Thought for the week w/b 21st July

Thought of the Week-July 21, 2024-written by Clement Arde-Acquah

“To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 1Tim 1:2”.

Brethren, Grace. Mercy and Peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with us all.

 In my home country of Ghana, some of the most popular Christian names for girls are: Grace, Mercy, Peace and Blessing because, these names depict the Divine attributes of God’s love for mankind.

Paul in the New testament, always starts his Epistles to various congregations with the “Pauline greetings” of: Grace and Peace and sometimes inserts Mercy between these words as seen in the verse 1 Timothy 1:2, quoted above. Paul uses grace because he was addressing a community of Greeks who use the salutation “charis” or grace when addressing each other.  Grace here means God’s favour rests upon you (you here refer to the person you are saluting today). Grace is an undeserved favour from God that we have not earned. It is freely given and must equally be freely received. It is God’s Riches given At Christ Expense, so that no one should boost of having or deserving it more than another. God showed us His grace by letting his son die for our sins. God’s grace is supernaturally given and leads to other gifts like: Mercy and Peace. Basically, Grace is love in action.

Mercy “eleos” in Greek, depicts a God ready to forgive despite the severity of our sins. It was because of God’s supernatural love and mercy for us,  that led to His begotten son Jesus Christ dying for us.  In our secular world we often hear especially in the law courts, judges tempering justice with mercy when announcing the sentences, this indicates judges readiness to mercy rather let retribution and revenge be ultimate in their judgement. God's mercy is however without measure, carrying no conditionality but stemming only out of His love for us and is what we are encouraged to do for each other. Paul uses the word “Mercy” because, the churches he was writing to, found themselves in difficult situations and Timothy and Titus were young pastors presiding over these growing churches facing many challenges. Paul asks God therefore, to show His mercy which endures forever, as a way of encouraging the pastors and congregations to continue relying on God, a God who will never fail them and whose mercies are new every morning.

Paul also uses the word “Peace” when writing to his congregations. Paul uses Peace in Hebrew” Shalom” or “Eirene” in Greek because, he was addressing Jews living in a Gentile world who use Shalom as way of greeting each other. Peace is an attribute of God, the world cannot have or give because we as individuals each yet to make our peace with God. God’s peace is a supernatural peace that transcends all our human understanding and serves to create love and harmony amongst us all. We will only have peace with God if we are in right standing with Him through faith in Christ. St. Augustine once said of a one at peace with God by the statement “our hearts are restless until their find their rest in You(God), thus we can have peace with ourselves and with God when we have His supernatural peace.  Paul also said in Romans 5:1, our peace shows, we have been justified by faith through Jesus Christ and shows the Holy Spirit is working in us.

The three words of Grace, Mercy and Peace are therefore important attributes Christian must have and that is why Paul greets his congregations in this way.

Elsewhere In the Bible (Rom 16:16, 1 Cor. 16:20, 2 Cor 13;12, 1 Thess 5;26), Paul asks his congregants a to greet each other with a “holy kiss,  indicating our affection and delight to uphold and regard each other as Christ regards us. If the familiarity of that kiss or philial”  love is too much for us, then we can greet each other with the Pauline greetings of: Grace, Mercy and Peace which are supernatural blessings of God (Blessing or “eulogeo” in Greek remember, as I pointed at beginning of this “Thought of the Week”, is another popular girls Christian name in Ghana) that should bind all His divine attributes in us always. Amen.

Prayer:

God of Love, we thank you for your abounding Grace. A Grace so great that, you let your son die on the cross for us for our sins. May that grace make us merciful to one another and teach us the way of peace, so that we can become true children of yours. May your Blessings of Grace, Mercy and Peace be with us all now and always, in Jesus name. Thank you Lord. Amen.