Grace in Advance of Dominion Rejected

Another instance of God’s grace in creation was His declaration: “let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  By this decree God gave us dominion to rule over His creation as His chosen agents.  Psalm 8 speaks to the remarkable nature of this divine pronouncement: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet” (Psalm 8:4-6).  David recognized that there is nothing in us that would merit God’s favor to entrust us with such a tremendous responsibility.  This is sheer grace.  By this gracious declaration God gave Adam authority to rule over the earth as His representative. God demonstrated the reality of this gracious declaration to Adam when He brought before him all the animals that God had created and had Adam name each one of them.  This was living proof of God’s grace in granting Adam dominion of His creation.

Sadly, Adam and Eve despised God’s gift and decided to trade their God-given dominion for the lie that they could be “like God” and rule in their own right, apart from the grace of God and without being subject to Him. Their fall into sin is the first instance of anyone despising the grace of God, and thereby rejecting it.  But even though Adam and Eve fell for Satan’s trap, God did not cease to grant them grace.  In fact, God understood that because of sin they would need His grace more desperately than ever before, so He continued to show them grace in numerous ways.   

Genesis 1:29 says that God “blessed” them.  The Hebrew word used here means to speak words invoking divine favor, with the intent that the person who is blessed will have favorable circumstances or live in a favorable state in the future.  In other words, God blessed Adam and Eve with hope for the future.  This divine favor for the future was completely underserved, because we know that God realized in advance that Adam and Eve would rebel against Him and disobey His command.  Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter one: “he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace” (Ephesians 1:4-6).  Even before God blessed Adam and Eve He chose them to be His own in spite of the fact that they would despise His grace.  He chose them in hope to be His own, even though He knew that they would forsake Him.  God blessed them and told them to “be fruitful and multiply” even though He recognized that through their offspring sin would be multiplied and spread over the whole earth.  But God also understood that He had a plan to conquer sin and the resulting death, through the seed of the woman, and so God blessed them anyway.  That’s grace!

Copyright by the Author.

Grace in the Image of God

The primary instance when God demonstrated His grace in creation was when He created human beings.    In the counsel of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit conferred together and concluded this:  “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground” (Genesis 1:26). Two separate aspects of this declaration powerfully display the grace of God.  First, God determines to create man in His own image, an honor conferred on no other creature.  Then, God proceeds to entrust to mankind the whole creation that He has spent the past six days bringing into existence.  These two remarkable decisions truly are the grace of God made manifest—His undeserved love on display in all its glory!

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).  The choice God made to create us in His own image was absolutely essential for us to be able to both receive and value the grace of God.  If we were not created in the image of God we would be unable to have a personal faith relationship with Him.  And it is because we are in relationship with God that we can actually appreciate His grace.  True, God demonstrates His goodness even to the unbeliever and the ungodly.  “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).  Therefore, anyone can be a recipient of the common grace of God, even animals and other creatures.  However, the unbeliever does not recognize the good gifts he receives as coming from God.  He does not understand that they are signs of God’s goodness and mercy.   Only after we have come to faith and been born again, only after the image of God that was destroyed by sin has begun to be restored in us, can we really appreciate the common grace of God as being “of God.”  And without that faith relationship we can in no way experience the special grace of God by which He redeems, justifies, sanctifies and glorifies His people. Therefore, God’s act of creating us in His image may have been the most gracious act of all.

What does it mean to you to be created in the image of God?  Our reason and intelligence, our ability to communicate using language and symbols, our creativity and spiritual nature are all aspects of what it means to be created in the image of God.  These things set us apart from every other creature God has made.  We are truly unique and truly blessed with the grace of God.  

Copyright by the Author.

God's Grace in Creation

In his youth, four-time Emmy Award winner Mark Burnett saw the Bible as the rulebook of a strict and angry God.  That impression is shared by a lot of people who have a limited familiarity with the Old Testament.  But in time, Burnett, the producer of Survivor and The Celebrity Apprentice, and his wife, Touched by an Angel star Roma Downey, began to understand the Scriptures in a whole different way.  They began to see it as a love story.  In March of 2013 Mark and Roma combined their talents to produce an epic five-week, 10-hour television miniseries on the History Channel, bringing The Bible to life in a striking new way.  Mark explained, "We wanted it to be heartfelt and we wanted it ultimately to be a love story – to tell the Bible from the beginning to the end in a grand, sweeping embrace.” Regardless of whether or not they succeeded in attempting to portray Scripture as a divine romance, they were right.  In truth, the Bible is much more a love story than it is a rulebook.  It is the story of how God embraces His chosen people with His grace and through them offers His grace to all mankind. 

But the grace of God is evident in Scripture long before God singles out Abraham to be the father of His chosen people.  God’s love for mankind is manifest already “in the beginning.”  God begins to disclose His motivation in undertaking the work of creation as early as day four of the creation week.  As on the earlier days, God spoke His creation into existence, but this time also explains the reason He puts the sun, moon and stars in place.  “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth” (Genesis 1:14-15, emphasis mine).  These heavenly bodies were generated by God to serve mankind “as signs to mark seasons and days and years.” That’s why they are described from our point of view as being “in the expanse of the sky.”  God, the author of time, wants us to be able to mark time and to number our days “aright” so that we might grow in wisdom and make the most of the time we have here on earth (Psalm 90:12). 

As He carried out His work of creation, God was careful to put everything in place that was necessary to sustain human life.  The expanse of the sky provided the oxygen required for life, while the requisite liquid water was separated from the dry land so that people would have a place to live and breathe.   God made sure that the plants He created perfectly complemented mankind and the animals.  While we require oxygen for cellular respiration and exhale carbon dioxide, the plants all around us use carbon dioxide, sunlight, water and minerals from the earth to produce the food we need to sustain life, and in the process, release the oxygen that we require.  This perfect symbiosis demonstrates the grace of God in providing for us before He even brought us into being.  God even had us in mind when He created different classes of animals, both “wild animals” to be appreciated for their strength and beauty, and “livestock” or animals that could be readily domesticated and put to use by mankind (Genesis 1:25). 

Mankind is frequently described as "the crown of creation."  As God went about His work of creation He clearly made certain that everything was well prepared for the crown to be put in place.  This is powerful evidence of God's grace and love.

Copyright by the Author.

Grace, Mercy and Righteousness from God

Before we dive into the Old Testament itself in search of God’s grace, however, there is an important question that we ought to answer.  What is grace?  In our modern speaking we use the word grace to describe all kinds of things.  Most often it describes beauty in the form of graceful movement or dance, or kindness in the form of gracious words.  Both of these meanings flow out of the original meaning of the word grace.  We also use the word grace to speak of prayers that we offer before a meal.  This usage comes closer to the original meaning, since our prayers acknowledge that the food we are about to consume is a gift of God’s grace, and we seek His blessing as we partake of His gifts. 

  -->
The basic Hebrew word for grace is the word חֵן (ḥēn), which means favor.  The word describes the willingness of a superior to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior.  Grace is an act that displays one’s fondness or compassion for another.    When God grants grace, He shows unmerited favor toward sinners, who are unable to please God.  Grace demonstrates His goodness toward those who are helpless and weak.  Because of His grace, God is favorably disposed toward us, even though we are completely unworthy of any of the goodness He shows to us.  Grace is a part of God’s character.  He is repeatedly described through the Old Testament as being a “gracious” God.  Because this is God’s nature, there are countless incidents throughout Scripture where God demonstrates grace, and the word חֵן is never used.  Grace, then, is God’s undeserved and unsolicited favor toward those who cannot help themselves because of their sinful nature.

Another key word connected to the grace of God is the word חֶסֶד (ḥě·sěḏ) or kindness, meaning unfailing kindness or devotion, that is, a love or affection that is steadfast.  The difference between grace and kindness is that חֶסֶד stresses free kindness within a lasting relationship and does not necessarily express the movement of the stronger to the weaker.  The King James Version used the words “mercy” or “loving-kindness” to translate this Hebrew term, whereas the New International Version frequently uses the simple word “love” as well as “mercy”, and the English Standard Version often translates it as “steadfast love.”

These two terms are frequently linked to each other in describing the nature of God, along with similar terms like “compassionate,” “forgiving,” “slow to anger,” and “faithful.”  With terms such as these being the words God most often uses to describe Himself in Scripture, it should not surprise us to find example after example of God’s grace to His people throughout the Old Testament.

