Derek Prime on God’s Grace

I first heard about Derek Prime from Alistair Begg, who served as Prime’s ministry assistant years ago at Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh, Scotland. This book is a wonderful reflection on the Trinitarian blessing of 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 us all.”

On pp. 45-46, Prime gives this great illustration about God’s grace. Most of us are familiar the passage in John 1:16, a passage that tells us that out of the fullness of Jesus Christ’s grace, we have all received “grace for grace,” or, “one blessing after another (NIV).” So here’s Derek Prime’s illustration of this truth as he writes about arriving at a certain hotel one Saturday for a speaker’s conference:

“One of the first things I noticed in my bedroom was the welcome sign of an orange, together with a plate, knife and napkin. Having unpacked my things and being thirsty, I ate my orange. When I returned from church on the Sunday morning, I discovered that my orange had been replaced, and so it was each day as I ate it. Imagine my amusement on the Thursday when a speaker’s wife said at the meal table, ‘I did enjoy today the orange that was in our room on Saturday.’ ‘You have hand only one orange?’ I asked. ‘Well, let me count–Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday–I have had six oranges to your one!’ The speaker’s wife had imagined that one orange was the lot, but I had discovered that, as soon as one was eaten, another replaced it. That is like grace! Jesus gives ‘grace for grace,’ ‘one blessing after another.’ We do not have to store up grace for a future day: His grace is inexhaustible. As often as we need His grace–whether in His forgiveness, His presence or His strength–we are to ask Him for it.”

Outstanding.

In Christ Jesus,