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“Thanks Be To God”
Thanks Be To God
Wade Webster
The ninth chapter of Second Corinthians ends with an eight word expression of thanks - “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15). What a succinct statement of the greatest gift ever given - Jesus Christ! As we examine these words, we will see three things.
The Gratitude for the Gift - Thanks
Thanks is a single word, but a powerful one. It is an acknowledgment of and an appreciation for a gift. Failure to say thanks is a serious offense. It was one of the sins for which God gave up the Gentiles (Rom. 1:21). It was a sin that was singled out by the Savior in Luke’s gospel. Who can forget the Lord’s question, “But where are the nine?” (Lk. 17:17). As you recall, ten lepers were cleansed, but only one, a Gentile, returned to give thanks to God (Lk. 17:18). Jesus noticed the sinful slight and He said something about it.
The Giver of the Gift - Be To God
James, the half-brother of Jesus, declared, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (Jam. 1:17). Of course, the best and the most perfect gift that God ever gave was the gift of His Son. In one of the most beloved verses of the Bible, John declared, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Thanks should be expressed to God as the giver of this gift and of every other one.
The Greatness of the Gift - For His Indescribable Gift
Imagine someone paying a huge debt for you. Perhaps, a debt that you could never pay. Imagine someone taking a beating for you. See them writhe in pain at the crack of the whip that was meant for you. Imagine someone giving you the gift of life. Think of someone giving a kidney, a lung, or a heart to save you. Imagine someone pulling you from a raging fire and saving you from a horrible death. Imagine someone freeing you from captivity. Maybe, rescuing you from the hands of cruel tormentors. Imagine someone dying for you. Picture a soldier covering a grenade with his own body. How would you put such actions into words? How would you say thank you to that person? Words would likely fail. As you know, Jesus did all of these things and more for us. Isaiah wrote, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed (Isa. 53:5). In like manner, Paul wrote, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). Again, Paul wrote, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-8).
Today, and every day, let us give thanks to God for the gift of His Son. Although we will fail to find words to adequately describe this gift, we must not fall to say thanks!
