The Favor of God

When God sent the angel Gabriel with a message to Mary, who became the mother of Jesus, the first thing he did was address her as, “O favored one.” He told her that the Lord was with her, and then declared once again that she had found favor with God (Luke 1:26-35).  Mary, understandably, had a little difficulty processing the message, so Gabriel let her have it straight.  He told her that she would bear a child who would be the Son of God, and who would have an eternal kingdom and be very great.  The bewildered and chaste Mary continued to have difficulty, so she asked how she could have a child as a virgin. Gabriel explained that she would be overcome by the supernatural power of God and that the child would be conceived in her by that power.  This amazing passage prompts us to ask what it means to have favor with God. The Greek term from which this word is derived (charis) is inseparably intertwined with the idea of grace (see Strong’s G5487 for vs 28, Strong's G5485 for vs 30). The standard definition for grace in Christian theology is unmerited favor. But also woven into its meaning is the idea of delight. Mary gave God delight and pleasure, and so God gave her favor. This natural exchange is common between all people who have any kind of genuine love relationship – regardless of whether that relationship is familial, platonic, communal, or intimate. 

Mary holds both of the threads in the cord that makes up the Greek word charis.  First, consider the grace side of her blessing. She did not merit the privilege of birthing the King of Kings. She was a woman like any other, having a human character riddled with various sins that separated her from God. Yet, she belonged to the lineage of David, which was necessary for Messianic prophecies, she had ties to prophetic geographic locations, and she had a prophetic virginity. God chose her, in part, to fulfill those prophecies, but he could have chosen any woman who met those criteria. Still, she likely pleased him with some aspect of her character.  The Lord favors, or takes pleasure in, those who fear him and wait on his love and kindness (Psalm 147:11 NASB, favor Strong's H7521). He looks toward, favors, or regards those with a contrite heart and a humble spirit (Isaiah 66:2 NIV, looks/regards Strong's H5027). Mary demonstrated that kind of character in Luke 1:38 when she recognized herself as a servant and yielded herself in submission to God. When we submit to God through our faith in Christ – faith that God has given us – he is pleased with us, and favors us with a new spirit. Similar to Mary, we are overcome by God’s supernatural power and his spirit is put into us and flows from us. 

In his favor, we delight him and are delighted by him. He gives us love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness and self-control. We then bear the name of Christ along with the blessing and the duty to represent him in the world. But these blessings come with burdens. In the case of Mary, she would later watch her kingly and divine son, in whom she found delight, tortured to death on a cross. She now sees him in all of his glory and is part of the salvation story. In a comparable way, as a follower of Christ, you may now bear the burden of his name in persecution and ridicule, but one day you will see Christ in all of his glory.  What part will you have played in the salvation story of others?