new church life: november/december 2015
the Greek is better preserved, for it
quotes Gabriel’s words as recognizing
Mary as “full of grace.”) Mary was full
of grace because she led a blameless
life in the sense that she was adhering
to the rules of betrothal and marriage,
and was, therefore virtuous.
In the Christmas story, the activity
of the Lord in Mary’s life becomes very
clear. Mary’s willingness to cooperate
with the Lord, in spite of her early
misgivings, was a sign of this grace,
and it was through her that the Lord
gave grace to the whole human race,
in the Hebrew sense of the word, by
stooping down to become a human
being in order to save all people.
Another instance of grace in the
New Testament is found in Revelation,
which opens and closes with the
promise of grace. The first words John
addresses to the seven churches of Asia are a promise of God’s grace: “Grace to
you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come.” (Revelation
1:4) And the book closes with the very familiar words, “The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” (Ibid. 22:21)
There are many ways of thinking about the book of Revelation, but
one way is to begin at the beginning with the seven churches of Asia. The
Apocalypse Revealed explains that these churches represent all the people from
the Christian world who knew the Lord and lived according to His commands,
and will therefore become the foundation of the New Christian Heaven.
From this point of view, the entire Last Judgment described in Revelation
tells of how the Lord sought out these people, exposing the evils and falsities of
the church in the process, and setting the salvable free from its influence. The
book begins and ends with the promise of grace upon this new heaven, and a
new church on earth once the judgment is done.
Revelation is, in many ways, the perfect example of grace as it is depicted
in the Greek word charis, for it is brought about by the influence of the Divine
in people’s lives – the continual influx of goodness and truth to which people
must respond. Those who rejected this inflowing rejected the Lord and heaven,
preferring to cast themselves into hell. But there were the great multitudes who
responded positively, who opened their minds and lives to this influence and
In the Christmas
story, the activity of
the Lord in Mary’s life
becomes very clear.
Mary’s willingness
to cooperate with the
Lord, in spite of her
early misgivings, was a
sign of this grace, and
it was through her that
the Lord gave grace to
the whole human race.
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