The Fullness of His Grace

As we approach the New Year, I pray that you may experience the fullness of God’s marvelous grace in your life more than ever before.

The coming of Jesus into the world is described this way in John 1:14,16:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,

and we beheld His glory,

the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,

full of grace and truth.

And of His fullness we have all received,

and grace for grace. 

In the original Greek, “grace for grace” can mean “grace opposite grace.” With God, from one end of the spectrum to the other, all you find is grace.

This phrase is also translated “grace upon grace.” The more you have a relationship with Him, the more grace you find. Grace is multiplied and magnified. There is no shadow of turning in Him. You cannot get out of His grace because that is who He is. His nature is grace upon grace.

John 1:17-18 continues:

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

From the Father’s life-giving bosom—from the very heart of God—comes Jesus. And Jesus “declares” God. The basic Greek word for “declare” means to “say it out loud.” So, proceeding from the very heart of the Father, Jesus is God out loud.

We have the same privilege of declaring God out loud, for the Gospel is the power of God.

As Romans 10:8-9 tells us,

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” …: that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Why does Jesus command sickness to leave? Because He is God out loud. Why does He tell you to go out and heal the sick? Because you are given the same power. You declare it out loud, and it happens. All you have to do is believe.

Our world today is much like the days of Noah, when it was filled with iniquity. It is also like the days of Moses, when the Israelites worshiped the golden calf. Yet Noah found favor, Moses found favor, and—through Christ—you have found favor. The question is, what will you do with this favor?

Moses prayed in Exodus 34:9:

“If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord … go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”

He humbly asked God to pardon the people—then boldly added, “and take us as Your inheritance.” Moses didn’t ask for a small thing. He literally asked for the entire nation to be saved, and that God would be with them forever. He asked largely!

Because of God’s grace, we, too, can be bold to ask largely.

Consider Hebrews 12:2:

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.

This is talking about you! You are the joy set before Him. You are the reason He came. You are the object of His desire. You are His inheritance. And Jesus cannot imagine being in eternity without you.

In a wonderful way, He is fulfilling the request of Moses, who asked God to come among us, pardon us, and take us as His inheritance.

All we need to do is ask—for God is full of grace and mercy. It is His nature.

Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

When we see sinners, instead of being glad we are not like them, we should realize we may have done the same thing, except for the grace of God. It is good to remember where you were before receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

For me, it’s wonderfully humbling. I was not in a good place, yet His grace came to me. Jesus appeared to me at the Godavari River in India. He showed me how much He loves the Hindus even in the midst of their idolatry, how much He wants them, and how much grace He has for them.

That day I bowed my knee and said, “I need a Savior. There is no way in heaven or on earth that I can keep the law.”

Even though offenses abound in the world today, I thank God that His grace is sufficient to cover them all. As Romans 5:20 says,

But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. 

So, as you begin to recognize God’s unlimited grace and favor upon your life, let it shine out into the world.

Luke 2:30-32 tells us that when Simeon saw the infant Jesus in the Temple, he praised God, saying:

“For my eyes have seen Your salvation

Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,

A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,

And the glory of Your people Israel.”

May God bless you, may His face shine on you, and may He give you shalom—His peace.

All Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version.

© Copyright Gordon Robertson