Grace
Today’s Scripture Selection: John 1:17
“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
So much could be said about grace that I hardly know where to begin. The first chapter of the Gospel of John seems as good a place as any.
There, in that beautiful and poetic passage that begins, “In the beginning was the Word…,” we find a wonderful summary of God’s work – the pinnacle of which is the work of grace.
And while a nod of recognition goes to Moses and the law, John focuses on the “glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
There it is again – this interesting combination – grace and truth.
Both are important. Both are key to what God most wants to accomplish in our lives. Both are at work not just in our individual lives but in the entire unfolding of God’s work in the world.
And, it seems to me, that John is somehow saying that the two – truth and grace – are intimately related.
There is no falsehood in the work of God through Christ.
There are no tricks, no deceit. There is only clear, clean, honest love incarnate – and peace that “passes all understanding” – or easy explanation.
On the other hand, God’s work is simple in a way. John said it so well, a little later in his Gospel:
“For God so loved the world that He gave…”
I imagine you can fill in the rest.
So celebrate this wonderful truth and this amazing grace, over and over again.
It’s what God is all about.
Prayer: Father, thank you for the gifts of grace and truth. May I be the instrument, in your name, of sharing both with my world. AMEN.
IGW3 - In God's Word, In God's Will, In God's Work 