Text: Exodus 34:6
The Almighty God has several attributes as revealed to us in the Bible. We know that He is loving, good, merciful, faithful, kind, etc. One of His very noticeable attributes is that He is gracious. He is actually full of grace.
Grace is an essential part of God’s character, which is closely related to His love and mercy. It can be defined as God’s favour towards the unworthy or God’s benevolence on the underserving. It is popularly defined as the unmerited favour of God. It is a gift from God to Man (Eph. 4:7; Rom. 5: 8-10).
Grace is a constant theme in the Bible. The word translated ‘grace’ in the New Testament comes from the Greek word ‘charis’, which means favour, blessing or kindness. Grace is God choosing to bless Mankind rather than curse us because of our sins.
The significance of the grace of God is huge upon the life of Men. It is by the grace of God that we are saved (Eph. 2: 8). It is by the grace of God that we are preserved for rapture (I Thes. 5: 23-24). It is also by the grace of God that we are called to His service (Rom. 15: 15-16; I Cor. 3: 10). So, grace is the ongoing benevolent act of God working in us without which we can do nothing (John 15: 5). As recipients of God’s grace, Christians are to be gracious to others. We have received grace to serve others and to build the Church of God here on earth (Rom. 12: 3-8; Eph. 3: 1-9).
King David was someone who appreciated the grace of God upon his life as an individual, and upon the Jewish race as a whole. He sang many songs to acknowledge the grace of God (Psalms 86: 15; 103: 8; 111: 4; 112: 4; 116: 5; 145: 8; etc).
It was the grace of God that chose David to be anointed by Prophet Samuel as the king of Israel. It was the same grace that helped him to ascend on the throne. The same grace helped to keep him on the throne till the end of his life despite many internal and external persecutions.
It was the grace of God that forgave David’s two crucial sins while on the throne, such that he did not end up like his predecessor (King Saul). The same grace accorded David the privilege to have his descendants reign after him (2 Sam. 7: 8-16); and also make the ‘sceptre’ not to depart from Judah until Shiloh came as prophesied by Jacob (Gen. 49: 10). The Almighty God is full of grace indeed!
Jehovah had been and has always been gracious to us in Everlasting Father’s Assembly. He has however impressed it upon my spirit that He now intends to demonstrate to us His full grace and encompassing grace henceforth (I Peter 5: 10-11; 2 Cor. 8: 1-15). It is my prayer that our lives and the church shall depict the full grace of the Almighty God in Jesus mighty name.