Psalm 117; Psalm 119:81-176; 2 John 1; 3 John 1
Stopped Dead In My Tracks This Morning by Three Words: Grace, Mercy and Peace
Scripture
2 John 1
3 Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.
Observation
Maybe you are like me and most mornings when I read God’s word if I come to something I don’t understand then I just skim over it and keep on reading. Yes, there is plenty in God’s Word that I do not understand. But this morning I couldn’t do it. When I got to 2 John 1:3 I stopped and I had to think and meditate on the three words that John had written. When I finished reading the rest of my daily Bible reading my thoughts were still on those 3 words.
I found that Paul used those same three words when he wrote to
Timothy in his letters, I Timothy and 2 Timothy:
Timothy in his letters, I Timothy and 2 Timothy:
1 Timothy 1:2b
“…May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.”
2 Timothy 1:2b
“…May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.”
It seemed so natural for John and Paul to use those terms and the people must have been very familiar with them.
In 2 John 1:3 John uses these terms almost as a statement of facts, as a gentle reminder of what we have received from our Heavenly Father and what we have received from the Lord Jesus Christ. But in First and Second Timothy the Apostle Paul’s uses these words as a blessing.
All three of these words are used over and over again throughout the scriptures and yet they are not normally part of our vocabulary today. When was the last time you blessed someone by saying, “May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.” I doubt that you and I have ever greeted someone with that kind of blessing, but evidently this was very common in the life of the early church.
Here is a quick definition of the three words in an Eddy paraphrase:
Grace – We are sinners and deserve to go to Hell, but because Jesus Christ came to this earth, lived a sinless life, died on the cross in our place, and rose again, if we put our trust and faith in Him then we will not get what we deserve we will not go to Hell but instead we will get to enjoy Heaven. We don’t deserve to have a relationship with God we don’t deserve to be adopted into His family as children, but because of what Jesus did for us we are Kings Kids.
Mercy – The story of the Good Samaritan probably best explains this word to us. The Good Samaritan stopped and helped the man that was left on the side of the road and was close to death. The Good Samaritan doctored and bandaged up his wounds then he carried him to an inn. Then he told the innkeeper that whatever expenses the innkeeper incurred that he would repay him when he returned. God loves us so much that He gives us things that we don’t deserve.
Peace – This is not the absence of troubles, trials, or difficulties, but rather Peace is the assurance in the middle of a mess that God is in control and that God is Sovereign. During these past 2 months after my heart attack I have had the peace of knowing that my God is Sovereign and that He is in control. Because of His Mercy and His Grace that I have experienced in my life I have the Peace of knowing that whatever happens in my future He is in control of it.
Application
I will meditate on these three words today: Grace, Mercy, and Peace!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, those three words describe how much you love us! You don’t give us what we deserve – Hell. And you give us so much that we don’t deserve. You lavish Your love on us. You bless us with so much. We are rich. And in the middle of tremendous troubles You give us the Peace of knowing that You are right there with us and You give us the assurance that You are going to handle the situation. I thank You that You are a God of Grace, Mercy, and Peace.
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