It’s been said by avid readers that some books are like acquaintances, and others are like close friends. While I know that all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for instruction, I find the same to be true of passages of Scripture – some are very close friends.
One thing I love about Scripture is that it is inexhaustible. You can never know it all or figure it all out. We spend our lifetime learning from it. Meditating on a verse or a passage is like holding a diamond up to the light. As you turn it and look at it from different angles, you see new beauty. It doesn’t get old. It just gets more and more beautiful.
I have found this to be true of one of my ‘close friends’ passages. The more I ponder it, the more I examine it, the more and more beautiful it becomes.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about Him, and cried out, ‘This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because He was before me.’) For from His fulness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:14-17, ESV)
All of John 1 is worth a closer look, but whenever I get to verse 16, I’m in awe all over again. When I take some time to sit down with this close friend, I am filled with gratitude.
First of all, Jesus is FULL of grace and truth according to verse 14. It is from His fulness that we receive, but the next three words are life-changing. Grace upon grace. Not just a little bit of grace. Truckloads of grace.
Just hold this verse up to the light with me for a few minutes. Look at it from different angles. Let your mind ponder it. We are the recipients of divine grace upon grace. Grace for the past. Grace for the present. Grace for the future. All the grace we’ll ever need.
Grace can be explained in two ways. First, it is getting something we don’t deserve (not to be confused with mercy, which is not getting what we do deserve). Secondly, it is the divine enablement we receive to follow Jesus, to live out the things He has told us to do.
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Ephesians 1:7-10, ESV)
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:8, ESV)
Grace is being adopted into God’s family, becoming His very own child. Grace is being forgiven for every time we have failed. Grace is knowing that we will live forever in the presence of the Father. Grace is having everything we need to do all the things He has asked us to do. Grace upon grace.
So what do we, who have received truckloads of grace, do? We become grace-givers too. We share grace with others. Freely we have received, freely we give. How could we do any less?
Has someone hurt us this week? Grace. Has someone failed to keep their word? Grace. Has someone spoken maliciously or unkindly? Grace. You get the idea. We can’t receive grace by the truckload and then be unwilling to share it. The truth is, for every bit of grace we are giving out, our supply will be renewed. It is a renewable resource, this amazing grace.
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:29-32, ESV)
“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:6, ESV)
“You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:17-18, ESV)
Dear Father, we are amazed by Your grace. You have lavished grace upon us, and knowing that fills our hearts with gratitude. By definition, we know it is something we don’t deserve. As we live this week in the reality of Your grace, please help us to be grace-givers. In those moments when grace is the last thing we want to give, please remind us that from the fulness of Jesus we have received grace upon grace. We have received freely, help us to freely give. Amen.
-Dana
Two Sisters. One Amazing Savior. 