Grace, Grace to It! Zechariah 4:7: The Gospel: from God’S Point of View.

By D.L. Waterhouse

Grace, Grace to It! is the product of the Holy Spirit. As for the authors part, it involved years of minute, isolated revelations of the scriptures received over a lifetime of experiences, years of Bible study with other seekers of the truth as it is in Jesus, along with thousands of hours upon hours of discussion compiled into one work. It is also the personal testimony of this author. And it is the prayer of this author that it will be the same blessing to each reader that it will always be to the one who wrote it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781512798692

D.L. Waterhouse

D.L. Waterhouse began writing in 2008. Over the next seven years he completed and published three works of Christian fiction: Alfred Creek, The fruit of Atrocity, and Cult on the Hill. Available only @ www.ifli4fun.com. Retired from over forty-four years in the construction trades he now devotes his time to sharing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ through seminars and writing. Waterhouse lives in Carnation WA. with his wife of thirty-nine years and their three felines.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 D.L. Waterhouse.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9870-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9871-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-9869-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017912343

WestBow Press rev. date: 8/18/2017

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®. HCSB®. Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible™, Holman CSB™, and HCSB™ are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1:     Blessed Are the Eyes That See What You See

Chapter 2:     The Gospel First in Eden

Chapter 3:     Two Men and a Woman

Chapter 4:     The Blood

Chapter 5:     The Purpose of the Law

Chapter 6:     The Fulfillment of the Law

Chapter 7:     The Rest of God

Chapter 8:     Jerusalem versus Babylon—the Tale of Two Cities

Chapter 9:     Revelation 9— Locusts

Chapter 10:   The Deadly Wound That Was Healed

Preface

It would be a discredit to the true author of Grace, Grace to It if I were to take any credit whatsoever for the initiative or inspiration that brought about its creation. It is true that I typed the words, did a little editing, and even prayed for revelation and enlightenment, but that is all I did.

The true author is the Holy Spirit of God, who lighteth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:9 KJV).

A long time ago, I saw a streak of that light flash across my brain, and I wondered what it was. So, I asked God, and he gave me another streak.

I also noticed that with every streak of light that came, the Lord required me to give up one of my preexisting erroneous ideas concerning the subject matter I was considering. One by one, we transacted, trading my man-made theories for his inspired streaks of light.

It wasn’t always him and me, under a tree like Elijah. Most often it was experiences I went through. And very often a friend of mine whom I had met many years ago in Sandpoint, Idaho,who made statements to me that, at the time, I thought were absurd, such as, When did Jesus die on the cross, before or after he was nailed to the cross? I thought my friend was crazy, until God and I made another trade: my thoughts for his thoughts, my viewpoint for his viewpoint.

I’m sure it will be the same for every reader of Grace, Grace to It who persists in reading to the end. Thank God for you. It is my prayer that you come away with a blessing you never imagined.

***

Introduction

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for God, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him, to be sin for us; who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:18–21 KJV)

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed [taken] our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:12 KJV)

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. (Isaiah 43:25 KJV)

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Peter 2:24 KJV)

That he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. (1 Peter 3:18 KJV)

For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9 KJV)

Many years ago, I was in Sandpoint, Idaho, visiting an art gallery observing a display of paintings by an artist local to the area. A large landscape portrait caught my eye. At first glance it appeared to be merely another artist’s rendition of one of the awesome sunsets over the southwest Utah desert. However, on closer inspection, something unusual caught my eye. Integrated into the dynamics of the desert scene was the ghostlike form of a Native American paint horse. I looked closer, until out of the contours of the cliffs, the rays of the setting sun, and shadows casting their purple hue across the sage, many more paint ponies appeared. Some were so well blended into the exquisitely crafted scene that it was only through persistent study that I was able to identify as many as thirty-two horses, seemingly being birthed from the land by Mother Earth.

