Grace: The Favour Of Jesus

In this instalment of my grace series I want to talk about the favour of Jesus. This was the hardest topic to research for me. Now you may think that what I am saying makes no sense because as Christians we walk around using phrases like “I am blessed and highly favoured” or “the favour of the Lord is upon me” or “may the Lord show you favor” so with that it must go without saying that we know what the favour of Jesus is. Well I’m sorry to burst your bubbles but that generally isn’t the case. We use that language because it is Christian church language. It is Christian code and that code allows us to hide a multitude of things. Sometimes “I am blessed and highly favored” means “I am broke and my fridge is empty” or sometimes it means “I am depressed and down” or “my family is a mess and I don’t know what to do”. In our limited understanding, we have concluded that favour is the absence of pressure, pain, persecution, adversity, challenge or difficulty. What would you say if I told you that favour is marked by the presence of these very things in your life?

What would you say if I told you that because of God’s favour on your life you will experience pressure like you have never felt before? You may feel pain like you have never felt before and maybe sorrow like you have never known?

What I can tell you is that if you are experiencing it, you have the strength to overcome it. When we look at what favour is by definition, what I am saying seems counter intuitive.

Favour is defined as:

1.     Something done or granted out of goodwill, rather than from justice or for remuneration; a kind act

2.     Friendly or well-disposed regard; goodwill

3.     The state of being approved or held in regard

4.     Excessive kindness or unfair partiality; preferential treatment

Based on the definition above we would expect that the favour of God would make us exempt from pain, pressure, adversity and all the other things I mentioned above. We look at life as though we will now get a free ride irrespective of the effort that we put. We expect that unfair partiality and the preferential treatment. We use the text in Philippians 4:13 unsparingly when we are seeking God for something, this is not me pointing a finger because the first place that finger would be pointed is at myself. We need to look a few verses earlier and read what Paul says there:

“How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I now you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance t help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Paul is saying that his security is not in what he has or what he owns. He is saying that there is a formula to surviving every situation that is thrown our way. Paul is saying at some point you will be hungry, you will not have much but there is a formula you can follow to survive it so when you do have plenty and when you know how to survive in that season too. Paul is making it know what because you are favoured, there will be times of pressure, there will be times of pain and it will be challenging but guess what, you can make it through.

When we look through the bible we can identify many people that we would call blessed and favoured by God. Now I am going to get into the old testament and I know some people are reading this thinking ‘this is called the favour of Jesus, what does that have to do with the old testament?’ well a simple answer to that is “EVERYTHNG”. Take a look at my blog on the Sovereignty of Jesus (http://dydaley.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/the-sovereignty-of-jesus.html) which will help you to understand why even the old testament is pointing to Jesus. Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it (Matthew 5:17).

So, going back to favoured people in the old testament; we can start with Abraham. Abraham was called out of his home land to go to a foreign land that God had promised to give him and then to top it off God made a promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. We all happily sing the song “father Abraham had many sons, many sons had father Abraham…” but when you read Abraham's journey to God’s promises you see that Abraham had pressure and adversity on his route to his destiny.

Abraham had a wife, Sarah. Now the bible tells us that Sarah was what we define in modern day colloquial terms as fine, a hottie, a dime piece, a stunner etc. Sarah was so beautiful that the bible tells us Abraham asked her to pretend to be his sister when they got to Egypt so that the Egyptians would not kill him in order to have her. Sarah was so beautiful that the officials of Egypt went back to tell Pharaoh and she was taken to his palace. Now this is a man that we call favoured by God. This favoured man was afraid, and felt pressure. So much so that he lied and asked his wife to partake in his lie. Now during his time of pressure something happened, Abraham saw increase. He found favour with Pharaoh because of Sarah his wife. Pharaoh gave Abraham many gifts because of Sarah. So even in the midst of your pressure, adversity and turmoil, the favour of God upon you will mean that blessing s will still come your way. Your unbelief, your doubt and your fear cannot stop the promise of God from hitting the mark. Pharaoh hadn’t done anything wrong in this whole situation but because of the favour of God on Abraham he had to deal with many plagues because he had taken Sarah. Your adversity cannot overshadow the favour of God on your life.

