The Old Testament ends with the solemn warning, “Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse,” the New Testament ends with the blessed statement, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,” and in between we are told, “The grace of God which carries with it salvation for all men has appeared.”
God’s love flowing downwards in grace is great according to the misery and unworthiness of its object — us — and our love rising upwards in response is the affection of the soul according to the worthiness of its object — our God in Christ.
Surely we can each proclaim, “By the grace of God I am what I am,” and can believe with all our heart when our God whispers in our ear, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” And may we as Paul desired Timothy, “Be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.”
The subject of grace overwhelms the heart, for through it God has revealed Himself in the greatness of His love toward us. He is so great and we are so small that when His grace is showered upon us and in us, it fills the vessel full to overflowing, so that the overflow rises to God as worship. As we are occupied with His grace in this issue and when we come to the concluding hymn of the issue, may we be found “singing with grace in [our] hearts to God.”