Thanking God for His Amazing Grace

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Ephesians 1:19-21

and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might ²⁰ that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

(ESV)

Run on sentences drive grammar teachers crazy so the passage in Ephesians 1:15-21 would have given Paul an F if it was contained in a written assignment for school.  However, Paul’s run on sentence in this passage comes from a heart excited about the amazing grace of God, a grace that did not throw humanity away when they disobeyed Him in the Garden and instead provided salvation through the sacrifice of the only Son of God on the cross.

It is Christmas season, a time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  It is a time of nativity scenes showing the birth of Christ in a lowly manger where lowly shepherds and elite kings visited Him.  It is a time of lights signifying the birth of the one who would later declare He was the Light of the World (John 8:12).   It is a time of giving and receiving gifts signifying God giving the world the gift of salvation through His son and our being able to have complete redemption from our sins by accepting this gift.  While these things are good, I want to encourage my readers to take a moment to reflect on the depth of what the birth of Christ really means and the immensity of the sacrifice God made with the birth of Jesus. 

John 1:1 tells “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  The Greek Word translated word all three times in John 1:1 is logos.  While the word can mean something said it also carries a deeper meaning of something thought, a subject of discourse, and the motive or reason behind what is said. (1) The term was familiar to Jews at the time of John’s writing as a word designating a divine reason or plan coordinating a changing universe.  Therefore, we are safe to interpret John 1:1 to mean the fulfillment of God’s plan of redemption first prophesized in Genesis 3:15 had come to the world through the birth of Jesus Christ.  

Another way of looking at this is to understand that Jesus, the Son of God, who was with God from the beginning living with His Father in the glory of heaven gave all that up to be born a man in a lowly manger.  While the fact that God would even consider becoming like us, all be it without sin, is amazing enough, Jesus could have chosen to be born as a prince in a palace or a priest among the priests of his time but instead chose to be born in a humble manner among the ordinary people of His time.  From this position Jesus could warn his followers to be cautious of the teachings of the kings and priests of his time (Matthew 16:6) and instead live their lives following the Word of God.  With the birth of Jesus, the Word of God was no longer just dead words written on paper but now was a living word making it relatable to all humanity.

Let us therefore this Christmas season take a moment from the busyness of the season to reflect on the amazing fact that God loved us so much he sent His Only Son Jesus to earth in a relatable fleshly form.  In this fleshly form the Word of God could now come alive and be relatable to all humanity.  And finally, in this fleshly yet sinless form (Hebrews 4:15), Jesus Christ could become the ultimate sacrifice that once and for all provided redemption from sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

Because of the birth of Christ on Christmas, a birth with the purpose of His death on the cross followed by his glorious resurrection, we can now experience a rebirth into the righteousness of God in Christ.  It is this truth that makes the amazing grace of God so amazing.

If you have not experienced this amazing grace, I encourage you to do so now by praying with me,

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

God’s grace is truly amazing and something we should be grateful for in our lives. 

1. godrules.net. Logoj. www.godrules,net. [Online] Bible Explore.com. [Cited: December 10, 2016.] http://www.godrules.net/library/strongs2b/gre3056.htm.