Do you know that the scriptures are like that? Bible story after Bible story, parable after parable, from the historical account of Moses describing the creation week that culminated in the existence of our first ancestors, to the fifteen hundred years of history of the children of Israel, to the coming of the prophesied Lord of glory as Jesus Christ in a manger in Bethlehem, down through time to our current day, the scriptures paint a time-lapsed video of the plan of salvation provided by the Son of God himself. From the moment of our first parents’ Fall to the day of the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, the Bible is one extended rendition of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8 KJV).

Concealed in the parables that Jesus taught during his three and a half years of ministry on this earth, hidden in historical events recorded in the Bible, couched even in the translation of original Hebrew and Greek text, is revealed the greatest story ever told. Not complicated or theological, and not merely once but simply and repeatedly through sixty-six books written by numerous contributing authors spanning over four thousand years of time, the same story continues to emerge over and over again. This story is summarized in two sentences of scripture: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1–2 KJV).

Each parable and Bible story is important. Each, symbiotically related to the other. Each supporting and contributing to every other story, yet all have been recorded by authors separated by hundreds, even thousands, of years, whose work has been miraculously preserved as an inheritance for these last generations.

This very basic commentary you are reading is neither huge nor complicated. And, in relation to all that is contained within the sixty-six books of the Bible, it is not even complete. But it is not intended to be complete. It is intended only as an consideration of the gospel as seen from God’s point of view.

Most people have only considered the Word of God from humankind’s point of view, a human perspective that results in as many interpretations of the Word of God as there are interpreters.

The purpose of Grace, Grace to It is to provide a window, a lens if you will, into the perspective of God, to consider the gospel of Jesus Christ from God’s point of view, as opposed to humankind’s point of view.

It is this writer’s prayer that every believer would begin each Bible study with this set of glasses. Just as there are two sides to every coin, there are two pair of glasses through which to view the scriptures.

The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him (Proverbs 18:17 ESV).

The religions of the world have been stating their case for centuries. In Grace, Grace to It, if you are listening, maybe you will hear God state his.

Chapter 1

Blessed Are the Eyes That See What You See

O nce upon a time, there was a little country town named Parma. Other than a single four-way intersection, it had no stop signs or traffic lights, no speed zones, and no police force. It was just a small backwater burg where children grew up playing in the streets, and grandmothers gathered on the sidewalks for gossip without fear of such things as muggers, speeding cars, or being run over by a reckless driver. But then one day a teenage boy came to town driving a shiny new 1964 Shelby Mustang.

From a quarter of a mile away the rumble of the legendary Ford V-8 could be heard through the twin straight exhaust pipes, which belched short flashes of orange flame with every caress of the driver’s foot on the accelerator. The power under the hood was intoxicating to the rich kid from the city. He had just turned sixteen; the Mustang was his birthday present. With every tap of his foot on the pedal, the adolescent communicated to the growing crowd that an incredible amount of power was available for him to do with as he pleased.

The sensational news of the muscle car spread quickly, until the whole town had come out to see the teenage boy and his hot rod. Children chanted, Do a wheelie. Do a wheelie. Adults shouted, How fast will it go? The attention, the excitement, and the power was more than the lad could resist. The boy’s foot mashed on the gas. Varoom, varoom. The engine roared and the rear tires sprayed dirt and gravel in every direction as the car leapt forward, swerving from side to side under the tremendous thrust. Faster and faster the car accelerated. Dogs yelped and people scattered as the Mustang quickly gathered speed. By the time he reached the intersection, the rich kid and his Mustang were doing over eighty miles per hour, too fast for the driver to see the deaf boy on the bicycle who was already in the path of the speeding car.

That day was a sad day for the sleepy town of Parma. It was also the beginning of a new way of life for every citizen. Laws were placed on the books, policemen were hired to enforce the laws, stop signs went up, speed limit signs were posted, and officers began writing tickets. People paid fines or else went to jail. Attorney offices sprouted up all over town. Shyster, bail bondsman from out of town, moved in to get rich off the corruption of others. Corruption bred more corruption, and with every criminal innovation, new laws were added to the books: new laws, more fines, more sentences, more judges, more lawyers, more jail cells, more parole officers, more prisons, and more courts.

