Grace, Mercy & Peace

Grace, Mercy and Peace

Scripture: Ephesians 4:32; Romans 1:7; First Corinthians 1:2-3; Philippians 1:2

Ephesians 4:32 says, “And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.” The words kind, tenderhearted (compassionate) and forgiving all implies “grace and mercy.” We need it and we can’t live without it. We can’t purchase it nor can we earn it. Grace and mercy only comes by means of a gift, and when we receive it, we immediately realize how much we ourselves needed it all along. And New Light, we can only give grace and mercy to someone else when we have first received and acknowledged it in our own lives because we can't give away that which we don't have within. And this is important, grace and mercy, whether we are giving it or receiving it, will always be followed by peace. Where there is no grace or mercy there is no peace.

Let us bow for a word of prayer.

Good morning New Light. I am opening the message this morning a little differently than I usually do. We are going to start with several passages of scripture that identify two blessings that God reminds us, over and over again, that He has given to us. Please take your Bibles and we are going to read a few verses from the first chapters of the books of Romans, First Corinthians and Philippians. Here in Romans we’re going to read verse 7. “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7) Now turn to First Corinthians chapter one. In verses 2 and 3 we read: “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. 3Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (First Corinthians 1:2-3) Now turn to Philippians chapter one and look at verse 2: “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:2)

I want you to understand from a historical perspective, Paul ministered primarily to the Greeks and to the Jews. The Greeks greeted one another with a salutation of “Grace,” as in “Grace be unto you…” The Jews, on the other hand, greeted one another with “Shalom” translated “Peace.” While Paul used both greetings in his letters to address everyone, the Greeks and the Jews, he was also delivering a blessing from the Father and the Son. The Apostle Paul opens each of his epistles with a salutation from him and two blessings from the Father and the Son – grace and peace. New Light, the wording of the salutations are always different, but the wording of the blessings are always the same and we see this also in all of the epistles from Romans to Thessalonians. In Paul’s writings he constantly reminds us of God blessing us with His grace and His peace.

Do you remember one the last things that Jesus told to His disciples at the Last Supper? In John chapter 14 verse 27 Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) Because we are born again, we can have that same peace. Because we are born again, we never have to have a troubled heart and, because we are born again, we never have to live in fear. That is part of the blessings that God reminds us of at the beginning of each of Paul’s epistles. But the peace would not be available to us New Light without God first giving us His grace. That’s why the wording is same in all of the epistles. God’s grace comes first then the peace follows.

The first time “grace” is used in the Old Testament is in Genesis chapter six. The chapter opens with God being heart broken by all of the wickedness He was seeing in man. It was so bad that verse five says “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5) Can you image someone waking up every morning and the only thing they wanted to do was cause harm to someone else? The wickedness had gotten so bad that God decides to wipe out the human race with the exception of Noah. Verse eight says “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” In the Hebrew and the context of the chapter, grace means “favor obtained because of being obedient.” Noah found favor with God because he obeyed God. Second Peter chapter two verse five says Noah was “a preacher of righteousness.” Noah preached righteousness in a world that was consumed with wickedness. To receive God’s grace in the Old Testament, a person had to earn it through obedience and that is what we see here in Genesis the first time the word is used.