Lot (Abraham’s nephew) was travelling with him at the time. The bible tells us in Genesis 13:5 - 7:

“Lot, who was travelling with Abram, had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle and many tents. But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot.”

First thing I want to take from this is favour is infectious. Just like joy, when people sense the favour of God on you they want to be around you. They want to share in what you have and if they happen to be close enough to you then the favour of God on you will eventually rub off on them. God did not make the promise to Lot but the fact that Lot was in close proximity to Abraham the favour that God put on Abraham was spilling over. It reminds me of the scripture, Luke 6:38 which says “give, and you shall receive. Your gift will return to you in full – pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over and pouring into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back”.

Another example of this was in 2 Samuel 6 where David was attempting to move the Ark of the covenant to the City of David. When Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark as it was falling and God’s anger was aroused against him which resulted in him being struck dead, David was angry with God and afraid so he decided to leave the Ark at the home of Obed-Edom. Now the bible says that the Ark remained at the house of Obed-Edom for 3 months and the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and his entire household in that time. When you dwell in the presence of the favour of God you and those around you cannot help but be blessed.

Going back to Abraham, as his wealth grew so did the wealth of his nephew Lot and this meant that there was conflict between their staff over grazing land, water for the herds and so on. No doubt that Abraham got constant grief over the matter but the matter arose as a result of the favour of God on his life. This would not be the last time the favour that spilled over to Lot got Abraham in hot water. When Abraham and Lot separated and went their own ways, Lot (and all his possessions – the result of the spilled over favour) were captured by the armies of an invading king. Abraham had to mobilize his trained men to go after the army of the king, attack them and retrieve his nephew. Now this might not seem like a big deal until you look into it a little deeper. The invading army was made up of the combined forces of the king of Babylonia, the king of Ellasar, the king of Elam and the king of Goiim. Now you can imagine how big this combined army was. Unfortunately the bible does not tell us their numbers but it does define them as an army. Abraham had 318 trained men to take with him to take on an army. Now if that doesn’t spell pressure I don’t know what does. Abraham must have been afraid, and he must have been in doubt about their chances of survival but the bible tells us that he got his nephew back, all his possessions, the women and every other captive. The favour of God was upon Abraham and his men so much so that the army of king Kedorlaomer tried to flee but Abraham’s men chased them. Abraham returned home with the spoils of war, which would have included any possessions that the army of Kedorlaomer had brought with them. When the favour of God is on you the things that look impossible and that make no sense logically will become the foundations of your testimony. If you can put away your fear and trust in God in the midst of the adversity, you will see amazing things happen because of the favour of God. If there was no adversity and good things kept happening to you then people could explain that as luck or good fortune. When good things happen in the midst of adversity God gets the glory.

In Genesis 15 we read about God’s promise to Abraham to make his descendants as numerous as the stars. It actually starts with God telling Abraham not be afraid because he is going to protect him and his reward will be great. Again, if adversity, pressure and pain did not go hand in hand with favour then what would God need to protect Abraham from? Just as you cannot get a diamond from carbon without putting it under extreme pressure, the result of God’s favour on your life cannot be released without the presence of pressure and adversity.

Abraham starts to moan and complain to God about how he has no son to inherit his wealth and how God has not given him any children. This is when God tells him “no, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” (Genesis 15:4). Abraham believed God and the bible says God counted him as righteous because of his faith.

In Genesis 16 we get an account of Abraham sleeping with his wife’s servant, but only in the previous chapter it tells us that Abraham believed God and he was counted as righteous. To top it off, Abraham's wife Sarah said God had prevented her from having children but Abraham knew that God had promised that he will have a son. Sarah took it upon herself to try and make God’s plan happen when she believed it should. Sarah was so caught up in what was going on with her natural body that she forgot that the promise had nothing to do with nature. The promise was from a supernatural God, a God that supersedes nature and has authority over it. Sarah who was part of God’s promise to Abraham was feeling the pressure of her situation and in that moment she decided that she would ‘help’ God out with what he promised to do. In doing so, she caused additional pressure. Hagar, the maid servant of Sarah, had sexual relations with Abraham and became pregnant. When this happened she began to mistreat and disrespect her mistress. Abraham had allowed himself to end up with some baby momma drama. His wife was getting grief from his side chick, he was getting grief from his wife and there was a baby caught in the cross hairs. Again, pressure and adversity had found its way into the home of our very favoured Abraham. Not only did this bring immediate adversity, it also brought a legacy of adversity that would remain as the angel of the Lord told Hagar that the son she would bear would have countless descendants who would live in constant hostility with his relatives. Although Ishmael was not the child of the promise, God still honoured his promise to make Abraham's descendants as numerous as the stars.

