"Grace and Peace..."

 

    Of the thirteen New Testament epistles we know to have been written by the Apostle Paul, each contain a form of the salutation found in Romans 1:7...

 

    "Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

 

    Paul's introductory blessing in each letter reveals the attitude of God toward His trusting children in Christ.  He conveys His grace to us in order that we may know His peace.  This is interesting because believers have already received God's grace in our new birth, and in the foundational sense "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).  Paul therefore addresses in his salutations our ongoing need for experiencing grace and peace as we live our earthly lives.  This is surely the case, and blessed is the Christian aware of our Heavenly Father's attitude and desire to perpetually bestow His favor in order to maintain the tranquility of our hearts.

 

    I am convinced that the more we know the attitude of God toward us, the more our own attitudes will be directed toward the devotion He desires to produce in us (II Corinthians 3:18).  We must have a strong sense of the atmosphere of good will that prevails in our Lord's heart toward us.  Certainly He is not pleased with all that we think, say, and do.  We can grieve the Holy Spirit, and we can feel God's "fiery indignation" as He deals with wayward attitudes and behaviors that will harm us (Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 10:27).  However, nothing changes the fundamental attitude of God being "for us" made possible by our justification through Christ (Romans 8:31).  Our Savior bore the wrath of God when He died on the cross, suffering the ultimate in rejection so that we might receive the ultimate in being "accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).

 

    A.W. Tozer wrote that "we may safely preach a friendly Heaven."  Tozer did not preclude wrath for the unbeliever or chastening for the believer by his affirmation of Divine lovingkindess offered to humanity.  He simply meant that all who will come to God through Christ enter into relationship with a Father whose attitude toward us is one of grace and peace.  His heart is tender in both caress and correction, and He desires our growing awareness of His fixed and eternal love for us.  Remembrance and strong affirmation of such Truth will go far in enabling increasing love, faith, obedience, and a heart devoted to the glory of God and the blessing others.

 

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, 

which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; 

Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. 

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

(Luke 2:1-14)

 

   

"The Mastery of Love"

 

     "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

 

     Only the Lord Jesus Christ can truthfully declare this promise to our hearts.  All other yokes are hard, all other burdens heavy, and there is no rest for our souls save in the sabbath of He who calls us to cease from our own works (Hebrews 4:10).

 

    "We are His workmanship... it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:13).

 

    Believers work, but we do so from God rather than for Him.  The quality of life to which He calls us - the life of Christ Himself - is far beyond our native willingness, ability, and capacity.  We were created for habitation, that is, to be the very dwellingplace of the Lord Jesus Himself for the purpose of His living and walking in us (II Corinthians 6:16).  When we are born again through faith, the Spirit of God takes residence within us for the sublime purpose of Christ's life replacing the wicked and deluded notion that we can independently navigate the course of our existence.  We cannot - "without Me, ye can do nothing" - and both Old Testament and New declare that "He is thy life" (Deuteronomy 30:20; Colossians 3:4).

 

    The born again believer awakens in each new day to the easy yoke and light burden of a Master whose commands to obey are preceded and empowered by His promises to produce both willingness and doing in us.  All other lords require self motivation and effort.  The Lord Jesus provides motivation and effort as we trust His Word concerning a "power that worketh in us" that is "exceeding, abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).  Little wonder that the writer of Hebrews exulted in "so great salvation," the salvation that not only freely grants relationship with God, but also works in us "both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Hebrews 2:3). 

 

     Finally, let us also recall that the Lordship of Jesus is a mastery of love.  Our Savior does not dominate or humiliate us by His rulership.  He rather lifts us up from the mire of shame and frustration wrought upon us by so many false masters.  Our humanity is actualized by the presence of His divinity as the indwelling Holy Spirit energizes our unique faculties for the glory of God.  All is done with a devotion of affection, good will, and joy that governs with gladness, the gladness of a Father whose love for one Son led to His "bringing many sons unto glory" (Hebrews 2:10).  Realization of this mastery of love leads to the joyful service of love and the easy yoke and light burden that the Lord Jesus alone commands.

 

"Whereunto I also labor, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily."

(Colossians 1:29)

 

 

   

"Coming Forth"

 

    "For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God" (II Corinthians 4:15).

 

    It seems counter intuitive and completely against our nature to view trouble as the opportunity to come forth from ourselves to seek the glory of God and the blessing of others.

 

    Discomfort, pain, and difficulty naturally tempt us to withdraw into ourselves.  Of course, people of varying backgrounds, upbringing, and personality respond differently to challenge.  However we may react, our human inclination tends to focus us on ourselves in either self pity and despair, or self determination and pride.

 

    The Apostle Paul, conversely, recognized that the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in his heart and life constituted a completely different outlook on trouble.  Our Savior lived a lifetime of continuing challenge and difficulty.  His Father's glory and the needs of people provided the context of all that He did.  "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).  The same Christ lived in Paul, and led the Apostle to the same perspective that viewed problems and pain in terms of "for your sakes" and "the glory of God."

 

    What if the particular pain, sorrow, or difficulty you and I face in this day has been allowed or perhaps even determined by God for the revelation of Christ to others by us, and for their benefit?  If we have believed, this is the indeed the truth of the matter.  There may be other purposes as well, including our own maturing, growth, and correction.  However, our Heavenly Father's ultimate intention in all difficulty involves His ongoing process of conforming us to the image of the Lord Jesus (Romans 8:29).  We can therefore be sure that our Savior's glory and the blessing of others forms God's loving motivation as He directs us to "walk, even as He walked" (I John 2:6).

 

     "How will You be honored in this?  And who will be blessed as I trust and submit myself to You in this?"  These are the two great questions we direct toward our Heavenly Father when trouble comes.  They may not immediately arise within us because our natural human response to difficulty flows in a completely different direction.  However, knowing the Bible's clear teaching regarding the opportunity awaiting us in our challenges prepares us to overcome the fleshly inclination to sink within ourselves.  Instead, we come forth by faith and through the power of the risen Christ to glorify God and seek the blessing of others.  There is no greater honor that our Father could bestow upon us, and no greater fulfillment of our hearts.

 

"So then death worketh in us, but life in you."

(II Corinthians 4:12)