The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
– 2 Corinthians 13:14
What a great last verse to this letter. What an encouragement to receive from God in each of our lives today. This Trinitarian picture, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” May God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit be with you. Even that language, “be with you”… If we’re not careful, can just become almost commonplace to us as followers of Christ. Yes, God is with us, but just soak that in right now. Wherever you are. As you’re listening to this God, the Trinitarian God of the universe… God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. He’s with you right now.
You are not alone. And not just with you, but for you and in you.
2 Corinthians 13:14 Shows Us the Love of God in Jesus’ Sacrifice
Which leads to this picture, The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just meditate at this moment on how much God loves you. He has sent Jesus to die on a cross for you. And he rose from the dead so that you might know that when you die, you will have eternal life. One day he’s going to raise your body to be like His resurrected body, and not just in the future.
Right now, His grace is with you. His mercy is new every morning, and sufficient for every moment. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God. God, the sovereign King over all creation, loves you. In a world that would tempt us today to live, to be liked by others, to approve, or impress others, to be successful according to this or that standard.
Just hear God speaking over you right now, reminding you he loves you. This is your identity. You are beloved by God. You don’t have to be liked in this world. Of course, we love others in this world, but we don’t live to be liked. We are beloved by God, and not based on what we’ve done, but based on who He is and His extravagant love for us.
2 Corinthians 13:14 Teaches Us We Can Have Fellowship with the Spirit of God
And, The fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Oh, you have fellowship like union with, friendship with, communion with the Holy Spirit of God who dwells inside you right now. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you today. God, I pray this over every single person listening right now. God, may we live in this fellowship of the Holy Spirit, in this reality of being loved by you.
May your love for us control us, to use language from 2 Corinthians 5, all day long today. May we live as those beloved by you, trusting in your love for us, looking to your love for us, leaning on your love for us. And your grace, Lord Jesus toward us. Yes, 2000 years ago and what you did on the cross for us, and this morning when you woke us up with new mercies. God, we praise you for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise you for your love for us. We praise you for the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and we pray to you to help us to live in all of these things all day long today.
Prayer for the Unreached
And God, we pray for 3 billion people in the world who don’t know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, your love, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. God, please help us to live for the spread of the gospel to them, to give for the spread of the gospel to them. God, we pray that all the peoples of the world would be reached with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love that flows from your hand, your heart. And may they experience the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. May all these things, 2 Corinthians 13:14. Be with them, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