-->

Another term that connects directly with Romans 3:21 is the Hebrew word צְדָקָה

(tsâdaqah) meaning “righteousness.”  In reference to God Himself this word is used to describe God’s character as sovereign in administering justice and punishment.  God by nature is always righteous and acts justly.  In reference to sinful human beings however, this word most often means to justify, to declare righteous, or to save or vindicate.  Thus, when God credits righteousness to someone they are justified before God, saved from the punishment they deserve, and are restored to a right relationship with God.  The fact that God is willing to do this is a demonstration of God’s grace.  God makes us righteous by His Word because He is gracious and merciful.  Thus, justification by grace through faith is first taught in the Old Testament. 

On the basis of this understanding of the grace of God, and the righteousness that comes by grace through faith, then, let us begin our search for Prophetic Grace.

Copyright by the Author.

God's Alien Task vs. His WIlling Work

When God revealed Himself to Moses on Mt. Sinai, even following the incident of idolatry by the children of Israel involving the golden calf, He gave this description of himself to Moses: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7).  This is God’s most complete self-revelation up to this point in time. In it He characterizes Himself as a God of grace. 

Now it’s true that God does go on to say: “Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:7).  Some would argue that this addendum negates God’s claim of graciousness.  Indeed, one could argue that these words sound almost vindictive and vengeful.  However this is nothing more than a restatement of God’s threat in connection with the Second Commandment.  God’s words there clarify His meaning here:  “I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6, emphasis mine).  God’s punishment is extended only to those who hate Him, but on the other hand, He shows mercy to not just three or four generations, but to a thousand generations of those who love Him.   

God must uphold His holiness and righteousness by punishing sin, but He does not delight in doing so.  In fact, such work is referred to as an “alien” work.  In Isaiah 28 God says this: “The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself as in the Valley of Gibeon—to do his work, his strange work, and perform his task, his alien task. Now stop your mocking, or your chains will become heavier; the Lord, the Lord Almighty, has told me of the destruction decreed against the whole land” (Isaiah 28:21-22 emphasis mine). These words of warning against Israel illustrate God’s attitude toward punishing sin with judgment and destruction.  It is not something God delights in.  It gives Him no pleasure. Parazim and Gibeon were places where God had given Israel victories over their enemies.  So it really would be strange for Him to rise up (as He once had on Israel’s behalf in those places) in order to punish their sin and rebellion. 

The prophet Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations also shows us the true character of the God of the Old Testament.  “For men are not cast off by the Lord forever.  Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.  For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men” (Lamentations 3:31-33, emphasis mine).  Yes, God necessarily, nevertheless unwillingly, does sometimes afflict us in our sinful rebellion.  His heart’s desire, however, is to show compassion, which He will unfailingly do at the very moment of our return to Him in repentance.

 

-->

Twice through the prophet Ezekiel God tells us that He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.  “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23 and 33:11).  Yes, God does punish the wicked and pay the wages that sin earns.  But this is not something that God delights in.  Rather, God’s Word tells us:  “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy” (Micah 7:18 emphasis mine).  Yes, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  That’s because meting out death is God’s alien work, but His proper work in which He delights is giving life to repentant sinners by grace.  And this is just as true of God in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament.

The God of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, then, is a God who delights to show mercy.  Granting grace is God's customary work.  Because of our sinful rebellion God is forced at times to exhibit His alien work, which is wrath and punishment.  But He finds no joy in performing this work, and would much rather show grace and mercy to all who will receive it.  Showing grace and mercy is the work God willingly undertakes!

Copyright by the Author.

Prophetic Grace -- An Old Testament Journey with a Loving God

For two years, part of my job at Concordia Lutheran Church, San Antonio, Texas was writing a daily commentary on one or two chapters of the Old Testament.  This commentary was intended to aid people who were following the “Word for Today” Bible reading plan on the church’s website.  In addition to being a great challenge, this task also proved to be a great blessing to me personally in my own faith life.  Naturally, being a pastor I had read and studied the Old Testament both in the seminary and in the ministry, as I preached and taught Bible classes.  But it had been a long time since I had poured over the entire Old Testament in such a relatively short period of time, and I had never done so while charged with the responsibility of helping other believers understand this sometimes complex, sometimes confusing collection of sacred writing.  Still, my consideration of the Old Testament might well have ended when I wrote my final commentary on Malachi chapter 4, had it not been for an episode in my Interactive Adult Bible Class one Sunday morning. 

