Grace is Supernatural
In the previous lesson, we found that Solomon had grace and favor, so that nothing compared with him, until Jesus! Jesus declared, “something greater than Solomon is here.”
Both Solomon and Jonah had “grace and favor”, an anointing “grace” under the old covenant. Jesus, under the new covenant, brought in a more robust action of grace than anyone had previously witnessed. Many times in the Old Testament grace is interpreted as “favor”. We can see this about Noah in Genesis 6:8,
“But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes.” WEB
Here is the Hebrew word for Grace or Favor in the Old Testament. Like the Greek word for grace, the Hebrew word also has a root word, so let’s look at them both together. Notice that OT:2580 is from OT:2603.
| OT:2580 חֵן chen (khane); from OT:2603; graciousness, i.e. subjective (kindness, favor) or objective (beauty): KJV – favour, grace (-ious), pleasant, precious, [well-] favoured. |
| OT:2603 חָנַן chanan (khaw-nan’); a primitive root [compare OT:2583]; properly, to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to favor, bestow; causatively to implore (i.e. move to favor by petition): KJV – beseech, x fair, (be, find, shew) favour (-able), be (deal, give, grant (gracious (-ly), intreat, (be) merciful, have (shew) mercy (on, upon), have pity upon, pray, make supplication, x very. |
Root words reveal a lot about the character of a word that is built from it. Thus, we see here that the root word “Ka-nan”, is where “Kane”, grace or favor, comes from. What unique idea can we see expressed in the definition of OT:2603 above?
“To bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior.”
So, this favor or grace, in its usage describes an act by God, to bend or stoop to you and I, as inferiors, in giving us a spiritual blessing called grace. Grace then is spiritual, and it is a spiritual condition that God, in His infinite mercy, gives justly to human beings when we meet His conditions.
Grace is a spiritual condition. Jonah had this spiritual gift upon him to preach. Solomon had this spiritual gift upon him to lead the vast numbers of the people of Israel in peace for 40 years. Jesus had grace upon Him to carry out His pre-ministry schooling, when He was twelve, i.e., Luke 2:49,
“And He said to them, ‘Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?’”
And Jesus had grace to successfully conclude and reach the “goal” of His ministry when He said in Luke 13:32,
“Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal.”
The successful carrying out for God’s plan for your life, becomes easier, with the spiritual blessing of the grace of God. It is a spiritual condition that God bestows upon His inferiors, namely, us!
Our prayer for today,
Father, bestow upon me Your spiritual blessing of grace, and have me walk in a way that is pleasing to You, in Jesus’ name, amen!
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