The Grace Cycle

The grace cycle is a cycle of events leading to the glory of God which in turn leads to more expression of grace. This cycle is lighting up the earth right now and will continue to do so until the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

It might appear as though the  Church of God is feeble, broken, or disappointed by unfulfilled promises. Have you ever read the scriptures and wondered if God meant what He said when He described the wonderful blessings believers have in Christ? Well, the Church is now over two thousand years old and is just becoming mature enough to know who she really is!

“Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1 Revised Standard Version, RSV).

The revelation of Christ and faith in the grace He brought are between the Church now and her full expression on earth.

The Lord is waiting for us to know and believe what He did for us.

A cycle describes a process that goes around and has the potential of self-perpetuation once initiated. There is a simple cycle  I have noted in the scripture that will take place both in our individual lives and collectively as the Body of Christ in these days leading to the return of our Lord. I  call it the “Grace Cycle.”

The Grace Cycle

Three key elements are part of this Cycle: the revelation of Christ, faith in Grace, and the Glory revealed.

The Lord will unveil the beauties of who He is and what He did on the cross for His people in unprecedented ways. This revelation will birth faith — real faith.

Faith is the receptacle for grace, and once it is born in the hearts of men, grace will come in and beautify us with the glory of the Lord!

As the glory shines, more light will be given, and we will know Him more–more revelation to initiate the cycle again, leading to faith and glory!

The anchor of the Grace Cycle is Christ. Until Christ is everything we want to know and live for, we are not yet ready for the glory of God. The Holy Spirit is the Chief Operating Officer of the Grace Cycle. Jesus sent the Spirit from the Father for this purpose: to reveal Himself to His people, and finally, to reveal Himself to  the world in and through His people — the glory!

Revelation of Christ

Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians is nothing other than the Spirit’s earnest prayer for each successive generation:
“..that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (Ephesians. 1:17-18 RSV).

It cannot be overemphasized never; — the knowledge of Christ is pivotal to the fulfillment of our calling in Christ on this earth. It is crucial to have a revelation of who Christ is and what He did for humanity. How much of the Grace pie we will enjoy on earth is directly proportional to how much of Him we know.

The Key of Knowledge

Our knowledge of Him is the Key to the treasures of Grace. What you do not know, you do not enjoy. God has a solid plan for revealing His Son to the Church. The Holy Spirit was sent to unveil Jesus in the Word to His people.

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14 RSV).

Read more: What is the Key of Knowledge?.

Seeing by knowing

I still vividly remember the day the Lord revealed this truth to me personally. He made me understand that it is better that He shows Jesus to me by His Spirit in the Word (the Bible) than for me to have a vision of Him physically. I had been relentlessly asking Him to show me a vision of Himself thinking that would help resolve some doubt and unbelief issues.

Wouldn’t it be cool to see Jesus show up someday in your room? Yes, we think. But God doesn’t think so. He still does reveal Himself in visions to some of us as He chooses, but this it is not a necessity for the believer. You can even tell by the scarcity of it because our faith is not birthed by sight but by the revelation of the Son of God. Few things have impacted my faith walk like this revelation. Christ is in the Word.

In fact, He is the Word. If only we would believe what God says His Word really is, then we would pay attention to studying it for ourselves, meditating on it, listening to it being taught, etc.
The impact of the revelation of Christ to a believer is second to none. It changes everything. We should not only desire the Word but crave it.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,” (1 Peter 2:2 New International Version).

Read more: What are Spiritual Eyes?

Faith in Grace

Real faith is born of the revelation of Christ.

One thing the Lord once put in my heart is that faith will be perfected before He comes. The Church, for the most part, is still struggling with faith. Much of what we call faith now is sometimes nothing other than mental assent( or agreement in our minds), manipulation of our hearts to accept some truth, etc. It is amazing how sometimes we respond in fear and call it faith, whereas the driver of our actions is not faith but fear.

Faith is growing to maturity

Faith is being purified and perfected.

The faith that will produce the glory is the faith that the scripture calls the “faith that is in Christ”. It is not generic faith or merely believing but rather believing that whatever you are asking or believing for was done over two thousand years ago by the work of Christ and is yours now by His grace. If Christ did not pay for it on the cross, faith could not receive it.

Our faith is faith in the grace that is in Christ! And this faith is birthed by the Revelation of Christ. “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ”(Romans 10:17 RSV).

Notice that in this verse, it is not simply stated that faith comes by the Word of God which is valid, but it is more precise in its definition. Faith comes by hearing the Word about Christ. Faith is born as Christ is presented to men and women with open hearts for the Gospel.
When you see Christ in the Word, faith is born!

The Grace Package

Grace has purchased and obtained everything we will ever need in this life and after and presented it to us in the Word of God.

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, “(2 Pet. 1:3 RSV).

Notice that you were saved by hearing the Word. The power of the cross was channeled to you by what you heard. The Word has saving power in it. But this is not all of what is in His Word. Besides power, it has wisdom, healing, health, prosperity, strength, excellence, joy, etc.

The carrier of the Blessing

The blessings of grace are packaged in God’s Word to us. Faith is the hand that receives the blessings of grace. God in His infinite wisdom has chosen faith as the spiritual device for man to receive from Him. Grace does all the hard work for us; faith receives it. The treasures of grace packaged in God’s Word to us are received by faith.

If revelation or knowledge of Christ above is the Key to the treasure room of grace, faith is the hand that turns it to open the door!

Grace requires faith to receive, and faith in Him accesses grace.

“That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants — not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16 RSV).

“Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2 RSV).

The Glory Revealed

The glory is the manifestation of divine attributes in and through us.

Let your imagination go for a  minute. Imagine you are the means by which God will display His wisdom to the world today. He will do this through you as you — that is, His wisdom will be displayed as you think, talk, and act and men will marvel at you as they notice unusual wisdom. This is an illustration of what is means to reveal His glory on the earth. You become an expression of God on the earth. What about His power, love, character, excellency? The glory of the Lord is here and through us!
This glory will only come as Christ takes His place in our lives and the Churches. The glory is Christlikeness in our life and work because Christ is the very glory of God. He is the Light that shines forth from within us.
The Revelation of Christ gives us the key to the glory room. Faith turns the key to open the door and have access to the glory of God in Christ for us by grace.
Will the Church really know and believe in her Savior? The time is now, and the Spirit is already working to make the revelation of Christ and faith in the grace He brought a  present reality.
“Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1 RSV).

Read more

What Is the Glory of God?

Glory and Grace – a blessed duo.

The Anatomy of Grace.

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