The Immeasurable Riches of God's Grace

Early in the summer, I decided to give as a gift to the teachers in the Family and Children’s department the book The Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney. Although the truths that Mahaney seeks to convey in this book are “basic” and fundamental to the Christian faith, he makes the application of these truths profound. His constant exhortation to remind his readers to think deeply of the gospel and to think daily of the gospel is critical in the process of sanctification. We can never exhaust our meditation on the gospel because for all eternity we will forever be reminded of the Lamb who was slain for our sins.

This morning as I was meditating through Ephesians chapter 2, I came across this verse: “…so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus…” This verse (Eph 2:7) struck me. Life has its many ups and downs. Our thoughts can be consumed by those things that affect our lives, whether prosperity or poverty, whether good or bad, or whether pain or pleasure. Pastoral ministry has its many highs and lows, and my mind can be consumed by either one. Part of the reason is because I love and care for the church so much. And when there are issues that I need to deal with related to the church, my mind gravitates towards wanting to fix it or develop a plan to make it right. But I am so thankful for passages like Ephesians chapter 2 where I am reminded that in God’s mercy and grace he chose to make me alive in Christ when I was once dead in my transgressions. I once lived my life according to the course of this world, but in God’s kindness he saved me by His grace. It is always refreshing and renewing to meditate on God’s saving work. Sometimes it’s hard to practically live it out in every day life. But this morning as I ran across verse 7, I was reminded that not only did God show his grace towards us in saving us. He will continue to unfold more of his grace towards us in the coming ages. Every unfolding of God’s grace will be refreshment to our soul in this life and in the life to come. We will never get tired of seeing God’s immeasurable grace unfold before our eyes. This is why we need to daily pray for God to show us not only evidence of grace in our own life, but also in the lives of others.

Can you identify glimpses of God’s grace in your children; maybe in the way they interact with their brothers and sisters or perhaps in how much more quickly they respond to your guidance and wisdom? Do you see glimpses of God’s work in your spouses’ life in the way they desire more and more each day to carry out the role of husband, wife, father or mother according the principles laid out in Scripture? If this is what we have to look forward to for all eternity, namely, the disclosing of God’s infinite grace, we must make it a pattern in our life to daily look for evidence of grace not only in our own life but also in the lives of others. When our first response is to identify evidence of grace in the life of others it will become easier for them to become our objects of joy because of God’s saving work in their life rather than burdens to bear.