I was leading my class through the book of Romans and chapter 3 was the subject of our attention. This is a very familiar section of Scripture to me, since I had previously coauthored a book based (in part) on Paul’s letter to the Romans entitled, The Goal of the Gospel: God’s Purpose in Saving You.  You know what it’s like when you’re reading again a very familiar part of the Bible.  It’s like an old friend, comfortable and comforting.  As you begin reading, all of the truths you’ve previously acquired from it flood your heart and mind.  You delight in its memorable treasures, but you really don’t expect to find anything new.  Then, just when you least expect it, God assaults your heart and mind with a new insight that had previously escaped your attention (or perhaps had been previously learned but long forgotten).  That’s what happened to me that day in Bible class.

Romans 3:21 says:  “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.”  The righteousness to which Paul refers here is the righteousness of faith.  “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:22).  Paul is highlighting the central doctrine of the Christian faith, that is, justification by grace through faith.   This most precious truth teaches us that we are saved from sin not by trying hard to overcome it, but solely by the grace of God through the saving work of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It was He alone who lived a sinless life in this sinful world.  It was He alone who loved you and me enough to lay down that life as the perfect sacrifice for all our sins.  It is by faith in Him alone that His righteousness is credited to you and me, and we become righteous in God’s sight.  It is only by His glorious resurrection victory that His sacrifice is accredited as all sufficient, and we are allowed to share in His victory over sin, death and hell.  This overwhelming truth about God’s grace at work to save us is declared over and over again throughout the New Testament.  It is the hope of every true Christian for life everlasting.  There’s nothing new here, right?

What struck me that morning in Bible class, however, was not the central truth of the Good News of salvation by grace.  What jumped out and assaulted me was the phrase, “to which the Law and the Prophets testify.”  The words “the Law and the Prophets” are New Testament shorthand for the complete Old Testament.  This expression was Paul’s way of encompassing God’s entire revelation from Genesis to Malachi in five simple words.  The word “testify” is the Greek word “martyreo” which means to bear witness to the truth to or to speak well of someone.  Suddenly it occurred to me that the Old Testament bears witness to the truth of the righteousness of faith, or salvation by grace.  At the same time, the word “testify” spoke even more powerfully to assure me that the Old Testament speaks well of the grace of God, and for that matter, of the God of grace. 

This was especially significant to me because of the interest I have in apologetics.  Having read several books by “the New Atheists,” as they are sometimes referred to, clearly the witness that men like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Denning bear against the God of the Old Testament is anything but positive. In his book, Is God a Moral Monster? Paul Copan described their testimony in this way: “The New Atheists commonly raise questions about strange and harsh Old Testament laws, a God of jealousy and anger, slavery, and the killing of the Canaanites—and that’s just the beginning of the list.” Just the beginning, indeed!  One of Richard Dawkins most famous quotes describes God in the following terms.

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser;   a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.

Those venomous words definitely do not speak well of God’s character, as the prophets who wrote the Old Testament bore witness to it.  But it’s not only the New Atheists who sometimes mischaracterize the nature of God as revealed by the Law and the Prophets.  Many Christians would freely express their understanding of God’s Word something like this:  “The God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath while the God of the New Testament is a God of love.”  This misunderstanding is similar to the error that befalls many Christians who think the Old Testament equals “Law” while the New Testament equals “Gospel.” 

As I thought about Paul’s words, “to which the Law and the Prophets testify,” I began to recall various Old Testament verses and accounts that spoke of God’s grace and the righteousness of faith.  Passage after passage flooded my mind, and it struck me that these verses provided a very different picture of the God of the Old Testament than the one many people had.  This was not a vengeful, wrath-filled tyrant, but a loving, gracious God who longed to do good for His people, and to live in close fellowship with them.  

Over the next few months I hope to share some of those grace filled Old Testament passages with you.  Please check back regularly to continue this journey through "Prophetic Grace."

Copyright by the Author.