The grace of God in His economy is rich, multiplying, and abounding (Eph. 2:7; 1 Pet. 1:2b; 2 Pet. 1:2; Eph. 1:7b-8). The riches of God’s grace surpass every limitation. These are the riches of God Himself for our enjoyment. Furthermore, the grace of God and the gift in grace of Jesus Christ have abounded to the many (Rom. 5:15b, 20b).
God has graced us in Christ with the grace in His economy (Eph. 1:6). Graced here as a verb indicates that we have been put in the position of grace that we may become the object of God’s grace and favor, that is, that we may enjoy all that God is to us.
A part of the grace of God in His economy is that Christ has become our redemption for the forgiveness of our offenses (Eph. 1:7). Moreover, we have been justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24). It is through the redemption of Christ that we can enjoy this Christ who is grace.
On the one hand, we can enjoy Christ as grace through His redemption. On the other hand, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand (Rom. 5:2a). Faith issues in our justification, and it also gives us access into the grace of God. The Greek phrase for believe into has the sense of entering into. For example, there may be a jumbo jet here with everything ready, but we still must enter into the plane to enjoy flying. If we use our own flesh and its natural endeavor, we cannot enjoy God as grace, but if we believe into Christ, we have access into the full enjoyment of the grace of God.
Finally, of His fullness the believers have all received, and grace upon grace (John 1:16). When Christ in us is daily received, enjoyed, and experienced by us, that is grace being added to us, grace upon grace.
Grace is Christ. All the spiritual experiences of a Christian should be experiences of Christ as grace. In our experience of the grace in God’s economy, first, we have faith and love through the Lord’s superabounding grace (1 Tim. 1:14). To be a believer is a matter of faith and love. Faith and love are products of the Lord’s grace. Through faith we receive the Lord, and through love we enjoy the Lord whom we have received. We have neither faith nor love, but when we allow the Lord to come into us, both faith and love from the Lord as grace come into us.
When we preach the gospel, we infuse people with such a trustworthy and lovely Lord. I have been to Hong Kong numerous times, and I have noticed that the jewelers there have the skill of talking continually and unceasingly. If a jeweler is not able to convince you the first day, he will talk to you again the next day when you pass by his store. After listening, you cannot help but buy a piece of jewelry from him, because the jewelry is really lovable. However, if he showed you a lump of clay, regardless of what he said, you would never stop to listen to his talk. When we preach the gospel, we are presenting to people a treasure of peerless worth in the universe. After we finish our speaking, many will believe because what is good is simply good, and what is precious is simply precious. In the end, everyone will want what we speak of.
When the Lord as the One of peerless worth appears to us, we simply cannot run away from Him. The Lord is too wonderful. He is so beautiful and sweet; He is incomparable. I have read something concerning J. N. Darby, who was a teacher among the Brethren in the nineteenth century. He lived to be eighty years old and remained single his whole life. At the age of eighty, one day during his travels he was staying in a hotel alone. In his loneliness he had such a sweet feeling within that he knelt down and prayed, “O Lord Jesus, I still love You.” This word touched me very much. Such a word coming from an old man proves how sweet the Lord Jesus is. What is this? This is the Lord Himself as grace coming into us to become our faith and love.