God of All Graces

“Now the God of peace be with you all.”  Romans 15:33

Our God of all the world has been known by many names in Scripture (Elohim, Jehovah, Adonai, etc.), but He is also identified, especially in the New Testament, as the God of many virtues and graces.

Our text calls Him, for example, the “God of peace.” The same appellation is given Him in Romans 16:20, Hebrews 13:20-21, and Philippians 4:9: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet”; “Now the God of peace...equip you in every good thing to do His will”; “The God of peace will be with you.” He is even called the very God of peace who “will sanctify you entirely” in 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

He is “the God of hope” in the beautiful invocation of Romans 15:13: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing...”

To the sorrowing, He is “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). And, of course, He is the “God of love,” as Paul reminded the Corinthians in closing his last letter to them. “Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Corinthians 13:11).

The apostle Peter wound up his first epistle by reminding his own readers that their God was “the God of all grace.” “The God of all grace...will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10).

In summary, our gracious God is the God of peace, the God of hope, the God of all comfort, the God of love, and the God of all grace. He is also “the Father of mercies,” and “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17; 15:26). And the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son, is of God, “who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).