THE UNSPEAKABLE GIFT OF GOD

 

“But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one [Adam] many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.  And not as it was by one that sinned [Adam], so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.  For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” (Romans 5:15-19).

"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable [indescribable] gift.” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

The worth of the gift of God’s grace toward mankind is immeasurable.  The Apostle Paul calls it “unspeakable” which means indescribable.  He just couldn’t find the words to speak that would fully and faithfully convey to his readers the scope of God’s glorious gift.  Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him; but bit by bit, He reveals them to us by His Spirit working in our lives.  We grow in God from “faith to faith” and “grace upon grace,” and we never find the end of His supply.  We can only try to comprehend “What is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of the love of Christ to man (Ephesians 3:17-20).

In his letter to the Romans, Paul describes some of the aspects of God’s gift to give us an idea of just how all-encompassing it is.  He compares it to Adam’s transgression in the Garden of Eden.  Adam’s sin brought sin, condemnation, and death on the entire human race; but Christ’s obedience and sacrifice on the cross of Calvary has brought life and righteousness to all of mankind.  Paul says that it took only one sin to bring condemnation on the world, but Jesus’ atonement covers all the sins of man.  He tells us that those who receive this abundant gift of God’s grace shall reign in life through Jesus Christ their Lord.  Finally, he makes the astounding assertion that through Jesus’ obedience, we can be made righteous!

This gift of God’s is free.  There is nothing that we could give that would even come near the value of it.  Not things, not service, not sacrifices: they are all worthless in comparison to God’s grace.  The only thing that could make it possible was the death of God’s only Son.  Nothing less would have sufficed.  Paul writes, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10).  It is by God’s grace alone, and not by our works, that we are saved.  Our best efforts to keep the commandments and follow all the rules are hopeless and doomed to failure every time.  We cannot change our nature from the outside in, and only God can change us from the inside out!  If we could do it ourselves, we wouldn’t need a Savior.  We would have a lot to boast about. 

We are God’s workmanship, however.  We have been created in Christ Jesus to produce good works.  This is a very interesting choice of words used here.  It alludes to the beginning of the world when Jesus Christ, the Word of God, spoke all things into existence.  The opening verses of Genesis tell us that the earth was “...without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.”  It was then that the Spirit of God began to move upon the face of the waters, and the Word of God said, “Let there be light.”  At each step of creation, God looked upon His work and saw that “It was good.”  Similarly, we have been created in Christ “unto good works.”  Our lives were also without any form and void, or empty, before we came to Christ.  There was a great darkness that blinded our hearts and minds so that we could not see the truth of God.  Then the Spirit of God began to move in our life to woo us to Himself.  He drew us to Him, and let us hear the Words of Life that shed a bright light into our dark souls.  It was then that we had the opportunity to receive Him.  When we did, we were created, reborn, in Christ.  Just as the worlds were His workmanship, and all that He made was good, so also are we His workmanship.  Everything that He creates in us is good.

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).  In Christ is Life, and that Life is the Light of mankind.  This Life is the force that makes it possible for us to be like Jesus.  Branches on a grape vine bear fruit because of the life that is surging up from the ground and through the vine.  We, too, bear spiritual fruit because we are attached to Jesus, the True Vine.  We receive the Life that surges from Him, the Divine Life.  Through it we receive the power to be righteous and to overcome the tendencies of our carnal flesh.  All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, and we are complete in Him (Colossians 2:9, 10).

Think of the grace of God in this way: a rich uncle died and left you more money than you can ever spend in many lifetimes.  Anytime you have a need, you simply write a check, or swipe a debit card and your debt is paid.  You didn’t work for that money, you didn’t even really know the uncle who bequeathed it to you, and you never have to worry about printing any more of it for yourself.  It was simply a gift, and that gift was undeserved and fathomless.  You have no problem drawing from those funds for everything and trusting that they will be there for you for the rest of your life.  That is much like the grace of God.  We don’t deserve it, we can’t manufacture it ourselves, it is limitless, and its effectiveness is only dependent on my willingness to believe that it is real, it is mine, and it is forever!

