The Powerful Riches of His Grace
As we wait on the Lord to get us through this Coronavirus pandemic, let us continue to seek His GRACE. The Apostle John wrote, “For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16). Our need for GRACE is not a ‘one and done’ or ‘one time gift’ of Jesus suffering and dying for our sin, and then we somehow try to navigate alone through life’s crisis and setbacks. No, GRACE is actually our constant power we desperately need each and every day. Yes, we absolutely need the GRACE of Jesus for salvation, but we also need His GRACE to empower us through anything and everything Satan attempts to throw our way.
The Apostle Paul battled some type of gnawing affliction which he labeled as his ‘thorn in the flesh’ and ‘messenger of Satan.’ He pleaded with the Lord about this and Jesus said back to him, “My GRACE is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9a). That word ‘weakness’ in the Greek literally means: ‘void of any power.’ How emphatic our Savior speaks – “My power is made perfect in powerlessness!”
We face a virus before which we have no immunity. We helplessly watch as people suffer and die. We can only wonder what will be left of our country’s economy when this crisis ends. We miss our children and grandchildren who live in areas we cannot travel. We miss our freedoms and vacations. All of this gnaws away at us and frustrates our hearts. We need the unending supply of GRACE – like an infant who desperately needs nourishment from his mother, we are desperate for the nurturing GRACE of God. Remember the anagram:
God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
The second letter – R – stands for “Riches.” For mankind, power and riches go hand in hand. The more wealth one has - the more power they possess. But this power of wealth is sneaky and can become the very thing upon which we depend, and thus becomes our weakness before God. Jesus warned in His parable of the seed sown on the different soils, “The seed sown on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in a time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” (Luke 8:14-15)
This COVID 19 crisis threatens our health, our wealth and all the pleasures we once enjoyed. Maybe the Lord is using this pandemic to expose our hidden idols. Tim Keller, in his book ‘Counterfeit Gods,’ wrote, “An idol is anything more important to you than God – anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God; or anything you seek to give you what only God can give. An idol of the heart is anything that is so central and essential to your life, that if you should lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living.” Talk about a ‘thorn in the flesh’ or messenger of Satan.’
But the ‘RICHES’ of God are so powerfully present within us that Satan, or COVID 19 or any other crisis, cannot overcome or ever take away – for the RICHES of God are His Son Jesus Christ, the eternal life we have in Him, and all the benefits of being God’s royal children. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul extravagantly expresses the stunning magnitude of the RICHES of God’s GRACE: that we are fully redeemed by Christ’s blood, and absolutely forgiven in Him, because His RICH GRACE is abundantly lavished upon us who believe (1:7-9); that we fully possess today the full wealth of His glorious inheritance in the saints of future glory (1:18); that we may always know in our heart His immeasurably RICH mercy and the greatness of His great love for us in Christ (2:5-7); that we, in the unsearchable RICHES of Christ, are the culmination of God’s mysterious plan to be made known before all rulers and authorities in the heavenly places (3:8-10); and that we are strengthened with a RICH, majestic and glorious power through His Holy Spirit who dwells in our inner being today (3:14-19).
We are RICH with Christ – powerfully RICH. In Him, we have everything we could ever possibly need, and death itself cannot touch it or degrade it or devalue it. Satan uses crisis like this pandemic to remove our focus from the breathtaking RICHES that we possess in Christ. May our soul always hear Jesus who says, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in powerlessness.” And may His RICH GRACE comfort us as Christ comforted Paul, who rejoiced and said, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with ‘powerlessness,’ insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am ‘without any power of my own’, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).
“Father, thank you for your GRACE – for we desperately need it in all moments of this life. Thank you, that through Your Son, You poured out Your love upon us and filled us to overflowing with Your holy presence. Thank you for this life You have given us to live. But Lord, we are powerless to this virus and we plead once again before Your limitless well of GRACE – by the power of Your Word – speak this virus into oblivion. But if that is not Your will and plan, then Lord empower our soul, spirit, mind and body in such a way that we may glorify You as we endure together through this crisis. Thank You for the love that You have so richly lavished upon us through the gift and offering of Your precious own Son. Thank You for the RICHES of Your GRACE. In Jesus’ Name, we confidently pray – AMEN!”