For the rest of the summer, we will be hearing from various voices within the Riverwood family about an attribute of Jesus for which they are thankful. To kick off this new series, LeAnn Bird shares how she is thankful for the mercy & grace of Jesus.
The meaning of names is pretty important to me. If you ask me about the meaning of my kids’ names, be prepared to hear a 15-minute explanation! My name (LeAnn) was given to me to honor my grandmother who was named Anne. One day, when I was in middle school Home Economics class (having to care for my Egg Baby!), I looked up the meaning of "Anne" in a baby name book (NOT the Internet, which didn’t exist yet). I learned that "Anne" means grace. I thought that was neat, knowing grace was a “Bible word.” But for many years, I felt like I didn't truly understand what grace was. It seemed to be such an intangible word and concept.
Today, I want to focus on Jesus and His grace, as well as His mercy. It has taken me years of "growing in grace" to understand what His grace is, what mercy is, and how to give both to myself and others.
The Bible tells us that grace and mercy are key descriptors of God. An oft-repeated description of God in the Old Testament is found in Exodus 34:6 - “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
We know that Jesus is God, and while He has a different role than the Father, Colossians 1:15 tells us, “[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” Which means, if God possesses a characteristic, then Jesus does too. So it shouldn't surprise us that the Apostle John’s prominent description of Jesus is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
What we see in Jesus, comes from Him reflecting the Father.
It is important to note that Grace and Mercy are not synonymous. But they do go hand in hand. Grace is getting something (a gift, a pardon, etc.) that you don’t deserve, whereas Mercy is not getting something (punishment, judgment, etc.) that you do deserve.
And what we see in Jesus is both grace AND mercy. Whether it’s the woman caught in adultery (John 8:2-11), Zacchaeus (Luke 19:9), the thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43), or me and my repetitive sins (rude to my husband, impatient and judgmental toward my children, overindulging in food, and much more!), Jesus doesn’t wag His finger at us and think, “Oh, I can’t believe you did [fill in the blank].” Instead, He extends unimaginable love, grace, and mercy.
As Dane Ortlund writes in his book, Gentle and Lowly,
“That God is rich in mercy means…the things about you that make you cringe most, make him hug hardest. It means his mercy is not calculating and cautious, like ours. It is unrestrained, flood-like, sweeping, magnanimous. It means our haunting shame is not a problem for him, but the very thing he loves most to work with. It means our sins do not cause his love to take a hit. Our sins cause his love to surge forward all the more.”
My prayer for you today is that you may know, feel, and experience the mercy and grace of God through Jesus.
P.S. If praise and worship through song is one of your favorite pathways to connect with the heart of God, check out The Image by Matt Redman & Gather Worship (inspired by Colossians 1:15).
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