I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:4
We teach children in the Sunday School that grace is something we receive that we don’t deserve. It sounds so simple, but grace, when we refer to the grace of God, is vastly more important, more encompassing, and more precious that we can even imagine. In fact, we are told that it will take the extent of the ages of eternity for God to unfold to us the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7). Because of our rebellion and our sinfulness, we deserve nothing from God. That means that everything we receive from Him is of grace. We cannot claim any merit or credit for anything we receive; we can only claim a relationship with the God of grace, and that relationship grants to us the access to the grace of God forever.
Since you began reading this message, the grace of God has granted you upwards of 100 heartbeats and a couple of dozen breaths. All the critical elements of life are from Him, and His grace grants us an existence. The temporal blessings of all kinds that we often consider lightly are all from Him. Of course, all of these blessings are bountifully bestowed by a generous God on both the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:48). But when we begin considering our spiritual blessings, we find ourselves soaring into the infinite, with no words, thoughts, or concepts able to grasp the magnitude and value of what God has prepared for us. Our rescue from the damnation we deserve and our guarantee of Heaven as our eternal home is but the beginning of what the grace of God has given us. Along the way, He loads our table with rich and precious promises every day. His daily supply of comfort, encouragement, and inspiration is never interrupted, nor is the power of His presence. In His Word is everything that our souls require to sustain us and to bring us into a full knowledge and appreciation of Himself. He gives us the company of His people to enjoy and share in our spiritual blessings, and to demonstrate the love of Christ. A list of that which the grace of God has given us as His children could never be completed. But then we pause to consider our eternal blessings, and realize that our minds are too tiny to grasp these. The joys of Heaven can be only imagined, and we can only acknowledge that they are to be enjoyed without limit forever.
Paul speaks of giving thanks to God for the grace that He gave to the Corinthians. Giving thanks for the grace of God, given to ourselves and to other believers, is a valuable exercise. If the grace of God is so wonderful, thankfulness for it should always be uppermost in our minds and constantly on our lips. The more we express our gratitude to God for His grace, the less we will think about the little problems and disappointments and rough spots that show up along our pathway.
Oh for language and passion to adequately thank our God for His wondrous grace given to us! -Jim MacIntosh