Do you need power over sin, healing from disease, supply for a need, or spiritual direction?  God says “My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).  God will not require anything of you that He has not already provided the grace for.  When God asked Abraham to go to Mt. Moriah to offer his only son as a sacrifice, Abraham was willing to obey God’s command even though he could not have understood it.  What he did believe, though, was that God would provide a lamb for the sacrifice in place of his son Isaac.  God has provided a Lamb for us too.  Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, was “delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” (Romans 4:25).  All that you will ever need you will find in Christ Jesus your Lord and Savior!

Paul told Timothy, “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.” (1 Timothy 4:14).  This gift of God’s grace is precious, whether we are talking about it in its entirety, or about particular gifts of the Spirit that he bestows on His children.  To waste or neglect to implement God’s gifts is a travesty.  We are meant to continue to grow in grace throughout our lifetimes.  Not growing spiritually would be unnatural.  To come to a place where we decide we’ve gone far enough in God and we just want to maintain the level of maturity that we’ve reached is not possible.  If we are not growing, we’re wilting.  A plant deprived of water will just eventually die.  If we aren’t continually coming to the Spring of Living Waters, we will dry up and die.  Unfortunately, we see many Christians who have just quit growing in the Lord.  They have lost their desire to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ (Philippians 3:14).  Their zeal and the fire of their conviction is no longer evident in their witness.  They are like the Church at Ephesus to whom Jesus said, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” (Revelation 2:4). 

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.  For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1-3).  We must hold tightly to the things that we have been taught and have been assured of.  It is much too easy to allow spiritual lessons to slip away if we are not purposefully using them and deliberately building on them.  Neglect is a terribly destructive force.  On the surface it appears that it is not a conscious or intentional action; but those who are neglectful know they are ignoring a certain thing.  They make the decision to prioritize everything else except Christ.  Jesus said “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33).  God must always come first in our lives along with our desire to be more like our Savior.  When we do that, everything else will line up; and God will provide all of our other needs.  

We should realize also that the gifts God gives us are not meant just for us.  In sharing those gifts we are able to minister the grace and life of Christ to others also.  “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (1 Peter 4:10).  Many think that they have no gift to share with others.  They believe that those things are just for the pastors and evangelists, but that is not true.  If you have received grace and mercy from the Lord and have been born again, then your testimony is the greatest gift of all!  We don’t understand the power behind our personal testimony.  To share God’s working in our life with others makes it alive to them and can change their lives forever.  Scripture tells us that “the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” (Psalms 19:7).  Everything God does in our lives is relevant to the building up of His Kingdom.  Every time He answers our prayers and sends us help, it is an example of His great grace.  It can enlighten, encourage, and strengthen the faith of others.  When Jesus healed folks they were very vocal about what He had done for them.  Even when He told them not to tell anyone they still went out and told of God’s grace.  We, too, should give God all the glory for all His gifts and blessings that He heaps on us.

The Apostle Paul may have described the gift of God as “unspeakable” or indescribable, but he still managed to fill fourteen books of the Bible trying to define it!  All the words in the world can never fully tell the story of God’s great love and His abounding grace!  I’m reminded of some of the lines from Frederick M. Lehman’s great hymn, The Love of God.  I quote:

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell

Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by trade

 

To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky.

Amen!  Hallelujah!  My prayer is that we may never grow weary of telling the Gospel story to others, nor of pressing forward to receive all that God has promised to them who love Him.  Paul told the Philippians, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.  Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14).  As far as he had grown in the Lord, and as many churches as he had planted, and as much understanding as he had of the Gospel Message, yet Paul realized there were still new graces that he could grow into.  He wanted, more than anything, to “apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.”  God had called him for a purpose, and he wanted to fulfill all that the Lord had in mind for him so that he could finish his course with joy.