Grace in this distinctive way did not come till Christ came. The law was given (John 1:1717For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)), but grace, when it came in, was not given, but came subsisting in the Blessed Person who was there; not simply a message of grace from God, but all His words, all His actions were grace, so that the vilest could come to Him, if they had confidence to do so.
The poor woman who was a sinner came to Simon’s house. Simon scarcely thought the Lord a prophet, but she came and bathed His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
He came to win the confidence of these poor creatures; God Himself, and perfect grace manifested in Him.
Some people say, “I am not afraid of the Saviour, but I am afraid to meet God.”
The reason is that they have never beheld the Divine glory of that Blessed Person who was God, the image of the invisible God.
How do I know what God is like?
By looking at Jesus in all His actions, all His ways.
I was asked to visit a woman whose husband had lately been converted. She had seen the change in him, but was herself afraid of God. She said she was afraid of meeting God, she did not know what He was like. I read with her Luke 7. We went over every detail of that beautiful picture, and at last I said,
“That is God,” With tears running down her cheeks she said,
“If that is God I cannot help trusting Him.”
The Lord came to win the confidence of sinners. God is often presented as at an awful distance, and His Son as coming to reconcile Him to us; but it is an immense thing when we come to see that the invisible God is there! The One we shall know in eternity is the One we have known in time.