God’s Grace – Where It All Began
When I am
trying to write to or speak with other Christians, I attempt to include in the
conversation the Gospel of Grace which leads to salvation. That Gospel is a
primary part of the message that our Ascended Lord Jesus gave to the Apostle
Paul that was to be shared widely, especially to Gentiles. The essence of that
Gospel is specifically noted in two parts of the Scripture:
1
Corinthians 15: 1-4,
which reads:
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Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto
you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; |
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By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto
you, unless ye have believed in vain. |
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For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures; |
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And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according
to the scriptures:..” And… Romans 10: 9-13, which reads:
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In both those references, the Gospel of Grace represents God’s most
generous offer to mankind, that will result in man receiving the eternal
salvation of his soul / spirit, by simply having faith and believing what God
has said. After 6,000 years of Bible
history of God’s dealing with man, God has remained constant in His love for
man. (Malachi 3: 6; Hebrews 13: 8) Even
so, since the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden mankind has been under the
influence of Satanic powers that have led many, if not most, to reject God’s
message of love, mercy, grace and reconciliation.
Remember that when Adam sinned by disobeying God’s instructions to not
eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he not only brought death and
many other problems into the world that would plague all future generations.
Adam also lost dominion over the earth to the Enemy who had fostered his
separation from his Creator God. Genesis Chapter Three explains the
circumstances leading up to Adam’s fall, and further shows how the LORD God
moved to establish the process whereby the Enemy would be destroyed. (Verses
14-15)
Just as importantly, if not more so for us today, and tying into the
Gospel of Grace, it shows how God moved quickly through His Grace to restore the
relationship and provide His Righteousness to Adam and Eve. Although it might not have seemed apparent to
readers of the scripture at first glance, God had to shed the blood of an
innocent animal to use the skins to fashion clothes for them. The LORD God took
this action to replace the aprons of fig leaves they had made to cover their
nakedness (a sign they had lost not only their innocence, but also the glory
that identified them as having dominion on the Earth). (Verse 21) In the future, the use of a blood sacrifice
to atone for sin by man became the cornerstone for man to cover sinful offenses
against God.
Remember that the LORD God had warned Adam that if he ate from the forbidden
tree, the punishment would be death. The Scripture later explained that “the
life of the flesh is in the blood” (Leviticus 17: 11) The Nation of Israel used animal sacrifices to
shed blood to this end. (Hebrews Chapter 9…note especially Verse 21: “…and
without shedding of blood is no remission.”] Only death could pay for sin.
This concept explains why our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, sacrificed
Himself and shed His Holy sinless blood to make final, permanent atonement for
the sins of mankind.
Do you remember the story of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and
Eve? (Genesis 4: 1-16) Reading between the lines, both brothers had
been instructed how to make offerings to the LORD. They were to make blood sacrifices.
As a keeper of sheep, it was easier for Abel to comply by sacrificing one of
his animals, and he complied. However, as a tiller of the ground Cain required a different effort (possibly
bartering with his brother) to obtain an animal for the sacrifice. Cain decided
to ignore the instructions he had been given, and he offered God the products
of his farming from the ground. The LORD
rejected his offering. It was not a blood sacrifice. [Further, you might recall
that the LORD God had previously cursed the ground after Cain’s father Adam had
sinned against God, also by not following His instructions. (Genesis 3: 17-19)]
When the LORD saw that Cain was upset, He questioned why he had not
followed the instructions given. Then, through His love and compassion for
Cain, the LORD Himself provided a substitute animal for Cain to use to make the
appropriate sacrificial offering and be restored through righteous behavior. (Verse
7) Scripture reminds us that the Lord is
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2
Peter 3: 9)
Instead of being grateful and
accepting the LORD’s gift, Cain contended with his brother Abel and
subsequently killed him. (Verse 8) He
allowed his own “self-righteousness” [in essence saying to God: “I’ll do it my
way!”)] to overtake the good logic of both obeying God’s original instructions
and / or accepting God’s gift of grace. The punishment for Cain for these
collective sins was his being cursed and marked by the LORD, and being made a fugitive
and vagabond for the remainder of his time on the earth.
In looking back, Christians can see how greatly blessed we have been. Beyond others, we see how God has provided His
own Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ to be the substitute sacrificial
offering to atone for all our sins, and the sins of all mankind. (John 3: 16-21;
Hebrews Chapter 9). Through His mercy and grace, He took the penalty of death
that we deserved for our sins. And as amazing as it might seem, we enjoy this wonderful
blessing by only believing / having
faith in what God has said, and being willing to verbally acknowledge Him. Not only did our Lord Jesus shed His blood and
die to atone for our sins, but He also defeated the Enemy / death through His Resurrection
victory over death on the third day!! He
is alive today…and we who believe will have eternal life through Him!! That is our Gospel of Grace!
Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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