Giving Thanks Always for All Things in the Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ to God, Even the Father

 

The passage above teaches us that God alone is worthy to receive thanks. It also teaches us that the reason we must give thanks to God is because His lovingkindness endures forever, and that all things in heaven and earth, which God made in His lovingkindness, are reasons for thanksgiving. Truly, it is so. All of nature, which is necessary for us to live, was created by God’s lovingkindness and given to us.

 

Genesis 1:26-29 “26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food.”

 

But man did not follow this gracious word of God. Rather, being deceived by the serpent’s temptation, man followed the serpent’s word and thereby lost thanksgiving toward God.

 

Genesis 3:2-6 “2And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat: 3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die¹. 4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. 6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.”

[¹This is contrasted with Genesis 2:17: “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”]

 

Thus, man failed to stand firmly upon the gracious word of God. Being deceived by the serpent’s division and slander, man transgressed the word of God. As a result, man, who should have given thanks and glory to God, became one who feared God instead.

 

Genesis 3:9-10 “9And Jehovah God called unto the man, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

 

And this work continues even today. The old serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world (Rev. 12:9), continues to divide the relationship between people and God, so that even now he prevents people from giving thanks and glory to God.

 

Romans 1:19-25 “19because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them. 20For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse: 21because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. 22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. 24Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves: 25for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

 

As a result, as the passage below says, grievous times have come upon us in the last days.

 

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “1But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. 2For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, 4traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 5holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof...”

 

In such times, what kind of people ought we who believe in Jesus to be? Should we not resist the devil (James 4:7) and always give thanks to God in the name of Jesus?

 

Colossians 3:15-17 “15And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God. 17And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

 

Ephesians 5:19-20 “19speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.”

 

Long ago, in the days of Jehoshaphat, the fourth king of the southern kingdom of Judah, the children of Moab and the children of Ammon, together with some of the Meunim, came to make war against Jehoshaphat (2 Chr. 20:1-2). At that time, because Jehoshaphat and the people had no might against that great multitude, their eyes were only upon the Lord (2 Chr. 20:12). God delivered His word to King Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah through Jahaziel the Levite (2 Chr. 20:14-17). At last, because Jehoshaphat and the people trusted God, on the day of battle they rose early, appointed singers, clothed them in holy array, and had them go before the army, praising God as follows (2 Chr. 20:20-21).

 

“Give thanks unto Jehovah; for his lovingkindness endureth for ever.”

 

Then an amazing thing happened.

 

2 Chronicles 20:22-24 “22And when they began to sing and to praise, Jehovah set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, that were come against Judah; and they were smitten. 23For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another. 24And when Judah came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, they looked upon the multitude; and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and there were none that escaped.”

 

As this passage says, when they trusted the word of God and gave thanks and praise for His lovingkindness, the people of Judah did not fight at all, yet they were able to win that battle so easily. Amen!

 

Thus, a heart that gives thanks and praise by believing the word of God pleases God. And that joy returns to us again as our joy.

 

2 Chronicles 20:27 “Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for Jehovah had made them to rejoice over their enemies.”

 

Therefore, now we must give thanks always in the name of Jesus to God, who makes all things possible by faith (Job 42:2).

 

Psalm 30:4-5 “4Sing praise unto Jehovah, O ye saints of his, And give thanks to his holy memorial name. 5For his anger is but for a moment; His favor is for a life-time: Weeping may tarry for the night, But joy cometh in the morning.”

 

As this passage says, there will ultimately be favor and joy for the saints who praise God and give thanks to His holy name. Also, the reason we must always give thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in all things is that this is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus.

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “16Rejoice always; 17pray without ceasing; 18in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward.”

 

Therefore, like King Jehoshaphat, we must trust the word of God and always give thanks to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ for the everlasting lovingkindness of God in all things (Eph. 5:20).

 

Amen.