It has been said that the last pages of our Bible bend around to touch the first pages. They bring full circle the one big story of God’s love and salvation of the world. In the beginning, God the King creates the world and proclaims it good, good, very good. “Good” is the most important word describing God and God’s world in the beginning.

But much that unfolds later in this story—and in our world—is not good. There is sinful rebellion, guilt, shame, corruption, violence, injustice, and disintegration. The world is broken, and we feel it in the depths of our souls. The world’s history books and the daily news proclaim it unceasingly. But unceasing too in the Bible’s big story is something that transforms and redeems all this brokenness: grace.

The King’s grace is a phrase ­often used to refer to a king’s favor or presence or to simply a king himself. In the Bible, it is finally the King’s grace that gets the last word. Grace comes in the person and work of King Jesus. He is the one who is King of kings and Lord of lords. The first chapter of the Bible proclaims, “Good.” The last chapter proclaims what is greater still: “Grace.” God’s big story moves from good to grace.

Whatever we face in terms of struggle, guilt, or sorrow, the King’s grace gets the last word. The King’s grace is the world’s—and our—great hope!