In the previous article we learned that grace is not something we accept in passivity, that’s why passive people are difficult to live in grace. This time we will learn one more thing about grace, namely: God often gives His grace in the form of a person, this is what I call the ‘Representative Grace.’
These are the Biblical evidences:
1. Jesus (John 1:16 KJV).
“And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”
Jesus is the representative grace that the Father has given to us. Accepting Jesus means accepting grace and accepting the Father who has given the grace; rejecting Jesus means rejecting the grace and rejecting the Father who has given the grace.
Jesus is filled with the fullness of the Godhead, from His fullness we receive grace by grace. This is the pattern, someone who has experienced the fullness of Christ will be used by God to be a boon for the people around him.
2. The apostles (Acts 4:33 KJV).
“And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”
The early church lived in abundant grace because they were constantly connected with the apostles. The lives of the apostles had been a boon for them.
3. Paul (II Cor. 1:12-15 KJV).
The first time Paul came to Corinth he had been a boon to the church there, but after that Paul had to go to other places, separated from the church at Corinth. But they continued to build relationships based on the grace.
“For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward” (verse 12).
Paul had a desire to come again so that the Corinthians might receive grace for the second time.
“And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit” (verse 15).
From the fullness of Paul, the Corinthians received the grace of God, so that they could live in His grace. Paul was the representative grace to the Corinthians.
4. Abraham (Genesis 26:3-5).
“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”
God blessed Isaac abundantly when he was living in a foreign country, but the Lord Himself said that the reason He blessed Isaac was because of Abraham. So Isaac received all these grace because of the existence of Abraham in the presence of God. Abraham had been a boon for Isaac. The life of a father should be a boon for their children.
5. Moses.
Israel had been enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, and they cried out to God begging for deliverance. God heard their cry and sent His grace, Moses.
Through the life of Moses, Israel received the gift of deliverance and experienced divine matters. Even if they rebelled against God, God still wanted to walk with them and did great deeds in their midst. But it all happened because of Moses.
“And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. And he said, If now I have found grace in thy sight, O LORD, let my LORD, I pray thee, go among us; for it is a stiffnecked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. And he said, Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee” (Exodus 34:8-10 KJV).
God gives grace to Israel in the form of Moses.
6. Gideon (Judges 6).
Israel was colonized by the Midianites, so they were in a state of fear and the very poor. They cried out to God and God heard their cries. But when God wanted to give His grace to the people of Israel, He was looking for someone, that’s why He came to Gideon and gave His Word.
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, “The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour” (verse 12).
When Gideon allowed the Word to reshape his life, he became as God had said: The mighty man of valour! So Gideon rose up in the power of the Spirit, and he functioned as a boon for the people of Israel.
The enemy that could not be defeated for 7 years could easily be defeated by the grace of God. God gave grace to the people of Israel in the form of a person, namely Gideon.
So begin to recognize someone that God sent to be a representative grace in your life!
Also read: Multiplying Grace.
