Spiritual death entered the human race through the sin of Adam and then passed upon all of humanity. The initial work of God’s grace was to deal with this seemingly impossible problem. In terms of humanity a solution to the sin problem was impossible, but entering into this problem is the problem solver- the beginning and end to all things. Let me assure every reader. Grace is God’s answer to the problem of sin and death.
Man can provide no answer because he is the problem and cannot solve the problem he caused. The problem is greater than man and his ability to solve it. The reason grace is extended is because helpless man needs to be rescued and cannot free himself from this problem that requires spiritual death. Spiritual death is eternal separation from God forever in a burning lake of fire. You can easily see that this problem is deadly serious and is far beyond the ability of all men to solve it. When God answers a human problem, you may be assured his answer is correct, effective, and victorious.
“As sin has reigned unto death, even so might grace reign… unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 5:21).
The first miracle performed by Jesus was the transformation of water into wine and illustrates an introduction to His ministry of grace and truth. This may appear unusual, but an inorganic substance belonging to the mineral elements where all is death, and lifelessness, was by His divine power transformed into an organic substance that was not dead but full of life.
This miracle typifies one of God’s greatest miracles, the giving of life or the regeneration of man to one of His creatures who had broken His holy law and was facing certain eternal death. God was not shocked or taken by surprise as this matter was clearly known by Him in eternity past. He is the divine Planner, and there is no problem that can cause Him to be worried or mystified no matter the complications or imprisoning impact on man. He faced this human problem and saw either life or death and chose life for man as He so pleased.
“But God even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us, together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4,5).
Not only is this first miracle typical of God’s work of grace and truth through Jesus Christ, but it is true of all the miracles recorded by John. There were seven pre-cross miracles, and the matters related to them present Jesus as bringing life, and life more abundantly to humankind. The eighth miracle was performed by Jesus after His resurrection, and with related events this miracle typifies His work of love to the one who has received His gift of eternal life. The present church age of grace is not the dispensation wherein God performs miracles so that man may believe in Him. The age of grace is a special opportunity wherein individuals are called upon to believe God’s word regarding the true and only source of eternal life that resides only in the Lord Jesus Christ. God does not perform miracles in the material or physical realm during this specific age of grace. He has risen far above all spiritual and material realms in which He may perform selected miracles as He so pleases.
No man can command God to do other than that which He has planned to do by means of the operation of His amazing plan of grace. He can certainly do as He pleases, but during the age of grace He would have His people believe His word and not to be impressed to by the influence of a miracle that only provides temporary benefit including a possible delay of death. All that is
accomplished by grace and truth is primarily spiritual, though much is expressed through the spiritual bodies of humans. The gift of eternal life which is of grace is spiritual. The spiritual life of the believer is accomplished by the indwelling and controlling ministry of the Holy Spirit. The rich spiritual blessings from the more than seven thousand promises are designed to sustain and give hope to believers in all ages, “who has blessed us with ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS in heavenly places IN CHRIST” (Ephesians 1:3).
This amazing program is by grace and is executed by the power of the indwelling and controlling ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is not so under the law. Under the law, there is no impartation of a divine life. There is no indwelling, baptism, or filling of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Spirit during this time period was for specific accomplishments and may be termed as induments. Those so indued could lose the Holy Spirit upon committing sins. Not so in the present day of grace. It is true believers can grieve or quench the Holy Spirit, but His regenerating work and indwelling are permanent. This is seen in David’s expression under the law “Lord take not thy Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). This plea is not appropriate for the present day of grace as the comforter abides in the believer forever.
“I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever even the Spirit of Truth” (John 14:16).
The experiential walk of those under the law is in the power of the flesh and not by means of the power of the Spirit. All of the promises appertain to the earthly and material. The distinctions between law and grace are as distinct as earth is from heaven, as the material is from the spiritual, as the temporal is from the eternal, and as that which is done away is from that which remains, “For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious” (2 Corinthians 3:11). To co- mingle these two programs of God or to intermix them is to confuse God’s entire program of grace in His dealings with human kind.
Notice the settings that Jesus chose for all of His miracles and messages. In each case they are closely related to the specific message of grace and truth that He communicated.
The first miracle was performed at a marriage in Cana. At this marriage we can see the amazing work and impact of grace. The picture of grace in this miracle is found in the preparation of the bride for her husband. Herein is a beautiful illustration of the purpose of regeneration and is typified and illustrated by this miracle. The bride of Christ (The Church) must be of perfect righteousness as He is, and this can only be brought to fruition by the operation of regeneration which is affected by the Holy Spirit.
The first apparent need in the marital ceremony was wine (v.3). All human resources had terminated. This is as it must be before God works according to grace. This miracle emphasized the end of man’s resources and the requirement of divine provision to satisfy man’s need. The mother of Jesus said to Him “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “What have I to do with you” (vs. 3,4). It is essential to see that this miracle is typical of regeneration and the shadow or type must not be marred by the intercession of a member of the human race because under grace there is no such mediator.
