"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." (2 Cor 13:14, ESV) This particular of the Bible scripture is one of the popular portions, perhaps even more popular than John 3:16. It is short, eye-catchiing and thought-provoking. It uses a simple sentence to summarize the pillars of our christian faith. It showcases grace, love and fellowship in relation to the Trinity. Coincidentally, it is the last word that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, and it sure reads like a farewell speech. We have also come to use them as a last prayer to dismiss our services. I personally cannot recount how many times I have said those words from childhood. It must be over hundreds of thousands of times. We chorus energetically in unison each time someone says, "Let's say the Grace together" or "Let's share the grace!". Now as simple as this scripture cum prayer sounds, it embodies the mystery of our relationship with God. Notice how grace comes first before love and fellowship. "For God so loves the world that He gave His only begotten son..." was only possible because "The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men". .
men". It was grace that revealed the height, the depth, the width and the breadth of the love of God. Even from the beginning, God has always loved the world. When He destroyed the world with water, He still loved the world. When He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire, He still loved the world. All through the time and era, the law reigned supreme, and it was an eye for an eye, God still loved the world. God loved the world and has always loved the world! But no one could fully feel the impact and warmness of this love until grace appeared. It is grace that brought us the fullness of everything that pertains to life and godliness. It is grace that brought us fellowship with the Father and our brethren. We must treasure the grace of God and be grateful for all it has brought us.
As we wrap up this month of Glorious Grace today, I want us to say the grace in fellowship and remind ourselves how far grace has brought us.