June 2, 2023: Grace Upon Grace!

"For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." (John 1:16, ESV)

It has been said that you cannot get too much of a good thing. That has to be particularly true about God's grace. All the fullness of God was in Him, Jesus. (Colossians 1:19) And from His fullness we, as believers, have received. We have received not just grace but grace upon grace!

How do we define grace? One, grace is God's ability in me to do the things I cannot do in and of myself. Grace can also be defined as the empowering presence of God. With those definitions in mind, let's consider what God has done.

In Exodus 33:19, God says to Moses, "I will cause my goodness to pass before your eyes and...I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." He is telling Moses you will see my grace when you see my goodness. In Ephesians 2:8-9, God tells us that we are saved by grace through faith! To the woman at the well, Jesus says, "If you only knew the Gift God has for you." Jesus tells his disciples that he must return to the Father so the gift of the Holy Spirit could come to us.

Are you seeing it? We have received grace upon grace! We have been given His empowering presence, Son, Holy Spirit, and more! All are gifts! All are grace upon grace to us. Yes! God has given us what we do not deserve and what we cannot earn. We have received grace upon grace.