What grace, O Lord, and beauty shone

PURPOSED GRACE MADE MANIFEST

In the first chapter we read, “Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the times of the ages but now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who nullified death and brought life and incorruption to light through the gospel” ( vv. 9-10 ). Before the times of the ages, that is, before the world began, God saved us and called us, not according to anything of our own but according to His own purpose and grace. This means that in eternity God purposed to give us the grace that saved us. God saved us and called us according to His eternal purpose and grace, which grace He gave us from eternity. This grace was manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. This means that when the Lord Jesus came, grace also came. The grace that was given to us in eternity was manifested by the coming of Christ. When Christ came, He brought grace with Him.

This corresponds with the Gospel of John, which says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us... full of grace and reality” ( 1:1 , 14 ). The Word who became flesh and tabernacled among us was full of grace because grace came with Christ. Furthermore, verse 17 tells us, “The law was given through Moses; grace and reality came through Jesus Christ. ” Grace came through Jesus Christ because He was the embodiment of the divine grace. Grace was embodied in Christ through His coming. Hence, when He came, grace came. In other words, grace is Christ. When Christ came, grace was manifested.

Now we are clear concerning what grace is. We have seen from the previous chapters that grace is Christ in three aspects: what He is, what He gives, and what He does on our behalf. Grace is His being, His giving, and His doing. The grace that we enjoy is Christ in what He is to us, in what He gives to us, and in what He does on our behalf. Whatever He is, is for us, whatever He gives also is for us, and whatever He does is on our behalf. This is grace.

We must all realize that we have no merit. We are nobody. We should not think that we are somebody. We are nothing, and we can do nothing, but Christ is everything to us, Christ gives everything to us, and Christ does everything on our behalf. What grace we have! God saved us according to this grace. This means that God saved us according to what Christ is, according to what Christ gives, and according to what Christ does.

Grace in the New Testament

Chapter 4 Section 1 (LSM)

CWWL, 1973–1974, vol. 1

(4) Isaac, the Seed Brought Forth by God’s Grace,

Established for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose

Only Isaac, the seed brought forth by God’s grace, by the supply out of the divine udder, was established for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose ( 17:19 , 21 ; 21:12 ; Rom. 9:7-9 ). God will only honor what is out of Him because only the seed that is produced out of Him by the supply of His grace can fulfill His purpose. This means God will only honor Christ, not anything out of our self, our natural man. Only the Christ whom we experience of the divine udder as our supply of grace can accomplish God’s purpose. Only this Christ will be established as the real seed for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Our Ishmael was rejected, but our Isaac, Christ, has been and will be established in God’s economy.

Now we can see what grace is. Grace means that God transmits some element out of His being into us to be our supply and that this supply becomes the very element by which we bring forth Isaac for the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. After Abraham was called, he learned to live by faith in God for his existence. Then, beginning with Genesis 15 , God began to train him in the matter of knowing grace for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. We have seen this clearly in chapters fifteen , sixteen , and seventeen . Our self, flesh, natural strength, natural man, and old man must be terminated so that we might take God as our supply and that some of God’s divine being might be wrought into us to be the element to produce Isaac for the fulfillment of God’s promise. This is grace.

Life-study of Genesis

Message 47 Section 4 (LSM)

What a beautiful hymn! What grace and beauty shone around thy steps below.

Edward Denny was born October 2, 1796. He was the fourth baronet of Tralee Castle, County Kerry, and succeeded his father in August 1831.

Although he was born to great wealth, Sir Edward was drawn away early on from worldly pursuits by the reading of “Father Clement. ” When he was ninety years old, he remarked to a friend while they were in his library at West Brompton that the book had been responsible for his conversion. He lived most of the time in London where he ministered in Park Walk Assembly in a quiet and unassuming way. Edward was a writer and his prose was of a prophetical nature. It is however as a hymn writer he will best be remembered. His first publication, “A Selection of Hymns, ” first appeared in 1839, which was followed, a few years later by “Hymns and Poems. ”

Many of Sir Edward’s hymns are in extensive use both in England and America. He passed away in June 1889, at age ninety-three. He was regarded as a kind landlord by the tenants in his estate. Here is a notice which appeared in the press at the time of his death.

“Nearly the whole town of Tralee belonged to him. He had an opportunity twenty years ago, when his leases fell in, of raising his rents to figures that, in some cases, would not have been considered extortionate had they been quadrupled. .... So far as he himself was concerned, a little money went a long way. He gave liberally to the poor in relation to the Brethren. ”

Sir Edward’s hymns and writings show the true meditative spirit of the writer as shown by the stanza of this hymn:

“Thy sympathies and hopes are ours,

We long O Lord, to see

Creation, all—below, above—

Redeem’d and bless’d by Thee.

There are also 2 additional stanzas:

4 O give us hearts to love like Thee!

Like Thee, O Lord, to grieve

Far more for others’ sins than all

The wrongs that we receive.

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5 One with Thyself, may every eye

In us, Thy brethren, see

The gentleness and grace that spring

From union, Lord, with Thee.

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Also, the original stanza 3, line 1, says "might" instead of "did".