The God of Grace
«’ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.’’ — Eph. ii. 7.
The history of God’s “grace,” or free love, goes back into eternity. Our earth’s six thousand years mark neither its beginning nor its end. It dates immeasurably backward among the ages that are past, and it stretches immeasurably forward into “the ages to come.” It is like Him in whose bosom it dwells, unbeginning and unending; so that, as he is from everlasting to everlasting “God,” so is he from everlasting to everlasting the “God of all grace.”
This grace must give vent to itself and be manifested, for it is the very law of the divine nature, — not merely to be, but to manifest itself. This is the law of all being, — to bring forth that which it contains; in other words, to manifest itself; as in the case of the seed sown in the grcund; a law which, in the creature, is the finite copy or image of that which has its seat and origin in the infinite Creator himself. The sun cannot but shine; the fountain cannot but pour forth its waters; the seed cannot
2’< o but shoot up and bear fruit after its kind; so, divine goodness cannot but spread itself out, divine holiness cannot but come forth, divine wisdom cannot but give utterance to itself, and divine grace cannot but unfold its riches.
But, for this unfolding of grace, this manifestation of what is gracious in the divine character, there must be a purpose; for grace is not to manifest itself at random, or without due regard being had to time, and place, and objects, and circumstances, and final issues. It is this “purpose of grace,” as the apostle calls it, that is needed for giving shape and direction to the divine self- manifestation. It is this purpose of grace that adjusts the awful question, — a question which no finite being can ever solve or ought to entertain, — of how far a certain amount of permitted evil may so be overruled for far greater good as to warrant that evil being allowed to enter. It is this purpose of grace that defines the objects towards whom this grace is to direct itself; the circumstances in which it is to find them; the time or times at which, and during which, it is to reveal itself; the channel through which it can righteously flow; the amount of obstacles which it can righteously overcome; the nature, as well as the extent and duration, of the results which it is to accomplish. All these, as so many preliminaries, God’s purpose of grace must define; leaving nothing to chance, trusting nothing to the caprice of creature-will or the uncertainties of creature-mutability: embracing all conceivable contingencies, and regulating the exact amount of evil that righteousness can tolerate, and that grace can undertake to deal with.
The details of this purpose are to be found in the history of our race. That story, which in so many of its parts seems to us tangled and unmeaning, is no random assemblage of events, but, in all its processes, as well as all its issues, is the deliberate unrolling, fold after fold, of that purpose of grace, which, transmuting the indefinite into the definite, the contingent into the certain, and anticipating the permitted entrance of evil, proposed to deal with this evil, not by swift expulsion or extinction, not by immediate and unrepealable judgment on the transgressors, but in a way more transcendently glorious, and more fitted to draw forth the hitherto unknown wonders of Jehovah’s character, and the unimaginable resources of his wisdom and grace.
This purpose selected the channel through which this divine manifestation was to come, and in selecting it settled, at once and for ever, the vain question that has been so often raised, Could there not have been another channel equally efficacious? There could not. The divine selection of one is the setting aside of all the rest as inadequate to accomplish the design. This purpose, then, gave definite shape to the future, arranging its endless movements, as certainly as the motions of each starry orb in the firmament are adjusted, by the hand of the Creator, It regulated the time when grace was first to come forth, the place where it was first to be proclaimed, and the race in reference to whom the manifestation was to be made. It was not to shew itself at the first irruption of sin. In that case, righteousness was alone to triumph, and the transgressors consigned to everlasting chains. But at the second irruption, after it had been proved that vengeance executed on the criminal could not deter others, and that thus righteousness alone was insufficient to deal effectually with sin, grace was to be introduced, to deal with it in a way such as would render any future outburst of it for ever impossible. Immediately on man’s fall, grace was to come in, and undertake the mighty work; a work in which righteousness had been baffled. On the very spot where sin had burst in upon the new-made world, grace was to plant its standard, and at the very commencement of the conflict proclaim its certain victory. It was to meet sin face to face, choosing for its battle-field the very territory where sin had displayed itself. It was to begin its actings on the soil where the blight had fallen and the ruin been wrought. Confronting both the tempter and the tempted, interposing between the spoiler and the victim, bidding the law stand by and see itself vindicated to the full, though in a new way; calling on righteousness to forego its prey, under the promise of a far nobler and more satisfying victim, it proclaimed “glory to God in the highest” out of that event which seemed most to dishonour his name, “peace on earth” out of that disaster which seemed to have driven peace out of the world, u good- will to man” out of that sin which threatened to make God man’s enemy for ever. Hard by the forbidden tree of Eden, God opened the well-spring of grace, and, out of the fountain there opened, have flowed to us all the manifold streams of grace which have, since that, watered our parched and cursed soil.
