The God of All Grace Himself Establishing Us

COMFORT IN TRIALS

The God of All Grace Himself Establishing Us

1 Peter 5:10  But the God of all grace, He who has called you into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself perfect, establish, strengthen, and ground you.

 

Our God Being the God of All Grace

The term “the God of all grace” is unique, found in the New Testament only in 5:10. It may be common for Christians to speak of the God of mercy. But do you know of anyone who uses the expression the God of all grace? Peter does not say merely that God is the God of grace; he says that God is the God of all grace. In this expression once again Peter shows his characteristic use of adjectives. The suffering believers should be encouraged by the fact that, although they are suffering, their God is the God of all grace. Furthermore, He has called us into eternal glory, a glory that is unlimited in both space and time. (Life-study of 1 Peter, msg. 34)

Perfecting, Establishing,
and Strengthening Us by Grace

Peter speaks of the all grace by which God, who has called the believers into His eternal glory, perfects, establishes, strengthens, and grounds them through their sufferings (5:10). The all grace is the perfecting grace, establishing grace, strengthening grace, and grounding grace. God perfects, establishes, strengthens, and grounds us by grace through the channel of sufferings. Because of my weakness, nearly every day is a suffering day for me. But God has perfected, established, strengthened, and grounded me through sufferings. (Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans, msg. 19)

There is a progress in these four divine acts of grace. Perfecting leads to establishing, establishing to strengthening, and strengthening to grounding in the God of all grace—the Triune God in His dispensing as the solid foundation. First God perfects us. Through the suffering of persecution we are perfected. Then after perfecting us, God establishes us. When we are established, we no longer wander, and we are no longer changeable. After God establishes us, He strengthens us, empowers us, and, eventually, grounds us in Himself as the Triune God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 20)

Grounding Us to Enter into His Eternal Glory

For the believers to be glorified is to receive the incomparable glory. Present sufferings mean nothing in comparison to the coming glory. Today Christ is in us as our hope of glory. When Christ comes again and is manifested, the indwelling Christ will saturate our entire being, including our physical body. This will cause our body to be transfigured and become like His glorious body. At that time, Christ will be glorified in us. Our glorification will be our participation in the goal of God’s predestination. The God of all grace has called us in Christ Jesus into His eternal glory and is also perfecting, establishing, strengthening, rooting, and grounding us, thus, enabling us to attain His glorious goal. (Truth Lessons, Level 4, vol. 4, lsn. 51)

 

Prayer:

O, Lord, praise You as the God of all grace and our hope of glory. Praise You for perfecting, establishing, strengthening, and grounding me by grace. Lord Jesus, I open to you to accept all your grace. Strengthen me into my inner man. Cause me to stand on You as the foundation, no longer wandering and eventually attaining Your glorious goal.