“For there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
Under the law there was a mediator who had to first offer sacrifices for his own sins, but under the perfect operation of grace this is impossible as such an act would distort the perfection of the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed to the believer. How important is this lesson! God’s work of giving life – eternal life – cannot be conditioned upon the pleadings or sacrifices before God of one who is subject to mortality. Nor can there be any intrusion of the human element into God’s holy and perfect work of grace. Even His mother Mary, who was closest to Jesus was not permitted to intrude into that which is done by Him alone. It is impossible to understand grace without understanding this pertinent truth. It was, however, entirely proper for her to advise the servants to do whatsoever He said unto them.
The giving of eternal life as was typified by the changing of water into wine relates specifically to the saviorhood of Christ. Further, the authority that He exercised in cleansing the temple points clearly to His Lordship. The second (Lordship) correctly follows the first (Saviorhood), but the two are separate and distinct and must not be confused with each other, as they so often are.
Grace cannot be grace if making Christ Lord is made a condition for receiving eternal life. To do so is to inject the law principle of human merit into grace. It is the infinite love of God that invites the unbeliever to eternal life and glory, and it is that same infinite love that awaits their response to His invitation. God’s invitation to the unbeliever is not unto the Lordship of Christ; it is unto His saving grace. Thererefore, there is no place left for the erroneous thought that the unbeliever must somehow “seek the Lord” or that he must plead with God to be merciful and forgiving. No requirement is on the unsaved to appease or persuade God to be gracious or forgiving. The challenge of the gospel is for the unsaved to believe that God is gracious and forgiving because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.
These truths are clearly revealed in the plan of God, and the unsaved are challenged to simply believe God’s word. The unbeliever is invited to realize the truth in God’s word that personal faith and trust must rest only in the unique Savior Jesus Christ. His finished work on the cross was and is forever victorious over sin, death, hell, and the grave.
“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, which gives us the VICTORY through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).
God’s amazing salvation is not received by begging God to be gracious, nor by ineffectual efforts to persuade Him to be merciful. He is gracious and merciful, and any appeasement from God comes only when the unbeliever possesses a righteousness that can only be received from the Savior, Jesus Christ.
“For He (God) has made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be MADE the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Please notice we are made righteous in Jesus and not by ourselves. The cleansing of the temple suggests the cleansing of the body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Notice that in cleansing the temple Jesus made a scourge of small cords and drove them all out. There is no mention of a scourge in the other cleansing of the temple as recorded in the synoptic gospels. The use of the scourge is a part of God’s dealings in love with every son that He receives. It belongs to chastening or discipline which is a part of God’s work of grace in correcting His disobedient child.
“My son despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of Him: for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son He receives” (Hebrews 12:5-6).
This is not the only distinction between the record by John and that of the other three gospel writers. In Matthew, Jesus upholding the law, charges those who sold and bought with having made His house of prayer into a den of thieves. They were breaking the eighth commandment. There is no such charge in the account by John. Jesus said, “Take these things hence: make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise” (John 2:16). There is nothing unlawful in conducting a house of merchandise but it is entirely out of place in “my Father’s house.” The Father’s house is a place where everything is provided freely by the Father. It is a place where grace is bestowed. To traffic there in sheep, oxen, and temple money is an offense to the concept of grace. All thought of buying, by good works or otherwise must be excluded from the life of one who has received eternal life as the gift of God.
If the Holy Spirit is careful, in the Bible record, to distinguish between the acts of Jesus fulfilling the law and those in His ministry of grace and truth, should not all who are under grace be equally careful to do so? The inquirer of this message must be discouraged to adopt a discipline of reformation rather than an eternal life of regeneration. Reformation is from without, regeneration is from within. Regeneration is what God does for man; reformation is what man does for God.
When the invitation to believe in Jesus Christ is understood and acted upon, that person moves from eternal darkness into eternal light and is delivered from death and damnation in an eternal lake of fire. Anyone who has not believed in Jesus Christ cannot improve his damned state, and if he could he would be bringing human merit to God where such merit is wholly excluded. Those who insist that an unbeliever must surrender to God rather believe on Christ for salvation are substituting consecration for conversion, faithfulness for faith, and the merit of daily life for believing unto eternal life. Those who promote such heresy are conveying that it matters little what one believes, respecting the Savior hood of Christ, if only the daily life is dedicated to God’s service.
I pose this question to every inquiring reader: “What is the work of God that will cause a person to possess eternal life in the splendors of heaven?” Jesus was asked this specific question in John 6:28, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” His answer was clear and specific. “This is the work of God, that you believe on Him (Jesus) whom He has sent” (John 6:29).
You are challenged to stop, look, and listen to this message from Jesus Himself, and take Him at His word, then place all of your specific and total trust in Him. If you do
you will be the possessor of eternal life.
“He that believes on me has everlasting life” (John 6:47).
