Philippians 1:2

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

What does grace mean? It means undeserved kindness; unmerited favor; and true grace is un-coerced. It seems strange that Paul would write something like this because if you think about it, how can a sinful man that is completely separated from God ever even understand the grace of God...let alone give it to another sinful man who doesn't deserve it either? It is because these aren't sinful men anymore. Paul made it very clear in verse one that these individuals to whom he is writing to are saints in the Lord Jesus.

Notice what is happening with this grace. It is being poured out. It is being thrust toward. But where is it going and from where is it coming from? Paul goes on to answer these questions and actually declares that the only possible source that true fulfilling grace can come from is from God Himself. What we see here in this verse is that God is continually lavishing His grace upon these believers, who are in fact saints in His beautiful Son.

Are the saints in Philippi just going to read this letter one time and then never look at it again? I seriously doubt it and that is the same for us. I have read the book of Philippians many times and every time I read through this verse I am continually reminded of the grace that God is showing me every step of the way through all circumstances of my life and every moment of every day.

 

The very fact that I am breathing right here right now is only by the grace of God. Every happy moment, time of suffering, hurt that I feel and even death is all a result of His loving hand upon my life and it is His grace that will continue to be granted to me as I remain here in this world.

NOTE: As we continue through this study in the book of Philippians, I want you to notice the word order of every verse and see how the verses continue to build upon each other throughout this epistle.

Before you can have peace with God you need His grace. Paul understands that grace always precedes peace in every instance. And Paul gives the only logical source of where this grace and peace can be found and that is from God and in Christ Jesus alone.

Grace expresses more of the character of God than any other word ever spoken. Can you imagine if we had never jumped into sin? We would have never been able to understand the grace of God to the extent that we do. Even in our sin, as dark as it is, God can take our rebellious nature and use it to bring about something good for His glory.

Grace refers to the act of God in extending blessing to man based on the cross of Christ. Paul uses this word in every single letter and when he begins his epistles, "peace" is always second after grace. Peace is always the result of grace that is received.

Where else can you find true fulfilling grace and peace? Nowhere! God's grace and God's peace is the best kind and it is the longest lasting. The book of Ephesians actually tells us that Christ Himself is our peace (Eph. 2:14).

True peace comes only from the Godhead. What we see throughout history is that the nations of the world are always in conflict. They try and give each other a big slap in the face and then they try and make peace, yet it never lasts. There is always an end goal of one or both of the parties wanting to eventually take full control. 

 

This is why wars are rampant. So many times we try to find peace by any other means. We waste our lives looking in so many places, but if we never put our eyes on Jesus, then we will never find it. The point is that if Christ is not in it from the start, then there never was peace to begin with. Also saying that true godly peace, once it begins, never ends.

     
Notice that so far Paul has mentioned Jesus three times, thus showing the true meaning of this epistle and declaring the preeminence of our Lord. He has mentioned the Father once and he hasn't mentioned the Holy Spirit at all, however, without the working of the Spirit this letter would never have made it into print.