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A Prayer about Grace Upon Grace Upon Grace

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This was the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.'”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. John 1:14-16

Dear Lord Jesus, it’s easy to understand why John’s account of your birth is never chosen as the script for Sunday school Christmas pageants. After all, what parts would the children play? What cute costumes could they wear? There’s no manger, no Joseph and Mary, no shepherds and angels or wise men and lowing cattle. But there certainly is you. You’re are the only star on the horizon in this nativity scene, and how you shine. Meditating through John’s Advent narrative is like standing under a waterfall of glory and grace.

We praise you, Lord Jesus, for becoming flesh and “tabernacling” among us for just the right amount of time. Though equal to, yet distinct from the Father, you didn’t consider your glory something to be tightly grasped or held onto selfishly. Rather, you emptied yourself by becoming a man—but not just any ordinary man, but a servant-man—the Servant of the Lord, the second Adam, our Savior . . . my Savior.

In your thirty-three years of incarnate life, you accomplished everything necessary to redeem a pan-national bride for yourself, but you also secured the restoration of the world you created and love. Be magnified, adored, regaled, worshiped, and loved, Lord Jesus. What a wonderful, merciful Savior you are—what a LORD, so merciful and mighty to save.

“Joy to the World”, indeed! For you are presently ruling the world with your grace and truth—the the grace and truth of which you are full. You are actively making the nations prove the wonders of your love, as the gospel runs from heart to heart and nation to nation. We fall before you in humility, we dance before you in delight.

From the fullness of your grace we keep receiving grace upon grace upon grace: The grace of your imputed righteousness, the grace of perpetual favor with God, the grace of your intercession and advocacy, the grace of your Spirit’s work in our lives, the grace of citizenship in heaven, the grace of knowing the good work you have begun in us will be brought to completion, the grace of inheriting the new heaven and new earth… and that’s just for starters! Hail the incarnate deity, indeed! Joy, great joy, to the world, and to me. So very Amen we pray in your most gladsome and winsome name.

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