A Wish and Goodwill

 

“To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”

—Philippians 4:20 and 23

Just the other day, I offered some comments regarding the second verse in our Scripture passage for today. I suggested that, as he often did, the Apostle Paul offered a profound benediction. And, indeed he did.

Later, after posting that blog entry, I noticed that in the previous verses, Paul offers a closing statement to a particularly heartfelt assertion with the words found in the first verse of today’s passage. Here are those two verses from Philippians 4:20 and 23:

To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.

It occurred to me that we cannot have the second without the first. The grace of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—flows forth to us from the glory that is His alone. The Triune God is so full of glory, honor, majesty, and power, that His enduring grace flows forth from His throne into the lives of each one He has called to Himself.

That may seem a bit strange until we realize that the enormity of who God is extends well beyond our ability to comprehend. But, we see a shadow of His greatness by observing the magnificent grace He has given to each one of us who believe.

In literally every portion of Scripture, we see the grace of God poured out on His people. In Genesis, we observe His grace given to Adam and Eve, both before, during, and after their fall. In Father Abraham and the story of God’s Covenant People, the Jews, we see His grace providing for them every step of the way. And, in the New Testament, we see God’s grace given to the Gentiles, as well as to the Jews, through the precious blood of Jesus.

I have written many times in the blog about the importance of we Gentiles realizing that in God choosing us to belong to Him way back before the creation of the world, He knew that He would, in due season, graft us into the lineage of His Chosen People, Israel. His Covenant becomes a Covenant of Grace from first to last. And, that grace flows from His holiness, His righteousness, His greatness, and the enormity of His glory.

As we begin a new day, let’s be thankful that as all glory goes to our God, so He has, in turn, extended His marvelous grace to us through His Son, Jesus. How blessed we are. How blessed we are, indeed.

 

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