“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Colossians 3:12). A disposition to kindness, compassion and consideration for others. Giving people more than they deserve.
Wikipedia has a well-laid-out definition of grace, in essence, it reads as follows: “The Septuagint translates as χάρις the Hebrew word חֵ֖ן (ẖen) as found in Genesis 6:8 to describe why God saved Noah from the flood. The Old Testament use of the word includes the concept that those showing favour do gracious deeds, or acts of grace, such as being kind to the poor and showing generosity.
Descriptions of God’s graciousness abound in the Torah/Pentateuch, for example in Deuteronomy 7:8, Numbers 6:24–27. In the Psalms, examples of God’s grace include teaching the Law (see Psalm 119:29) and answering prayers (see Psalm 27:7).
Another example of God’s grace appears in Psalm 85, a prayer for restoration, forgiveness, and the grace and mercy of God to bring about new life following the Exile.” Wikipedia
One can see the concept of grace throughout the Bible, with 130 scriptures quoting grace 140 times.
What does grace mean?
When we try to describe who or what God is, it feels like our human language just can’t describe Him. Moses wrote his perspective of God as follows: “Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth,” (Exodus 34:6)
This word “gracious” in Hebrew is the word “Khanun” and is related to the noun “Khen”, which is translated as “grace” or “favour”.
The Psalmist compares it as follows: “My tongue is like the pen of a skilful writer. You are the most excellent of the sons of men. Grace has anointed your lips, therefore God has blessed you forever.” (Psalms 45:1-2). This means he can write beautiful words that bring delight.
Often we will find this word when describing a gift. This can be seen in the beautiful story of Esther: “Esther spoke yet again before the king, and fell at his feet, and begged him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his plan that he had planned against the Jews. Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose, and stood before the king.” (Esther 8:3-4). Esther requested “Khen” from the king and because she delights the king he grants it.
To give a gift of favour is “khen”, the most extreme form of this is seen when one gives it to someone when they should get what they deserve. Jacob is a very good example of this: “Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” Jacob said, “To find favor in the sight of my Lord.” (Genesis 33:8). Jacob is looking for “Khen” from Esau. Esau gives him the grace he doesn’t deserve.
How do we achieve “Khen”? To achieve “Khen” one needs a generous spirit, even under the most favourable circumstances, this is hard to do. But God is the one who shows this spirit the most in the Bible, this can be seen from Genesis to Revelations over and over again. The most notable of all is when God rescued the Israelites from the grip of the Egyptians and they repaid Him the next moment by worshipping a golden calf!
Moses steps in and asks God for “Khen”, and He says yes: “For how would people know that I have found favour in your sight, I and your people? Isn’t it that you go with us so that we are separated, I and your people, from all the people who are on the surface of the earth?” (Exodus 33:16)
This character trait of God having a generous spirit is most clearly seen in Psalms where He grants it over 40 times to people who do not deserve it!
The prophet Isaiah tells us then that God will do this again one day in the future: “Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him. For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you.” (Isaiah 30:18-19 referring to Jesus’ coming).
In the New Testament, the Greek word for “Khen” is “Kharis” which refers to a gracious gift. John tells us that this “Kharis” becomes human: “The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
He was sent to bring us a gift of life. Because we are like the living dead as a result of our sinful nature, Paul describes it as follows: “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus; for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:7-8)
The Challenge
If we are given a gift, that gift only becomes ours when we accept the gift. We need to therefore accept Jesus and the gift He has brought us. We must own our failures and confess our sins, asking God to give us “Khen”, He will give it to us, as He has done so many times in the past. This is a gift of God, one He gives of Himself, His life and His love.
Conclusion
When we become disciples of Jesus and aim to live as He has lived we will follow His example He has left us, and give others “Khen” just as we have received it for ourselves. May we come to experience grace and give grace to others throughout our living years on this earth.
Resources
The movie, “One Night with the King” is about the life of Esther.
Bible Project has an amazing video to show this concept.