Early on it was realized that inherent in every citizen was not only the need for speed but also the intoxication that comes with power and control. It seemed that ultimately every individual needed his or her own personal cop to watch them twenty-four hours a day. Then, the cops proved just as corrupt, to the point that even they needed a cop to watch them.

So the people formed the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA; elected county prosecutors, state prosecutors, and special prosecutors; and hired vice cops and undercover cops who wore wires and sold drugs to pay stool pigeons. Police began wearing video cameras on their uniforms. When that didn’t work, the police quit working entirely, sitting in their cars drinking coffee while watching crime take place before their very eyes.

Of course, churches sprouted up too. Ministers of religion preached of the folly of bad behavior, alcohol drug abuse, and adultery. They held evangelistic meetings. People came to get forgiven and be saved. Then the ministers were found to be just as corrupt as all the lawyers and bail bondsmen.

Everybody blamed everybody else for the corruption. The Left blamed the Right; the Right, the Left. The Arabs blamed the Jews; the Indians blamed the non-Indians; black people blamed white people; Americans feared the Russians; the Russians feared the Americans. Every evil was everyone else’s fault. By now, hardly anyone remembered the sixteen-year-old boy with the Mustang, or the quiet little town of Parma where it had all begun.

Since the Fall of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, human beings have been attempting to live with the corrupt, fallen, sinful human nature inherited from their first parents. Consequently, for the same reasons the first pair fell from their original state of perfection, humanity has made a lucrative business of manufacturing clothing from fig leaves (humanistic religion) to cover their nakedness.

Philosophers and theologians have been studying human behavior for thousands of years, attempting to understand the fundamental reason for humanity’s infatuation with and bent toward evil. They all agree that a newborn child without proper instruction will most often grow up bad. From the human standpoint, humankind is bad by nature. Yet psychiatry has also observed that there is a bit of good in humankind, too. Good and bad cohabiting in the human being. Humankind is both good and evil, much like the forbidden tree that Adam and Eve ate from.

"Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others" (Ephesians 2:3 KJV, emphasis added).

The human race is full of opinions about the origin of the evil that exists in the nature of humankind. Some say it is learned behavior, that humankind by nature is intrinsically good. However, according to the scriptures, human beings are "by nature the children of wrath."

There is another scripture that we must consider: "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:9 KJV, emphasis added). It is important that we understand who that Light is: I am the light of the world (John 8:12 KJV). Of course, the I" is Jesus, the Son of God.

So it was in the garden of Eden, at the moment the once perfect pair ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they not only took on the satanic evil nature of the devil himself but also, in the same moment, received from God that true Light which lighteth every man. From that moment forward, good and evil existed in every person—just as it did in that one tree in the garden.

In Genesis 3:22, God said, Behold the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil (KJV). However, knowing good and evil and being both good and evil are two different things. God knows both good and evil, yet he is not evil. Luke 18:19 reads, And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one, that is, God (KJV).

Genesis 2:17 tells us about the tree, In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (KJV). It was at the point when the pair first bit into the forbidden fruit that the preordained grace and mercies of God, provided in the provisions of the gospel, were exercised on behalf of all humanity. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ stepped forward to take the death that God had promised to Adam. In so doing, the Lord God reconciled to himself forever not only Adam and Eve but also their posterity to the end of time on this earth. Therefore, you and I have been born into this world prereconciled to God, through Jesus Christ.

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their [humankind’s] trespasses unto them … we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:18–21 KJV, emphasis added)

My oldest daughter lives in the southern Midwestern part of the country. Some years ago she had a wonderful neighbor lady who had become famous for making fried pies. I can personally testify to how very delicious those pies were. One day while I was visiting, my daughter brought home a dozen hot-out-of-the-oven fried pies for her daddy. Now, my daughter also had a dog, named Chelsea. Chelsea was a very quiet innocuous pet who dearly loved any and all leftovers, especially fried pies. After my daughter