Grace to Glorification

Grace is one of the ways YHWH makes Himself known.

It is not merely a word to be defined. It is not merely a benefit to be received. It is not merely a doctrine to be arranged. Grace is part of the revealed character of the living God.

From the beginning, Scripture does not present God as an impersonal force. He speaks. He walks. He sees. He judges. He hears. He remembers. He comes near. He calls by name. He blesses. He keeps. He turns His Face. He places His Name. He gives peace.

The priestly blessing is not cold language.

This is personal.

YHWH does not merely send an abstract blessing. He gives His Face. He gives His Name. He gives His peace. He makes Himself known as the God who blesses, keeps, shines, gives grace, lifts up His countenance, and places His Name upon His people.

The blessing is simple enough to be spoken over a congregation.

Yet the more closely it is examined, the more it opens.

Blessing requires the God who blesses. Keeping requires the God who preserves. Grace requires the God who acts favorably toward the undeserving. Peace requires reconciliation, order, and priestly mediation. The Face requires nearness. The Name requires true representation. The people require covering, cleansing, promise, Spirit, and glory.

The parts are not separate subjects competing for attention. They are necessary relations within the revealed work of God.

A car may have a beautiful body, but without fuel it is driveway art. A truck may have strength, but without a transmission it cannot pull. A boat may have an engine, but without a propeller it is just a float. Each part has its own function, but the life of the thing is seen when the parts work together.

So it is with grace.

Grace is not less than favor, but favor alone does not show the whole picture. Grace is not less than mercy, but mercy alone does not exhaust it. Grace is not less than forgiveness, provision, help, or strength, but each of these is only one visible outworking of something larger.

Grace moves through the whole work of YHWH.

It blesses. It keeps. It covers. It preserves. It hears supplication. It provides atonement. It guards the Seed. It gives peace. It pours out the Spirit. It cleanses with water. It forms a people for the Name. It gives daily bread under the Father’s kingdom and will. It carries the redeemed toward glory.

The system is not manufactured. It is revealed.

YHWH Himself joins the pieces.

He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God who heard the cry in Egypt. He is the God who acted by His mighty hand. He is the God who brought His firstborn through the waters. He is the God who gave priesthood, sacrifice, altar, mercy seat, and blessing. He is the God who promised the Seed. He is the God who preserved life. He is the God who opened the fountain for sin and uncleanness. He is the God who gives the Spirit of grace and supplications. He is the God who sends the Son. He is the God who raises the Priest-King. He is the God who will dwell with His people.

The mechanics of grace reveal the character of God.

That is why the study cannot end merely with a sharper definition of grace. A sharper definition is useful, but the goal is greater than definition.

The goal is to see Him.

YHWH says through Ezekiel:

At first, that may sound severe. But as the passage unfolds, the beauty becomes visible. God acts for His holy Name because His Name reveals who He is. He will not allow His character to be permanently misrepresented. He will sanctify His great Name. He will cleanse His people. He will give a new heart. He will put His Spirit within them. He will cause them to walk in His statutes. He will restore what was desolate. He will make the nations know that He is the LORD.

God acts for His Name so that He may be known truly.

That is not distance. That is revelation.

He is not merely the LORD as power. He is not merely the LORD as judge. He is not merely the LORD as creator. He is the LORD who blesses. The LORD who keeps. The LORD who gives grace. The LORD who hears. The LORD who shelters life. The LORD who covers shame. The LORD who provides Himself a Lamb. The LORD who gives His Spirit. The LORD who makes His dwelling with man.

Grace reveals the LORD as holy, personal, compassionate, patient, wise, and faithful.

A masterful painting can work this way. From a distance, the eye is drawn to the bright center. The whole composition can be seen at once. But when the viewer comes closer, details begin to appear in the edges and shadows. What seemed simple becomes layered. The viewer steps back again, and now the whole painting looks different. The center has not changed, but the eye has been trained to see more.

Then the viewer comes close again.

Another detail appears.

Then he steps back.

The whole becomes richer.

Grace works upon the reader this way. At first, the word may seem familiar. Then Scripture draws the eye closer. The priestly blessing opens. The Name opens. The hand of YHWH opens. The Face opens. The peace opens. The covering opens. The Seed opens. The water and Spirit open. The daily bread opens. The glory opens.

Then the reader steps back and sees that the details were never scattered.

They belonged to one portrait.

The same is true of a diamond turned in the light. One angle flashes one color. Another angle catches another beam. The stone has not changed, but the light has revealed another face of its beauty. No single angle exhausts it. The more it is turned, the more there is to behold.

Grace is such a facet in the revelation of God.

This study has only turned the diamond a few degrees.

It has looked at grace through priesthood, blessing, keeping, Face, Name, hand, supplication, atonement, Seed, Spirit, vocation, daily provision, and glory. But the God who reveals Himself through grace cannot be exhausted by one study, one lifetime, or one world full of books.

John ends his Gospel with this witness:

That is the proper humility of every study of God.

The Word became flesh, and still the world could not contain the books.

So this study cannot claim to contain grace. It can only point. It can only follow the lines Scripture gives. It can only trace a few revealed connections and then invite the reader to keep looking.

Look again at the blessing. Look again at the Name. Look again at the Face. Look again at the hand. Look again at the covering. Look again at the Seed. Look again at the water and the Spirit. Look again at the Lamb. Look again at the Priest-King. Look again at the city where there is no temple, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

The final end of grace is not merely that man would receive help.

The final end is that God would dwell with man, His Name would be borne truthfully, His Face would be seen, His servants would serve Him, the curse would be gone, and the redeemed would reign in His light.

Here the priestly blessing reaches its appointed fullness.

The Face that shone is seen. The Name that was placed is borne forever. The peace that was spoken becomes the order of new creation. The life that was sheltered is glorified. The grace that was given becomes dwelling with God.

This brings the study back to the beginning of grace in name and picture.

Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Noah’s name, נֹחַ, holds the letters of life and enclosure. Grace, חֵן, holds the same core witness in another order. Noah moves toward the enclosure. Grace is the enclosure preserving life.

After the fall, those who walk with God, like Noah, are the ones walking to the enclosure, and God’s response is to enclose that life.

That is grace.

The ark was not an abstract doctrine. It was shelter. It was preservation. It was judgment outside and life carried through within. It was a visible witness that YHWH preserves life in the midst of a judged world.

And from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to Isaac, from Isaac to Israel, from Israel to David, from David to Christ, from Christ to the Spirit-filled people, and from the Spirit-filled people to the New Jerusalem, grace keeps carrying life toward glory.

Grace is YHWH’s covenant favor sheltering life until the promised Seed brings creation to glory.

The final purpose of this study, then, is not merely that grace would be better explained.

It is that the gracious God would be better known.

To know Him as the LORD who blesses. To know Him as the LORD who keeps. To know Him as the LORD who gives grace. To know Him as the LORD who gives peace. To know Him as the LORD who places His Name. To know Him as the LORD who cleanses by water and gives His Spirit. To know Him as the LORD who covers shame and glorifies life. To know Him as the LORD whose Face will be seen.

And knowing Him, to love Him.

And loving Him, to bear His Name truthfully.

And bearing His Name, to make Him known.

Grace is one of the ways God opens the painting and turns the diamond. It draws the reader close, then sends the reader back to see the whole. It shows detail, then glory. It reveals mercy, then holiness. It reveals kindness, then wisdom. It reveals provision, then purpose. It reveals the God who has been making Himself known from the beginning.

The invitation is therefore simple.

Do not stop at the word.

Look through grace and behold the LORD.

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee. The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee. The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

And they shall put His Name upon His people.

And He will bless them.