Grace. Grace. God’s Grace.
Grace that is greater than all our sin.
Grace. What is it?
It is God’s love in action. It is the loving act of Jesus who gave His life so I do not have to pay a price for my sin. A price that would be impossible to pay.
It is by grace through faith that I have been accepted, approved, pardon and released from my sin because of that act of love I did not deserve.
How many times has that grace been displayed in my life? How many times have I missed seeing God’s favor in my everyday life?
Grace The Greatest Gift
My salvation is a wonderful gift. I recognize the huge blessing it is to be a daughter of the God who created the universe and everything in it. But do I see His hand watching over me each day?
Grace: Word Study
I love to search out the meaning of words in the Bible. Because of that, I want to dig deeper into the meaning of grace. I want to understand what is beneath the surface. I want to see through the eyes of the times when the Bible was written.
First Mention of Grace
God began to reveal Himself a little at a time in Genesis and builds on that revelation to the end of the book. The principle of first mention when studying gives insight into the word. The first mention of the word grace in scripture is found in Genesis 6:8. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”
Hebrew insight into Grace
In the Hebrew language, we are given our first clue. In Hebrew, we find the word for grace is chen. Two letters make up the word chen. All Hebrew letters, have a picture used in ancient writings. Cheth, the first letter in the word chen or grace is the picture of a fence or wall. It is an enclosure as in a sanctuary. A protected place where enemies cannot enter. The second letter is nun. It has the picture idea of a seed or new life continuing. It gives us a picture of continual growth for generations to come.
The picture of Grace
By putting these together, we have a picture of the “grace of God” freely given to us a place of sanctuary or rest where life is eternal by the power of the “seed”. The “seed” which gives us eternal life is Jesus.
Pitching Our Tents
One last picture, that is hidden for us in our western eyes lies in ancient Semetic times. In ancient Hebrew times, the tribes would travel together. When it was evening or time to rest, they would circle around the area and “pitch” their tents. It was similar to the western movies we see of the wagons circling up for protection from the Indians.
Grace is pitching a tent in God’s Sanctuary
Enter by the blood of the covenant
If a stranger were to try to get in, he would have to give evidence of his family ties. If such a stranger wanted to enter and become family they had to give a “blood oath”. I remember sticking my finger to become a “blood sister” with a friend to seal our friendship. The stranger was no longer outside the circle but was joined together by blood.
To conclude, I have a better understanding of what “grace” means. A deeper look at being in the family of God, His sanctuary fencing out the enemy and protecting His family. He gives us a resting place. It is a place of eternal life through Jesus blood sacrifice paying the price we could never pay.
The Lord is My Keeper by Barb House who is the director of Hope Haitian
Freda Reynolds
for further reading:
https://www.hebrew4christians.com/Meditations/Grace/grace.html
https://www.treadingwatertiljesuscomes.com/2018/11/28/light-of-the-world-2/
