The Mystery of the 'Age of Grace'

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"For I do not desire, brethren, 

that you should be ignorant of this mystery, 

lest you should be wise in your own opinion, 

that blindness in part has happened to Israel 

until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." 

- Romans 11:25

          GOD allows U-turns!  Grace is the advanced trait of mercy. The Age of Grace is the vehicle, the Holy Spirit is the power, by which YAHWEH can now set aside the death penalty for sin.  Now a-l-l humanities’ sin can be forgiven, it is not a license to sin, they must still learn not to sin (Rom.6:1).  It is a spiritual concept first given in the Sixth Covenant, but it was one of those Heavenly mysteries until now. 

          The Age of Grace began by the death of an innocent perfect sacrifice.  It is a time for a-l-l the humans of the planet Earth to spiritually grow and learn (repentance is still necessary to grow and learn 1Jno.1:9).  The Believers sin is forgiven and they are judged only for their good works in the service of the righteous Kingdom. 

          “Christians, who claim the promise of GOD, should obey the Commandments of GOD.”  Yet, many theologians would say the Law has been relaxed in this Age, this is simply not true, if anything, personal discipline just got a little harder.  This is actually the next level in the Jerusalem Higher School of Learning, where humanities next lesson is to learn to control the mind, along with the body (Mat.ch.5-7).  The Old Testament Law was of the body, now in the New Covenant there is the spirit of the Law. Now the rule is: Don't even think about it! (Mat.5:28-30)

          YAHWEH has a Divine plan for everything, and HIS plans are duly recorded and qualified through prophecy.  HE has a Divine plan for HIS called out faithful of the Hebrews.  He used them to write down the Scriptures - they did a good job.  HE used them to bring the Messiah into the world - they did a good job.  Now HE needs them to proclaim Yahshua’s Gospel to all the world, but they rejected Him - we have got a big problem . . ..  Now YAHWEH directs HIS attention to the gentiles (Jno.1:11-12). 

          For scholarly Jews, the dual prophecies of the Prophet Isaiah predicting a rejected and suffering Messiah in 53:3-6, and a ruling Messiah in 9:6-7 have been a great dilemma: Would it be one Messiah with two missions, or two Messiahs with one mission each?  They called it the Messiah’s “Lamb and Lion Missions.”  The first mission would be as a Sacrificial Lamb - to redeem the Creation from curse of sin. And the second mission will be as a Judge and Ruler.  Therein lies the biggest stumbling block in accepting Yahshua as the Messiah, yes, He was put to death, but why did He not immediately restore the kingdom to Israel?  

          They just didn’t get it . . ., and they rejected Him, basically for two reasons: They loved their religious rituals and traditions more then they loved GOD - they really did not care to hear HIS Gospel.  And secondly, they cared more about what Yahshua would do for them politically (restore Israel), then what He could do for them spiritually (deliver them from sin).  To put it simply, they cared more about seeking things from GOD, rather then seeking GOD. 

           Mostly, the Jewish people were waiting for one grand coming of the conquering Messiah.  Yahshuas’ Kingdom message was Grace vs. law, but the people wanted to hear that it is GOD vs. Caesar.  The result is, that they missed the rest Yahshua offered, and consequently they have been restless wanderers for the past two thousand years. 

          Some in the Christian church today use this circumstance to teach a replacement theology, which means that the Christian church has replaced Israel.  This is not true, and it is a subtle form of anti-Semitism taught by people who know very little of the Hebrew Bible.  When giving the New Covenant, YAHWEH clearly challenges anyone who is smart enough to tell HIM how HE created the Universe, and how HE hung the planets, when that happens, it will be the day Israel ceases to be a nation (Jer.31:36-37).  The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans addressed this kind of replacement thinking and describes Israel’s situation: ch.9 Israel’s past, ch.10 Israel’s present, ch.11 Israel’s future. 

           Here is an interesting point to ponder: The Jewish religious - Roman crony - leadership rejected Yahshua, and the hate peddlers will always use this point to stir up prejudice by labeling the Jews Christ-killers.  When Roman Christianity officially established itself in the fourth century by Emperor Constantine there were no Jewish-Christians in leadership positions.  They left the old ways and the Old Testament behind, and formed a new religion based on a New Covenant and a New Testament - so they say.  In reality they dumped what was sacred to the Jews and mirrored their infrastructure. 

