Welcome toย Part 5 of Philโs series.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ?
God created Adam.
God plus Adam begat Eve.
Adam plus Eve begat Mary.
God plus Mary begat Jesus, the second Adam.
God plus Jesus begat the Church, the second Eve.
We the church are now and forever like Eve in that narrow moment of time after she ate (sinned) yet before Adam disobeyed God by eating.
Even though we have sinned, we are protected by Christโs perfect obedience to the Covenant of Sin and Death which is finished, permanently and eternally sealed by His blood. Itโs over.
Jesus, the Seed of the Woman, is the Kinsman Redeemer. The Keeper of the Covenant. The Accepted Substitute. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!
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๐๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ฌ โ๐๐ซ๐๐๐โ?
The term โgraceโ is often used but rarely defined therefore not fully understood. Itโs a state of being, a status. Some say itโs โgetting what we donโt deserveโ. But thatโs not a state of being.
To demonstrate, it helps to consider the opposite of grace which is; disgrace. If someone is a disgrace it means they have committed some sort of serious error, totally inappropriate for the circumstances. Disgrace becomes their status because of what they did. It cannot be undone because you canโt change the past.
With that in mind, โgraceโ can be defined as โthe delightful beauty of saying, doing, being, everything right in every circumstance.โ
The adjective โgracefulโ can be seen in an athlete who performs an extraordinary feat, such as a football player who catches an almost impossible pass and makes it look easy. Or a ballerina who moves with such fluidity that it seems purely effortless and natural. Poetry in motion. Itโs not our actions, but theirs. We are โfansโ, beneficiaries of their performance.
Sometimes a person of royalty is honored with the respectful title of โYour Graceโ.
When you plug that understanding into the Bible wherever the word โgraceโ is used it blossoms with meaning.
Jesus is the personification of the grace of God. He said, did, and was, everything right in every circumstance. His words and His actions were in perfect harmony with His Fatherโs will; Love, which culminated in a singularly unique accomplishment.
Itโs not a matter of Him giving us grace for ourselves, but that when we believe โinโ Him we behave like Him. Itโs His grace.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it (grace) is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Jesus is the personification of grace, He is the gift of God from God.
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๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฏ๐?
What does it mean to believe โinโ Jesus? By simply asking the question of do we believe โinโ Jesus or โoutโ of Jesus we find the answer. Itโs not enough to just believe He existed. When we believe โoutโ of Jesus weโre walking in darkness. We must be willing to come out of the darkness of our disgrace and shame to walk in the Light of His grace, allowing the Fatherโs will be done on earth ๐กโ๐๐๐ข๐โ ๐ข๐ , just as Jesus did the will of His Father.
John 3:20-21 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.
When we are โinโ Him we are in His grace of the New and Everlasting Covenant. Itโs His grace that is the gift of God. Itโs not our efforts โworksโ that finished the covenant. It was His.
