The Centuries Of His Grace

by Johnston, Brian, D. | Category: Across The Bible Centuries | Nov 1988

This article deals with the period of time from the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) until the coming of the Lord to the air for all believers (1 Thes. 4:13-18). It is this time span of unknown length that is in view when reference is made to "the age", in other words, the present age.

The concealment of the age

It may have been, as some have suggested, that Paul received his revelation from the Lord in approximately the same geographical location in which Moses received his. Moses requested, "shew me, I pray Thee, Thy glory", to which the Lord responded by proclaiming His Name, declaring Himself to be a gracious God. God's grace had been evident, too, in His dealings with Saul of Tarsus. Away in Arabia, his former Pharisaic pride broken, the converted Saul received wonderful revelations of the Lord's gracious purposes. There he says, "by revelation was made known unto me the mystery which in other generations was not made known unto the sons of men" (Eph. 3:3,5).

There had certainly been no revelation of this mystery to the Old Testament prophets. Even Daniel, who was greatly loved by God, had no knowledge of this mystery. To Daniel God gave a revelation of His two great programmes for world history; one for Israel, and one for the Gentile nations in relation to Israel. But in the visions by which God communicated with Daniel, and set out the entire dispensational framework from Babylon to the second coming of Christ, there had been no mention of any intervening age between His first and second comings. The entire age with which we are concerned in this article was omitted.

In contrast to the intent to conceal which lay behind the mysteries of Gnosticism, it is the glory of the King of the Ages to reveal the matter of His mysteries to His servants.

This present age, "the mystery which from all ages hath been hid in God" (Eph. 3:9), is no exception, having been hidden for the express purpose of being revealed in God's time. And what is the administration of God's grace in this mystery? Namely that "the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, and fellow-members of the Body, and fellow-partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel" ~ph. 3:6). In this way Paul brings to light God's arrangement for this age, the admission of Gentiles on equal terms with Jews.

The character of the age

The view has long been maintained that Scripture teaches that time is composed of a succession of "ages" each of unique and diverse character. What, then, we may ask, is the character of the present age? Without a doubt, as hinted above, it is God's grace which characterizes this age from Pentecost to the Lord's return for His own. The Greek scholar Wuest in his Word Studies states: "It is hardly too much to say that the mind of God has in no word uttered itself and all that was in His heart more distinctly than in this".

Wuest's Word Studies also help us to understand the exact meaning that the Greek word "grace" popularly conveyed in the Greek world of New Testament times. There it signified something which was beyond the call of duty and done as a favour freely conferred; a favour which carried with it no expectation of return, and which found its only motive in the spontaneous generosity of the giver's heart. But in the Greek culture such a favour would only be shown to a friend, never to an enemy. Thus the meaning of this word is greatly elevated when it is used of God in the New Testament. For "while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son" (Rom. 5:10). The gracious purposes of God pivot on Calvary where superabounding grace was exhibited.

The content of the age

In between Israel's annual spring feasts which prefigured the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the autumn feasts which prefigured the rapture and Israel's repentance and fulness, there is the great summer time of the present age a time of labour in the fields in preparation for final harvest (see John 4:35).

At Pentecost, with the outpouring of the Spirit, two great movements of the Spirit began, each characterized by grace. When Peter made his confession of faith in Christ as the Son of the living God, the Lord Jesus spoke for the first time of the Church which He was to build: "Upon this rock (speaking of Peter's confession) I will build My Church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Mat. 16:18). He began the building of that Church on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended to reside in believing hearts. It is referred to as "the Church which is His Body" (Eph. 1:22,23). It comprises all believers in the Lord Jesus from that day of the Spirit's outpouring to the day of Christ's return for His own. It is eternal, so that those who die in Christ are still members of it. It is indestructible, the gates of Hades are not able to prevail against it; once a member is built into it by Christ Himself, he is in it for ever. It is unique; there being only one. It cannot be affected by sin - an indivisible unity (Eph. 5:26,27).

But on that same day of Pentecost, a parallel movement began. For those who were saved as a result of Peter's preaching were then baptized in water in obedience to Christ's word, and Acts 2:42 says they were added to those already together in what is described as the Church of God in Jerusalem (see Gal. 1:13; Acts 8:1). Into the Church, His Body, they were built or baptized (1 Cor. 12:12,13) when they accepted Christ as Saviour. Into the church of God they were built (or added) after they had been baptized in water in acknowledgement of Christ as Lord. So we learn that the basis of membership in the Church the Body is faith in Christ. But obedience to His Word is the basis of fellowship in a church of God. There came to be in New Testament times many such local units of testimony, sin could affect each one, and they were capable of being destroyed (1 Cor. 3:17). We read in the book of the Acts of the linking together of such churches by a united elderhood structure, so forming an integrated fellowship of saints in churches of God. This fellowship is spoken of as belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:9).

So, the Lord is seen as having two things in this age; the Church which is His Body, and the churches of God. These are closely related, but distinct. The one Christ is building is eternal and heavenly; the other belongs to

earth. It has to do with those who are members of Christ's Body witnessing and worshipping together as disciples collectively. When they die they cease to be part of the local church of God.

Both movements are characterized by grace. By receiving the gospel of God's grace we are built by Christ into the Church the Body. It is all as a result of God's grace. In spite of all our demerits, God's saving grace has been shown us in Christ, and all according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God's grace is also seen in the matter of the churches together forming a house for God to dwell in on earth. In the light of Isaiah 66:1,2 it is clear that God's dwelling among men on earth is all of condescending grace on His part. In the wilderness when the people themselves lived in tents, God likewise deigned to live in their midst in a Tent (the Tabernacle). When a more permanent structure was built, it was built by Solomon. Wonderful grace of God! His house was built by a man who ought never to have been born. When we come to the days of the material house of remnant times, when difficulties had halted the rebuilding, a word of encouragement came from the Lord: "Zerubbabel

shall bring forth the head stone with shoutings of Grace, Grace, unto it" (Zech. 4:7). That was the topmost stone, indicating completion.

In the context of the Churches of God forming the spiritual house today we see the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in its foundation. 1 Peter 2:4-6 identifies the chief corner stone as the Lord Jesus Christ. "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 8:9). As we tasted that the Lord was gracious when we came to Him for salvation, so also by continually coming to Him in obedience to His word, we know His grace as the chief corner stone of the house of God on earth today.

The climax of the age

The present age which began with the coming of the Lord the Spirit will be terminated by the coming of the Lord Jesus for His own. The precise timing of this event is unrevealed to us in Scripture, but a consideration of Biblical patterns and world events assures us that it is imminent. When the Lord comes in accordance with 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, then the Church, the Body will be complete, and God's present purpose m churches of God will be finished. Just as in Israel's annual calendar of feasts, which were linked to the seasons of the year, the sound of trumpets announced the end of summer and the autumn gathering for the Day of Atonement; so when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound the time of labouring in the mission fields of the world will be over. The end of the age (see Mat. 28:20) will have come. Then we shall be with Him. "And so shall we be for ever with the Lord" (1 Thes. 4:17).

Johnston, Brian, D. | Nov 1988
Across The Bible Centuries