During Genesis 17 – 19 we get the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. I am not planning to recount the story but I do want to call out the audacious boldness that Abraham had as he challenged the Lord about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. When you have the favour of Jesus you can boldly enter into his inner courts and make your requests known to him.

Another thing to remember about the favour of Jesus is that you will put through your challenges till you learn the lesson. Abraham did not learn his lesson about lying about his relationship with Sarah the first time because we see him repeat the same mistake in Genesis 20. The favour of God on him meant that king Abimelech, who had taken Sarah believing she was Abraham’s sister, could not sleep with her because God prevented him from doing so. In addition to restoring his wife unto him, Abimelech also blessed Abraham with many gifts and Abraham prayed to God to release Abimelech’s wife and his female servants from the infertility he had placed on them. Even though Abraham was in the wrong (because he couldn’t cope with the pressure of his situation) God showed partiality toward him and caused him to be blessed even though he had brought it all on himself.

In Genesis 21, Isaac is born and God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah is fulfilled. Unfortunately for Abraham the pressure, pain and adversity keeps on coming.

Not wanting to turn this into a memoir on the life of Abraham, I will summarise and say that Abraham had to survive sending his son Ishmael away, being asked to sacrifice his son, the death of his wife and probably countless other trials that are not mentioned in the bible. One thing that is mentioned and accounted for is the fulfilment of God’s promises to Abraham. His descendants returned to the land of Canaan after 400 years as God said they would and also Abraham became the father of the Hebrew nation.

The life of Abraham is not an isolated case of God’s favour. The old testament is full of stories of men and women who had the favour of God on them but also dealt with immense pressure, adversity and challenges.

Take king David, a man the bible says God called “a man after my own heart”. He was anointed to be king and then he had to survive under the authority of the king he was destined to replace. He was best friends with the son of the man that was trying to kill him. He murdered a man to get his wife, his son slept with his wife and so many other things. Despite all his failing and his adversity, the favour of God was still on him.

In John 1:12 we are told “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.” Also John 3:16 tell us that we have been given the gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus. We have also been told what to expect as a result of the path that we have decided to walk. Matthew 5:11 tells us “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.”

Our road is not going to be an easy one to walk. We are told to count the cost of following Jesus because like anything worth having it is going to cost us something. We can take solace in the fact that Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and in earth and by extension has given us a measure of that authority.

In Matthew 16:19 it says “And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” It then goes on to repeat it again in Matthew 18:18.

The favour of Jesus is not summed up by how well things go in our lives or what we are able to amass in a lifetime. The parable of the rich fool comes to mind. Luke 12:21 says “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” I am not saying that you should not aspire to do well in life; on the contrary. Doing well means you will have resources to help those less fortunate that yourself. What I am saying is that you should not limit the favour of Jesus to material blessing. The favour of Jesus is embedded in deep relationship with him. The favour of Jesus is what will help you to survive any situation. This is the secret that Paul was talking about. It is the reason he is secure if he has little or he has plenty. He understood that the favour of Jesus meant that as long as he sought Jesus above all things, his needs would be met. He would not go hungry and he would not be naked or homeless. Why did Satan ask to test Job, because he knew that Job was favoured. Satan wanted to see how Job would survive under extreme pressure, when everything was taken away from him and all hope seemed lost. Would he turn and curse God or would he bless God. Those who understand the favour of Jesus will know that he is the author and finisher of their faith and the ultimate reward of his favour is the fact that their name is written in the book of life. Armed with that knowledge you can look at the things in this life and put them into perspective. You can smile in the middle of a storm and rest in the joy of salvation.

Once again I will say it, favour is not the absence of pressure, it is evidenced by pressure and it is characterised by the joy of salvation.

Grace and peace!