Throughout most of my childhood years, our family lived in a suburb of Chicago, so while Lake Michigan was close by, the nearest ocean was 800 miles away. Yet every year our family would head southeast to spend a week at the beach. It was, without question, my favorite week of the year. Mom would smother us kids in sunscreen, and we would play all day in the sand and surf.
The best days were the ones with the big waves. One by one they would come crashing in, bowling us over and turning our bodies every which way. Sometimes it was scary, but in a fun sort of way. Over time we learned to body surf, and that was the most thrilling experience of all. I remember feeling like Superman as the rush of surging water propelled me to the shore. Just like The Beach Boys sang, “Catch a wave and you’re sitting on top of the world!”
The thrill of this experience came to mind during my Scripture reading this morning as I encountered these words in John 1:16: “For from his fullness, we have all received, grace upon grace.” The context makes it clear that the apostle John is talking about Jesus. In verse 14 he writes, “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory as of the only Son from the Father full of grace and truth” (emphasis mine). Jesus is full of grace, and it is from his fullness that we as believers have received “grace upon grace.”
The Amplified Bible translates John 1:16 the way: “Out of His fullness [the superabundance of His grace and truth] we have all received grace upon grace [spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing, favor upon favor, and gift heaped upon gift].” Like mighty waves of the ocean crashing in succession on the shore, God’s grace is continually poured out on us.
On the back cover of Max Lucado’s book, Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Can Imagine, grace is described as
God’s tumbling, rumbling reservoir of strength and protection. It comes at us not occasionally or miserly but constantly and aggressively, wave upon wave. We’ve barely regained our balance from one breaker, and then bam, here comes another.
Yes! “Grace upon grace” (John 1:16)! As Max Lucado reminds us, “[God] has enough grace to pardon every sin, solve every dilemma, wipe every tear, and answer every question. It’s more than we can deserve and greater than we can imagine.”
Unlike the ocean, which was 800 miles away where I lived and something I got to enjoy only once a year, God’s grace is always with us and something we can enjoy every moment of every day. How? By faith. As we wade into God’s Word and ask the Holy Spirit to bring it home to our hearts, he will.
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free –
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me.
Underneath me, all around me
Is the current of your love –
Leading onward, leading homeward
To your glorious rest above.
Oh, the deep, deep love -
All I need and trust -
Is the deep, deep love of Jesus.
(To listen to a beautiful rendition of this hymn, click here.)