Word of Encouragement (7/12/2021)

The prayer we will be reflecting on today is, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word” (2 Thess. 2:16-17). This is a prayer of benediction. Benedictions are not directly addressed to God. But they still look to God to bring to fruition all their good words.

In this benediction, Paul mentions “our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father.” We are familiar with these titles—maybe too familiar. John Gill reminds us of their significance in this way: “...it is ‘our Lord Jesus Christ himself’ who is prayed unto; who is our Lord, not by creation only, in which sense he is Lord of all, but by redemption.... [‘and God our Father’,] not by creation, but by adoption, and as it is in his power, he has a heart to give, and will give good things unto his children....”

Our redemption has dramatically changed our relationship with God. Jesus is the Lord of all, who reigns over all and to whom every knee should bow and every tongue confess as Lord. But, through our redemption, He is our Lord, to whom we belong as His treasured possession, who defends and protects us as His people, who fights and conquers our enemies for us, whom we worship and adore. He is Christ, God’s anointed Savior of the world. But the world does not recognize Him or accept Him for their salvation. But we have been given a new birth from above to see Him as He is, God’s promised Messiah, anointed by the Holy Spirit without measure as the true Prophet, Priest, and King, who came into the world to save us from sin. Through Him as the true Prophet, we come to know God and His will for us; through Him as the true Priest, we come to have access to the throne of God; through Him as the true King, we enjoy the benefits of His kingship over us—His wise rule, His protection, His victory, and the abundant riches of His eternal kingdom.

We also come to know God as our Father. God is the Creator of all, to whom the whole world owes its existence and is accountable. God is the Sustainer of all, by whom the whole world is held together and from whom it receives all it needs for its life and enjoyment. God is the Judge of all, who will judge the living and the dead and execute His perfect justice on the Last Day. Even though the world does not acknowledge its Creator and give thanks for all His benefits, God is still God, without whom nothing can exist, who will accomplish all His purposes without fail. But for those who are in Christ Jesus, God is our Father by adoption. He loves us, not merely as the pinnacle of His creation but as His beloved children. He gave us the Spirit of adoption, by whom we call the almighty and holy God, “Abba [Daddy]! Father!” If we can easily get used to calling God our Father, it is because we do not yet see His matchless and awesome glory. If we saw how truly glorious God is, how can we dare to call Him “Abba! Father!” without the Spirit of adoption, enabling us to do so? God has made us His heirs, fellow heirs with Christ. God says to us, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours” (Luke 15:31); “...all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's” (1 Cor. 3:21-23).

This morning, let us renew our appreciation for these marvelous truths, which might have become too familiar to us, and rekindle our thanks to God!