“He (God) causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45b)

Have you ever forgotten to turn off the coffee pot before leaving the house, or maybe left the lights on accidentally? Have you gotten distracted and missed the birthday of someone important? A couple of Monday’s ago I missed a doctor appointment. It was in my calendar, but I failed to look at my calendar and didn’t realize I had missed the appointment until several hours later. I felt so bad because I needed to go the doctor and now I was going to have to wait until the next opening. My husband will tell you I am the worst at turning off the lights. Well, he’s not so good at remembering birthdays, just saying.

That brings me to my second Chaplain’s Corner on Thanksgiving. Last week I expressed my gratitude for all the random acts of kindness expressed by you. This week I want to reflect on God’s intentional expression of common grace to all his creation. I am so thankful that God is not depending on me (or you) to ensure that the sun comes up in the morning or sets in the evening. Thank goodness he isn’t relying on my capricious nature to direct the rainfall.

What is common grace, and how does it differ from saving grace? You know, God didn’t have to create mankind; it was his choice to create us to experience relationship with Him. And when Adam and Eve disobeyed him after all he had done for them, he didn’t have to preserve them or any of their descendants. He could have wiped out any or all of creation right then and started over. Who would have blamed him?

When I disobey (I know you are surprised to hear that about me), he has every right to take me out, or at the very least to isolate and punish me by withholding his providence and the benefits of his creation. To be sure, there are consequences to sin that we must bear, but one thing we don’t have to worry about is whether he will withhold the providence of nature. We can be sure that the sun will rise every morning and set every evening on schedule for all–believers and nonbelievers alike. We can be sure that when he sends rain, it rains on everyone in its path regardless of their relationship with him. This is common grace.

Why does God provide common grace? He explains in a passage known as general revelation that he wants us to have no excuse to realize that it is an all-powerful and eternal divinity, our Creator, who provides for all out of his love for his creation. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”  (Romans 1:20)

In other words, God provides common grace because He wants all mankind to know him and to realize his authority and power over sin and the grave. This does not mean that God will preserve us eternally unconditionally. We must receive the blessing of eternal life by believing in God’s gift of Jesus his son as the sacrifice for our sin to receive saving grace.  To clarify, the condition is not anything that we do, it is about what Christ has done for us and our willingness to receive that gift.  ^“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is saving grace.

I am thankful for God’s unfailing, consistent expression of common grace to me, to you, and to all mankind. And let’s remember to express our gratitude for this expression of his love by worshipping him as David did in Psalm 19:1-6.

A psalm of David

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
³ They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
⁴ Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
⁵ It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
⁶ It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Source and additional reading: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/providence-and-common-grace/

Blessings,

Judy