Grace in Abundance

Grace in Abundance!

“… And we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 The word ‘Grace’ is packed to capacity with meaning about God and His attitude towards us. It speaks of God’s beauty, His benevolence, generosity, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, mercy, blessings, richness, glory and honor, among many other qualities.

John tells us that Jesus was “full of Grace” and Paul tells us that because of that Grace, “though Jesus was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor…” So we are the recipients of God’s Grace: “of His fullness have we all received, Grace for Grace……Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ.”

What does this Grace mean to us? Paul says that we are “ justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.” Therefore by God’s Grace, we who believe in Jesus, are no longer guilty before God, we are forgiven and redeemed. And this Grace not only brings salvation, but also righteousness, knowledge, and truth etc. Furthermore, God does not give sparingly: “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that you always have all sufficiency ….abounding to good works.” We are given the initial Grace of salvation and then God is prepared to give us even more. We are told that through Grace we have become enriched; we are “heirs” of God; we are told that we are blessed “according to the riches of His Grace.”

The gift of Grace and all that goes with it, is God doing His part. Do we as recipients also have a part to play? Peter explains: “As everyone has received the gift, even so minister to one another, as good stewards of the manifold Grace of God.” As Christians we are told to “grow in Grace”, in service to God, in humility, in good works, to imitate God’s generosity to us by being generous and compassionate to others, and we are warned not to “receive the Grace of God in vain.” (2 Cor. 6:1)

Al Jones