          Picture the ruling Sanhedrin and the Vatican, both with high priests, pomp and ceremony.  Both ruled by fear and intimidation.  Both are staffed by men-in-black political-priests, complete with twisted convoluted spiritual theories to exert control - sometimes to the death.  The Jewish religion had many sects and divisions, but one high priest.  The Latin Roman church feels all Christendom belongs to the mother church, and in spite of all the sects and divisions, the basic rituals (for example, Sunday worship, Easter, Christmas) the Roman church originally established is still the same.  

          The recruitment offices of both religions say they were founded by great Biblical Prophets.  Judaism was founded by Moses, Roman Christianity was founded by the Apostle Peter, but in both cases this is not true.  Both create the illusion of an unbroken line through the “laying on of hands” to claim their authority over the faithful, but in both cases this is not true. 

          Most of Christianity today recites in their main prayer “. . . thy Kingdom come . . .,” but are they really waiting on His arrival?  One needs only to read the Book of Revelation to see that the Messiah will meet with another hard welcome at His coming.  The more things change the more they stay the same . . ..  

          Here is another one of my extraordinary view points: The Hebrews are our older brothers and sisters in the faith, and we are all part of our loving FATHER’S family.  In a loving and caring family, if your older sibling gets in trouble and is punished by being sent to their room without any supper, would you be happy and delight in the moment?  Or would you sneak up some food while the father is not looking, and comfort them until the reproof is concluded?  (Israel's: past - Rom.9:1-29, present - 9:30-10:21, future restoration -11:1-36.)

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          The promises in the Covenants are everlasting, and just for the record, the promises of peace, justice, prosperity and eternal blessings for Israel will be fulfilled when the Messiah sets up His throne in Jerusalem.  The Prophet Ezekiel 36:26-28, prophesied of their restoration, and their national borders are outlined in 47:13-23.  The ten lost tribes will come home, and the division of the land to the Twelve Tribes of Israel is stated in 48:1-29.  The Prophet Hosea 1:9-10, prophesied that the divorce from YAHWEH the FATHER is reconciled.  HE will give them a new heart, forgiveness of sin, and the in-filling of the Holy Spirit to a renewed nation.  The Prophet Isaiah 62:4, prophesied Israel will be given a new name. 

          This time between the two appearances of the Messiah is the time of the promised personal ministry of the Ruach HaKodesh, or the Holy Spirit.  It has been called by some the church age or by the more accurate term the Age of Grace.  The Hebrew Testament Prophets did not write of an Age of Grace because they did not see it, they made what some call “double horizon prophecies.”  If one looks to the distance and sees two hills far off in the distance, one sees a hilltop then behind that another hilltop appearing to be fairly close together.  The Prophets only saw the two hilltops, representing the two separate missions of the Messiah, they did not perceive the great distance of the valley between the two peaks, which symbolically represents the Age of Grace - or the Messianic Church Age. 

           The first prophecies of the soon coming Messianic Church age that were told to the people are in the parables of Matthew ch.13 are  A common mistake in studying end time prophecies is mistaking the prophetic end time events described in Yahshua’s Olivet Discourse in Matthew ch.24 as relating to the Messianic Church, it is not, He is describing end time events relating to Israel.  The concept of the Messianic gentile church was still a hidden mystery to the Disciples at that time.               

          As the Messiah had to qualify to rule the Earth, so also, must the Messianic Church qualify to govern with Yahshua.  The harshness of living under the letter of the Law is set aside, and now during this Age of Grace is a time of learning and forgiving.  Grace is not static, it is active in the Believers’ life, to turn from bad habits - sin - to living more righteously, it’s a life long process.  Simply put, the Believers “. . . Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” Galatians 5:16.  The Apostle Paul explains the concept of Grace in Romans ch.6.  

           This Age of Grace will not last forever.  Sometime in the future, almost tomorrow, this age will close.  It is important to remember the end of the Age of Grace is not the end of the world, the Bible says over 120 times that the world will go on forever.  But when the “times of the gentiles is fulfilled,” the Age of Grace closes, and then YAHWEH turns HIS attention to the Hebrew people to fulfill a future Divine plan (Luk.21:24).   

"Divine Knowledge: 

humbles great men,

astonishes the common man, 

and puffs up the little man."

From the book  The Mystical Rites of our CREATOR  ISBN 0-9675266-0-4

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Last modified: February 21, 2009