The Grace That Was To Come

The Grace That Was to Come

We tend to think of the Old Testament in terms of law and the New Testament in terms of grace. But in reality, God has always dealt with his people in grace. In the Old Testament, it is the Hebrew word khen, which is most often translated “grace” or “favor.” Grace is the good pleasure of God that inclines him to freely bestow blessing on undeserving people.

We see God’s grace in the Old Testament when, rather than destroying Adam and Eve for their sin, the judgment of the curse came with a promise of grace. We see it in the saving of Noah and the continuation of a godly line. We see it when Lot was spared from the judgment falling on Sodom. God, who is perfect in justice, was able to pour out his grace on undeserving sinners in the Old Testament in anticipation of what Christ would do. Grace is, and has always been, more than a sentiment or an attitude on God’s part. God’s grace has always centered on and flowed out of Jesus Christ.

Sinners have always been saved the same way—by grace through faith. The people and prophets of Old Testament times looked forward in faith to the coming of the Messiah and his work of grace on their behalf. Our faith looks back to the Messiah and his work of grace on our behalf. While the Old Testament prophets had only the prophetic record to examine to understand the saving work of Christ, we have the advantage of the historical record concerning the coming of Christ and his death on our behalf at Calvary.

Peter told the people of his day that the Old Testament prophets spoke of salvation in terms of “the grace that was to come to you” (1 Peter 1:10, NIV). The people in Peter’s day had personally seen and experienced the grace that finally came in the person of Jesus. Though they had been slow to understand, it was exactly what Jesus had told them when he said,

Blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it. (Matthew 13:16-17)

Jesus personified the grace that generations had longed for. He is the grace who has come to us.

Great Grace that was to come, you finally came! And you were better than the prophets and people of the Old Testament even imagined you would be. How blessed I am to see your work of salvation in the clear light of the Cross.