The history of the ancient Hebrews was one fraught with misunderstanding of God on several different fronts, in so much that His character and ways were to a very large extent veiled from their minds. As a direct consequence, those sacrifices, which were to point them to Christ, The Lamb of God, became one means whereby sin was committed deliberately and ultimately lost its meaning. Thus, instead of being a deterrent, the sacrifices were used, and viewed as an option on the table to facilitate sin.
In rehearsing their history, the apostle Paul writes under inspiration that they entered not in because of unbelief, referring to the earthly Canaan, but also to the heavenly for very many. And the Lord Himself lodged a complaint, that after all those years in the wilderness, and after investing so much time, and resources in His people, they still had not known His ways. Let’s read:
Hebrews 3:7 Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith, today if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness.
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.
19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
From these passages, and others, we can conclude that most of the Hebrews were probably familiar with the written word of God, but were strangers to the ways of God, so for this reason, beginning with this study, we are going to introduce what will be titled “Latter Rain Sabbaths” during which we will focus more intently on the ways of God, as written in His word.
How God does what He does, and His movements in the great controversy between good and evil should form an integral part of our studies, especially as we stand upon the brink of eternity, when we’ll need to have a much better understanding of Christ in order to pass through the great time of trouble, in the not too distant future. Knowing God and knowing about God are two distinctly, different things, the former being of much greater importance than the latter.
To know God includes being intimately familiar with the Living Word primarily, and the written word of God secondarily, for “It is spoken” came before “It is written”. God desires that we not have a superficial knowledge of Him, but a deep understanding of His revealed will and purposes for our lives, and several passages of scripture do echo this sentiment. Let’s read:
Jeremiah 9:23 Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches.
24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
Psalms 111:9 He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant forever: holy and reverend is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments.
This last passage mentions the fact that redemption was sent unto earth’s inhabitants, which leads us to our study of “Grace For Grace” wherein we ought to observe how God’s grace, was, and is manifested to all. Lest we fall into the same error as the ancients did, we will begin by highlighting several aspects of God’s grace, why it became necessary, how it was manifested, and some of the erroneous concepts that have been adopted and peddled by the popular gospels of our day.
[1] God's grace should never be taken for granted; it should not be viewed as an option on the table, but rather as an inevitable necessity only because of our sins. Let’s read:
Isaiah 53:5 He was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Matthew 26:38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. (In other words, if this is the one and only way grace can be granted, then I’ll go through with it. We should be very careful when presenting the mysteries of God’s grace).
Romans 5:6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
[2] The love of God could have been, and actually was manifested throughout the entire universe long before sin entered. In other words, God didn’t need man to sin, in order for His character to be revealed, because it was known to all of the unfallen worlds in ages past. Let’s read:
Psalms 103:20 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
21 Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
Job 38:1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
[3] The phrase “Three strikes and you’re out” sends the absolute wrong message, for it would inevitably encourage all would-be offenders to utilize the first two strikes. God’s grace should not be understood as having loop holes for sinning. Let’s read:
1st John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
[4] When grace became necessary, it was intended to be administered abundantly but with stipulations which were to bring balance to the equation. In our day, God’s grace is being offered without caveats, thus leading many to sin presumptuously. Let’s read:
Romans 6: 1What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Romans 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
[5] The grace of God, when rightly understood and accepted, will always produce a person in harmony with the character of God. This process begins with conversion, and continues throughout our lifetime, but it always, inevitably leads to the reproduction of the image of God in those who are thus exercised. Always! Let’s read:
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ;
14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
1st John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Therefore, with these passages of scripture given to broaden our understanding of God’s grace, let’s go to the time when grace became necessary. And as we study, let’s keep in mind that we are focusing on learning God’s ways, not only His word, for this is the first installment of “Latter Rain Sabbaths”. God has created the earth, and all things therein, and He then creates Adam and Eve to dress and keep it.
They are given dominion over everything, they are given access to everything, with one exception. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is to be off-limits as the only one of many thousands which God has reserved for Himself. In harmony with this only restriction, a command, and a warning of the dire consequences of disobedience is issued. Let’s read:
Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Something is conspicuously absent from this dire warning, because it makes absolutely no mention of grace. It is delivered to Adam as an unequivocal and terse statement of cause and effect, with no escape route being offered. No grace, no second chance is here mentioned, only the inevitable result of death. Question: Why would God do this? Why not inform Adam up front that a safety net had already been planned, just in case sin took place?
Why not give him the guarantee of grace with the command? Instead, the words suggest a one-way street to destruction with no hope of pardon. This is not to say that grace was an afterthought, because the Bible explicitly states that grace was planned long before it was needed. Let’s read:
Romans 16:24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.
Colossians 1:25 I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God;
26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.
Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
[The Desire of Ages pp 22] The plan of redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of “the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal.” From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency.
Here we go again, with a close observation of His ways not only His word. The Hebrews are promised the land of Canaan on condition of obedience to God’s command, and just like with Adam, the word of God comes to them distinctly, with no mention that grace will be provided. Let’s read:
Exodus 23:20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him.
Question: Is this statement true?
Answer: Yes, 100%! God is referring to certain types of transgression, but He does not spell them out in this instance specifically. In issuing commands, it is necessary for them to be given up front without any wiggle room for disobedience, otherwise they lose their force, and in most instances, the grace of God would be taken for granted.
If parents were to inform their children that if they stole cookies from the jar, they will be forgiven, the most likely outcome is that fallen human nature will naturally try to steal as many cookies as possible, it knowing that mercy will negate the force of the law. Thus, grace can, as a result have the opposite effect of producing repeat offenders.
Therefore, no mention of a second chance is made to Adam and Eve, even though God had grace in His back pocket. It was never originally intended to be an option, but rather a necessity. The sacrifices of animals in ages past was not meant to be incentive to sin but rather as a deterrent.
In our generation, where the preaching of grace has been watered down to encourage sin, we will need a fresh infusion of God’s Holy Spirit for us to rightly appreciate God’s grace to us through Christ. Every sin will be forgiven, if it is confessed and forsaken, and even if we have fallen again, and again in our experience, God encourages us to be encouraged, for He anticipates a maximum return for the blood that was shed by Christ for you and me.
In harmony with the magnitude of the sacrifice, His grace is to be freely offered to all, in the preaching of the everlasting gospel, with the stated intention of leading all men and women, all boys and girls to obedience to all of His commandments. No one is to be excluded, and no one is to questioned as to their sincerity, for God who is rich in mercy will deal with all the variables we may not see.
No matter how grievous the sin may have been, and how often repeated, God is still offering us grace for grace. In fact, according to the Bible, He puts grace where it is needed most, and the more prolific the sin, the more His grace will be revealed. But let us always remember not to take His grace for granted for it His will that the original image, and character of God be recreated in every believer. Let’s read:
Romans 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
1st John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
As the period of earth’s probation is winding down to a final close, and as we see the natural results of the violation of God’s law, let us be faithful in giving to the last generation, a correct understanding of God’s grace, so that an abundant harvest of souls may be gathered into His Kingdom.
We close with a passage of scripture which should encourage and motivate every true Christian to shake off the spell of lethargy and complacency, by fulfilling the great commission of God’s grace in our neck of the woods. Let’s read:
Revelation 22:16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
God Bless!