The #1 Best Last Line

I read an article yesterday that listed the 100 best last lines from novels (according to somebody).  I'd say the last line in a book is almost as important as the first.  The last sentence should tie the story together, leaving the reader with a lasting impression, a lingering thought that touches the heart and both completes the story and continues it in the mind of the reader.   

After reading the list I thought, I wonder what the last line of the Bible is? 

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen."  Revelation 22:21

Grace.

The lingering thought is grace--unmerited favor, a gift given when the beneficiary is undeserving, but when it is needed the most. 

And this grace comes from the Lord Jesus Christ, no less.  A gift given from the Highest of the all to the least of all.  That is what the Bible is all about.  Every word, every book, yes, even the Old Testament, is about God's grace. 

The Old Testament is a collection of stories that shows God's love and grace.  They show Him calling out one man to be the father of a nation who would be called His own, to whom He could show His grace and mercy and through whom He could reveal Himself to the world.  He miraculously rescued His people out of the hands of their enemies over and over even though He knew they would continue to turn away from Him.  Yet He continued to love them, to let them go to face the consequences of their own will and actions until they repented and came back to Him, and He would forgive again.

It's the story of a man who is hiding from his enemies being called a mighty warrior by the Angel of the Lord.  It's the story of a prostitute being grafted into the geneology of the Savior.  It's the story of a boy who would be king who would commit awful sins, yet was called a man after God's own heart. It's the story of a cupbearer being called by God to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.  It is story after story that shows man's unquestionable need for a Savior. 

The New Testament begins with grace in the form of a baby who would be the Savior of the world, borne of a poor couple--an unassuming girl and a frightened, young man.  The baby grows into a Man and heals the sick, feeds the poor, raises the dead and transforms the lives of eleven, argumentative, presumptuous, young men, and even calling His betrayer, friend.  And then He dies for all sins, even the most heinous, sins which he did not commit, and offers forgiveness to anyone who would believe on Him. And it is the story of the Lord calling a twelfth man--one who had persecuted Him and His people greatly--to be filled with the Holy Spirit and become one of the greatest champions of Christ and the gospel who ever lived.

It is all the story of God's love for each of us wrapped in grace. 

And we are left with the words, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen," words which touch the heart, and both sums up the story and begs the reader to continue the story in his or her own life.

"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

We are saved by grace and we are kept by grace.  We serve Him by grace and we commune with Him by grace. God's grace should never be distorted in order to carry on in our own selfish whims leading us back into sin.  But when we live with a humble gratefulness for what He's done for us and continues to do, we will find ourselves doing all, speaking all and being all for the glory of His Name.

Grace and Peace to you!
Dorci