Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ by Roy Davison

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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

 
With slight variation, this blessing is found fifteen times in the New Testament, in letters by Paul, Peter and John.

A blessing is a prayer asking God to bestow something on someone, in this case, grace and peace. Grace is the unmerited favor of God. Peace is the absence of spiritual stress or anxiety.

We certainly need the favor of God to be free from stress. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:3; 2 Corinthians 1:2; Ephesians 1:2; Philippians 1:2; Colossians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:2; Philemon 3).

An expanded form of this blessing is found in Revelation. “Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:4, 5).This blessing is a prayer that the listeners or readers will receive grace and peace from the deity, from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Grace and peace from the Father

“From everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (Psalm 90:2). Jehovah God, the I AM, who transcends time, He who is, always has been and always shall be, is the source of our salvation by grace. “The mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:17). Through grace we have forgiveness and salvation, and through salvation we have peace.
Grace and peace “from the seven Spirits who are before His throne.”

The “one Spirit” (Ephesians 4:4) is represented as sevenfold because ‘seven’ symbolizes completeness and perfection. Only in Revelation do we read about “the seven Spirits of God.”

Christ “has the seven Spirits of God” (Revelation 3:1). “Seven lamps of fire” are burning before the throne, “which are the seven Spirits of God” (Revelation 4:5). The Lamb standing in the midst of the throne has “seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth” (Revelation 5:6).

Isaiah uses seven designations for the Spirit of God as he tells of the coming Messiah: “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:1, 2).

The fruit of the Spirit is many-sided: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22).

“Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:4, 5).
Grace and peace from the Son

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). “Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 1:3).

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6, 7).
Christ brings grace and peace as the faithful witness.

He told Pilate: “For this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John18:37).

In the letter to the Laodiceans Christ refers to Himself as “the Faithful and True Witness” (Revelation 3:14). To have grace and peace we must accept the testimony of Christ. “And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true” (John 3:32, 33).
Christ brings grace and peace as the firstborn from the dead.

Through baptism we receive grace and peace because therein we are united with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:3-5).

One who has died with Christ has peace as he approaches death because he also looks forward to a resurrection as Christ rose from the dead.
Christ brings grace and peace as the ruler over the kings of the earth.

After Jesus rose from the dead He said: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Even though John was a prisoner on Patmos, even though Christians were being persecuted, Christ “is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15). “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14). “And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:16).

We have peace in the knowledge that our Lord is ruler of the universe. “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

“Grace to you and peace be multiplied” (1 Peter 1:2).

“Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne , and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:4-6).

Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)