Christ's redemption meets the requirement of God's glory, holiness, and righteousness. The Lord Jesus died for us in order to satisfy God's requirements. Christ redeemed us back to our original position so that we can enter into God and enjoy Him as our life. Since the redemption of Christ had not yet been accomplished in the Old Testament, God used propitiation, which was accomplished with the animal sacrifices. Propitiation in the Old Testament typified the redemption of Christ in the New Testament. The blood of the sacrifice offered to God for the sins of the Israelites on the day of propitiation was brought into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled upon the cover of the ark (Lev. 16:14-15). Within the ark, under its cover, were the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. These commandments placed certain demands upon man before God. But the blood of the bullock covered the demands of these commandments. As a result, God could see only the covering blood and not the Ten Commandments. The troublesome situation between man and God was covered, that is, propitiated. The issue of this propitiation was peace. On the propitiatory place, the cover of the ark, God and man were able to meet in peace. The propitiation in the Old Testament gave the saints the right to partake of God as the fountain of life for their satisfaction (Psa. 36:8-9).
The propitiation in the Old Testament pointed to the redemption of Christ, which He accomplished in the New Testament. Now, under this redemption we have the full right to enter into God and take Him as our life.
The first point concerning God being life to us in the New Testament is His incarnation. God came to be incarnated that man may receive Him as grace and reality (John 1:14, 16). Both grace and reality are God Himself to be man's life as man's eternal portion. God was incarnated in order that He might dispense Himself into us as life. John 1:14 says, "And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us...full of grace and reality." For the Word to become flesh means that God became a man. Grace is God enjoyed by us, and reality is God gained by us. When God is gained by us, that is reality. If we have everything in the universe but do not have God, everything is vanity. Only God is reality. When God is gained, realized, and apprehended by us, God is reality to us.
In order for us to enjoy Him and to gain Him, God must be our life. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Verse 3 says that all things came into being through Him. Then verse 4 says, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." Joining these verses with verse 14, we can see that God as the Word became flesh to bring grace and reality to us. To have grace and reality is to have God as life.
According to New Testament usage, grace and reality are equal to life. In John 14:6 the Lord declared, "I am the way, and the reality, and the life." In this portion of the Word, reality and life are joined together. If we do not have the reality, how can we have the way? If we do not have the life, how can we have the reality? When we have the life, we also have the reality. When we have the reality, the reality is the way. We are human beings; but without the human life, how could we have the human reality? Without the human reality, how could we carry out human things? In order to carry out human things, we need human reality, and in order to have human reality, we must have human life. The way is the reality, and the reality is the life. Hence, John 14:6 tells us that reality and life are one thing. Grace and life also are one thing. Both 1 Corinthians 15:10 and Galatians 2:20 contain the phrase "yet not I, but." First Corinthians 15:10 says, "...yet not I, but the grace of God," and Galatians 2:20 says, "...yet not I, but Christ" (KJV). Putting these two verses together, we can see that grace is Christ Himself. Second Corinthians 13:14 refers to "the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ." This too indicates that grace is just Christ. This Christ is the One who lives in us (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 8:10) as our life (Col. 3:4). When all these verses are put together, we can see that grace is the divine life of God becoming our portion. When the divine life of God becomes our portion, this is grace. According to popular American theology, grace is unmerited favor. To receive a good car for transportation as a gift without paying any money would be counted as grace. This kind of theology is very shallow. However, Hymns, #497 defines grace according to its highest definition: