace for grace?
It's life more abundantly! This is the season of multiplication. We need to know that God is not limited to our earthly systems of mathimatics, measurements or time. He is eternal, without beginning or end.
Jesus Christ is God's manifested grace to us and in us. In the last portion of 1 John 3:8, it says " For this purpose the son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." He has destroyed the enemy of poverty, sickness and sin!
The book of Ezra records the return of the exiles to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple of God. Ezra 3:10-13 tells us when the foundation of the new temple was laid, all of the people shouted with a great shout.
But there was in actuality two distinct sounds. There was loud weeping from those who remembered Solomon's temple in all of its glory and there were shouts of joy from those who had yet to see the temple of God. Tears for what had been, and joy for what was begun, culminated into one sound that shook the stronghold of the enemy.
In Zechariah, at the completion of the temple, God gives Zerubbabel a word. "Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of Grace, Grace to it!" (Zechariah 4:7) It was the sound that would bring down the stronghold of the enemy!
God's grace or favor is shown through out the Bible as He anointed different individuals and brought about the nation of Israel. It became manifested grace as He watched over the children of Abraham; and for all of us, in the person of Jesus Christ.
There was Grace in the old covenant. There is Grace in the new. In Hebrews, Paul tells us "And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us." (Heb. 11:39-40)
Jesus is the Word made flesh. He was with the children of Israel in the wilderness. He was their spiritual meat and drink. He is our salvation. That great cloud of witnesses in Hebrews added to those of us in the new covenant. A better covenant, a better view, a greater Grace!
Grace! Grace! Grace complete in Him.
Written by Rev T Zapata
