Christ’s Death Ushers In Grace
By Tammy Lacock
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” (John 12:24 KJV)
In this week’s podcast, Warren Litzman discerns what it means to step into the fullness of God’s grace.
In John 12:24, Jesus is telling us here that death is a prerequisite for bearing fruit. If He doesn’t die, then God’s work isn’t finished, and there will be no fruit. He must give up His earthly ministry, His preaching of God’s law, and His old self to step into the fullness of God’s grace. That is God’s ultimate plan for Him. God’s grace is the fruit Jesus talks about here. Christ steps into this fullness when He proclaims in His last breath on the cross “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. It is finished.” The same is true for us as believers. Our old selves, our old belief systems of who we think we are and what we must do to be saved, must die with Christ (Galatians 2:20) if we are ever to bear His fruit and step into the fullness of God’s grace. That is His ultimate plan for us.
Just as Jesus abolished the law at the cross, we too must die to any and every law that keeps us from fully living our new life in Christ, our new life in grace. This is the only way we can truly live in the fullness of God’s grace. This is the only way we can truly live who God created us to be. Only then will we bear fruit, Christ’s fruit. God no longer looks at our works, as He did by the law in the Old Testament. He NOW sees Christ as our new life in us. This is grace, ushered in by Christ’s death on the cross. His death brings forth much fruit, that is, His resurrected life NOW in each and and every one of us who believes. We have eternal life in us NOW.
The Apostle Paul, the Apostle of Grace, is the only one in the Bible raised up by Christ Himself to reveal to us that God’s grace is NOW. He tells us how to live now that we are living in grace. He tells us that the law has been stripped of its power by Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Moses ushered in God’s law, and Christ ushered in God’s grace, dissolving the law. His death opened the door for God to be a Father to each and every one of us. As believers, we are NOW His bona fide children, one body in Christ.
Paul says taking our first step into grace means death to our old lives and, more specifically, our old minds if we are ever to bear fruit and live in the fullness of God’s grace. He says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5 KJV).
May we, once and for all, give our minds over to Christ now and step fully into God’s grace!
“For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17 KJV)
