Grace: The Last Word

December 18, 2011 briank Grace

Last words. Often they are profound. Typically they are significant. Sometimes they are inspiring. Sometimes they are just plain odd. For example, here are some encouraging last words:

“I forgive everyone, beg that everyone forgives me as well, and wish that my blood, that is going to be shed now, will benefit the country. Long live Mexico! Long live Independence.”
Who: Emperor Maximilian of Mexico (executed)

“I am in the land of the dying, and I am soon going to the land of the living.”
Who: John Newton, Anglican preacher, abolitionist, and writer of “Amazing Grace.”

Others are more difficult to understand or to glean any hope from:

“Good bye. If we meet-”
Who: Mark Twain (Note: Spoken to his daughter Clara.)

“Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.”
Who: Steve Jobs, Apple CEO (His last statement recorded by his sister on his death bed.)

(source)

As I thought about the idea of blogging about grace, I wondered, what are the Bible’s last words? What is God’s last word? Am I just proof-texting the idea of grace? Or does God really want to communicate grace to the world?

I decided to look at the last word of the last book in the Bible, Revelation. Typically I have ignored the last verse of books in the Bible, considering them insignificant. Perhaps the last word is not always the most important word, but the last word does indeed leave an impression. And to the meticulous Bible authors, carried along by a God who is an expert weaver of precise details, how could the last word of the Bible not be significant? Here it is, the last verse in the Bible:

“The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”
– Revelation 22:21 (NIV84)

The last word of the Bible is grace. The impression God wants to communicate to the world is grace; the grace of the Lord Jesus.

What about Apostle Paul’s last words? Surely the highly logical Apostle Paul would want to leave God’s people with something important with his last words. Surely this man of purpose, this man of mission, this man of God, would want to close his words with some lasting impression. Here they are, the last verses of New Testament books normally attributed to Apostle Paul:

Romans 16:27 “–to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.”

1 Corinthians 16:24 “My love to all of you in Christ Jesus. Amen.”

2 Corinthians 13:14 “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Galatians 6:18 “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.”

Ephesians 6:24 “Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”

Philippians 4:23 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.”

Colossians 4:18 “I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.”

1 Thessalonians 5:28 “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

2 Thessalonians 3:18 “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.”

1 Timothy 6:20 “Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you.”

2 Timothy 4:22 “The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.”

Titus 3:15 “Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.”

Philemon 1:25 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”

Hebrews 13:25 “Grace be with you all.”

Grace is the last word, the last impression, Apostle Paul longed to give to those who heard his letters. Grace is what God wants to communicate to the world. And it is only through the grace of God that we come to understand the other words of the Bible correctly.