For some time now, I've been seeing the number 55 so often--and I'm not talking about speed limit signs! No, it's mostly been coming up in a time on the clock or in verse numbers in the Word. 55's even been coming up through TV shows and phone numbers. I've been seeing it pretty regularly. So I really felt the Lord was unearthing something. But what does this all mean?
In Christian symbolism, 55 is associated with "double grace". Praise God! And that's what it's been recently--His grace has been a major encouragement. Grace upon grace and mercy upon mercy--that's what the Lord gives us. The mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:23), and the grace allows us to get through the day and persevere.
Now, God gives grace to all without finding fault (James 1:5). Praise God! But I feel like grace is not rightly conceptualized by much of the American Church today. Grace is for gifting, not for sinning. Let me elaborate--we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and it is indeed grace that allows us to be redeemed from sin. But more than that, grace is also meant to allow holy gifts to rest in impure vessels. Grace is meant to have the gifting rest in us!
"And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." Acts 4:33
Great power calls for great grace! Otherwise, the Lord's power would be too much for us to contain. We have His treasures in jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7), and grace is what allows us to experience the gifts nonetheless. We need the grace to accommodate the gifting. We need God's grace to operate in power while staying in purity. (For more on purity and power, see this post.)
If we have double grace, good! That means we'll need it to attain to the gift of God. There must be a big gifting, a big mission, and a big mandate ahead of us. We have all been called to mighty things, and between us and that attainment, there is a reservoir of grace awaiting our use. And there is some distance between where we are now, and the fullest extent of what God wants us attaining! We have some catching up to do. The gift needs to be fanned into flames (2 Timothy 1:6), and our character has to be brought up to a higher standard, also.
And we also have this grace to allow us to fulfill the law. It's not easy to fulfill the law! It takes grace. It takes grace and God's goodness that leads us to repentance. Now in the Old Testament, the Israelites had all those things. But they didn't have within them He who is greater than the sin of the world (1 John 4:4).
But Jesus came so that we could fulfill. With the Holy Spirit, we can do more than fulfill the law--we can transcend it. In a sense, we are above it. Keep in mind that we do follow the law--that's important. But now, we have a list of "do's", not a list of "do nots". Now we can live out the law in an expression of love--a new commandment. We can embrace the Spirit of the law, not just the letter. We can have the law of liberty written into our spirits (James 1:25), and we can receive a double portion of grace in getting there. Hallelujah!
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." John 13:34
In Christian symbolism, 55 is associated with "double grace". Praise God! And that's what it's been recently--His grace has been a major encouragement. Grace upon grace and mercy upon mercy--that's what the Lord gives us. The mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:23), and the grace allows us to get through the day and persevere.
Now, God gives grace to all without finding fault (James 1:5). Praise God! But I feel like grace is not rightly conceptualized by much of the American Church today. Grace is for gifting, not for sinning. Let me elaborate--we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and it is indeed grace that allows us to be redeemed from sin. But more than that, grace is also meant to allow holy gifts to rest in impure vessels. Grace is meant to have the gifting rest in us!
"And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." Acts 4:33
Great power calls for great grace! Otherwise, the Lord's power would be too much for us to contain. We have His treasures in jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7), and grace is what allows us to experience the gifts nonetheless. We need the grace to accommodate the gifting. We need God's grace to operate in power while staying in purity. (For more on purity and power, see this post.)
If we have double grace, good! That means we'll need it to attain to the gift of God. There must be a big gifting, a big mission, and a big mandate ahead of us. We have all been called to mighty things, and between us and that attainment, there is a reservoir of grace awaiting our use. And there is some distance between where we are now, and the fullest extent of what God wants us attaining! We have some catching up to do. The gift needs to be fanned into flames (2 Timothy 1:6), and our character has to be brought up to a higher standard, also.
And we also have this grace to allow us to fulfill the law. It's not easy to fulfill the law! It takes grace. It takes grace and God's goodness that leads us to repentance. Now in the Old Testament, the Israelites had all those things. But they didn't have within them He who is greater than the sin of the world (1 John 4:4).
But Jesus came so that we could fulfill. With the Holy Spirit, we can do more than fulfill the law--we can transcend it. In a sense, we are above it. Keep in mind that we do follow the law--that's important. But now, we have a list of "do's", not a list of "do nots". Now we can live out the law in an expression of love--a new commandment. We can embrace the Spirit of the law, not just the letter. We can have the law of liberty written into our spirits (James 1:25), and we can receive a double portion of grace in getting there. Hallelujah!
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." John 13:34
I am 55 years old. My home address is 55. May 5th is Ascension Thursday and a high watch for the rapture as is May 25, Pentecost. I see 55 and 555 all the time.
ReplyDeleteOops...May 15th, I meant to say.
ReplyDelete