Cancel culture was around when the Lord Jesus was here: “He was in the world, and the world had its being through Him, and the world knew Him not” (Jn. 1:10). Unrecognized as Creator, unwanted by His own people as Christ, what did He do? Thank God He did not cancel His love but gave those who received Him by believing on His name “the right to be children of God” (v. 12).

How is this possible, given that the law demands compliance with God’s righteous requirements and none of us could or would give that (Rom. 3:9–20)? The answer resides in the Person of the Lord Jesus Himself, the essence and expression of the mind of God. He “became flesh, and dwelt among us … full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14). Yes, the only-begotten Son of the Father supplies the blessing we do not deserve: grace according to the reality of God’s light and love.

This transforms everything. We read elsewhere that “where sin abounded grace has overabounded” (Rom. 5:20) and “we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). So we no longer try to please God by our own fleeting and failing efforts; rather, He freely bestows His favor on us in a way that grows as it flows, and gives us the capacity to please and enjoy Him more and more. It is all of Himself and according to Himself—His fullness in Christ.

The measure is not our need but the Father’s pleasure, His desire to have us in the closest relationship with Himself in heaven forever. This is what Paul mentions in his letter to the Ephesians: “according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has taken us into favor in the Beloved” (1:5–6).