12/31/17 Grace at the Beginning and the End

READING: Malachi 1-4, Revelation 22

“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.”

Revelation 22:21

I wonder how Hollywood might have written the last line of the Bible if they were writing the story. Would they have ended with the picture of the new Jerusalem? The portrayal of the garden with the river of life? Some potent line from the victor riding on the white horse? Or simply these words that would make sense to be a closing: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end” (Rev. 22:13)?

Whatever the ending would have been, I doubt these words would have been the last: “the grace of the Lord Jesus be with all” (Rev. 22:21). Those words seem much too anticlimactic, too religious, even too . . . boring. With all the fascinating pictures in the book of Revelation, surely the writer could have come up with something much more dramatic to end that book and the entire Bible.

Yet, the more I think about it, the more I recognize the power of this ending. True, it may not seem dramatic—but it’s the offer of a Creator God who is the center of the Bible’s story . . . who spoke the world into existence . . . who builds mountains and moves winds . . . who will ultimately conquer all evil and reign over eternity . . . and who has chosen to so love a world that rejected Him that He sent His Son to purchase our redemption. We are alive because of grace, we walk daily in Him because of grace, and we will be with Him forever because of grace. Every hope we have is because of grace, and every victory we win is the product of grace. He who is the beginning and the end is grace from the start to the finish.  

And so, this ending makes sense. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you today. Amen.   

ACTION STEPS: 

  • Again today, thank God for His grace.
  • If you haven’t already done so, determine what your Bible reading plan will be for 2018.

PRAYER: “God, You alone are worthy. I praise You for Your grace.”   

TOMORROW’S READING: Genesis 1-2*

*If you are reading along with me in 2018, I will be following a chronological plan that requires reading six days each week. On the seventh day, I'll provide a summary devotional over the previous week's reading.  

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.