This grace is something wholly new, and, as such, difficult for man to apprehend. The very idea of grace is strange, and, we may say, unnatural to man. He understands the meaning of righteousness, but not of grace, save in the sense of mere indifference to sin. His thoughts are not God’s thoughts; and hence the difficulty of making the sinner comprehend what grace really is, or, having comprehended it, to ad upon it. To know what grace is, and to act upon it, — to know what grace is, and to go to God, simply as one who has heard that he is gracious, — this is salvation, — this is eternal life! Yet thus to teach the sinner what grace means is strangely difficult; and to persuade him to trust his soul for eternity to that God who has thus made known his grace, is a thing so impossible, that as nothing but the infinite skill of the divine Spirit is sufficient to overcome man’s unteachableness in this thing, so nothing save the almightiness of the same Spirit is able to conquer his determination not to allow himself to be dealt with in any such way by God. To the grace which consists in indifference to sin he offers no objections; the grace that would allow him to work his own way back to God, and accept his doings at what he conceives them to be worth, he comprehends: to the grace that would make him partner in the work of salvation he would submit; but to the grace which sets out with the total condemnation both of himself and his sin, which allows him no standing before God save that of the sentenced criminal, and no plea save that of worthlessness, which treats himself as one thoroughly lost, and his case as absolutely desperate, and which, while doing all this, presents him with a complete, an immediate, an eternal salvation, — without preparation or prerequisite, as the purchase of the great redemption on the cross, and the gift of God’s free and boundless love, — to this grace he has insuperable objections, and would perish rather than take life upon such terms, nay, would turn round upon God and accuse him of unfairness in such treatment of himself, and of disregard to the interests of morality and virtue, in disallowing what he calls the honourable competition for eternal life.
From the hour that God proclaimed this grace upon the earth, he gave man to understand that there was grace enough to meet his case as a sinner. The first promise embodies this as its essence; and upon the strength of this simple assurance, sinners in those early days drew nigh to God, and saints walked with him in holy companionship. They knew but little then; for God’s purpose of grace dawned slowly on the world; but what they knew gave rest to their souls, for they could say this much at least, “There is enough of grace in God to meet my case.” Thus they tasted that the Lord was gracious, and went upon their way rejoicing, to keep the commandments of their God.
But as the world went on, sin went on; and it might be doubted whether this grace of God that was sufficient at first was sufficient still, or whether man’s sin might not exhaust it, or whether it could continue to widen its circle, and embrace yet larger and larger measures of unworthiness. Grant that the rays of the sun can pierce a certain amount of darkness, is there light enough to pierce all darkness whatsoever, though it were to deepen and thicken beyond measure? Grant that the light has proved itself sufficient to absorb the darkness of the world’s first sad night, is it adequate to swallow up the darkness of ten thousand midnights gloomier and more sorrowful than these? Will grace last? Will it expand itself to take in greater guilt? Will not God be wearied with receiving so many sinners, and forgiving so many sins? All these questions required to be answered, and God proceeded to answer them age after age, by shewing that “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”
He not merely allowed sin to enter, but to spread; not only to spread, but to increase in heinousness; not only to increase in heinousness, but to vary itself, and take every conceivable shape that man’s spirit could undergo, — all in order to demonstrate that his resources of grace were adequate to meet it all. Sin might widen its circle age after age, but grace widened its circle and still went far bevond man’s transgression. Age after age sin ascended a higher pinnacle of rebellious ungodliness; but grace ascended along with it, and took its station far above it, like a bright canopy of heavenly azure. Age after age descended to lower and lower depths of hateful pollution; grace went down along with it, and when the soul found itself at the very bottom of the horrible pit, and expected to meet nothing there but hell itself, it found the hand of grace still beneath it, as mighty to save, as willing to bless as ever. Just as sin abounded, so grace did much more abound.
Such has been the history of our world, and such the way in which God’s purpose of grace has unfolded itself, and widened its circle just as sin continued to widen, — so that every part of it has been a story of abounding sin, and far more abounding grace. We know that Adam’s case was such, and such has been the case of each saved one to this hour. What was Abraham’s history but one of abounding sin and superabounding grace? What was Rahab’s, but a history of abounding sin and superabounding grace? What was David’s, but a history of abounding sin and superabounding grace? What was Manasseh’s, but a history of abounding sin and superabounding grace? What was the history of Saul of Tarsus, but one of abounding sin and superabounding grace, as he himself declares, u The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant towards me with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus?” What has all Israel’s history been, but the history of abounding sin and superabounding grace? Nay, what is all this world’s long history, protracted to its utmost length by God’s marvellous long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance; — what is it but a history of abounding sin and superabounding grace? 0 the infinite dimensions of this immeasurable grace! It has a breadth and length, a depth and height, that pass all knowledge. And it is this wondrous grace, in all its exceeding riches, that God is presenting to each sinner here, that they may take it and live for ever. There was enough for Rahab, and Manasseh, and Saul; be assured that there is enough for you.