447. Favor with Purpose
In my 30+ years of Christian life, I rarely heard the term "favor" preached or explained, even though it appears in the Bible 130 times or more. 18 years ago, I learned about it and experienced it in my personal life, which transformed my view of God. Since then, it has become one of my favorite words in the Bible, and I find myself using it in my prayers and preaching all the time. Favor by definition is "an act of kindness beyond what is due". When God gives favor, it results in an unexplainable favorable result, both spiritually and materially.
As my eyes became more open to the gospel, I’ve come to realize that the very essence of the gospel is the “favor" of God. Apostle John writes that through Jesus we have received “grace(favor) upon grace (favor)”. (John 1:16) Mary was greeted by an angel with the news of her virgin birth, and he said Mary has found favor with God. (Luke 1:30) Even before Jesus came, God blessed people with his favor, and it materialized into tangible blessings that others can see. For example, Noah found favor with God (Gen 6:8), which resulted in the salvation of his family when the world was being wiped out. God gave the people of Israel favor with the Egyptians, who had given them their wealth before the exodus. (Exo 12:36) Joseph found favor with God, and he was promoted. (Gen 39:21)
God loves to give favor because it puts things in order - God gets all the credit which he rightly deserves, and we are left with unceasing gratitude. The more we try to qualify for his favor, the less favor we have from God. Favor comes simply to those who trust God in humility. It is not something we can achieve. But we can certainly “increase” in favor with God, just as Jesus did (Luke 2:52), and we should.
Then why do we need to grow in favor with God? It is because we have a mission that is impossible to accomplish without God’s favor. Bringing the lost souls to Christ cannot be accomplished with our own strength. Every blessing God gives comes with a purpose, and that is to bless others. If we really want to accomplish greater things for God in our lives and in our church, then we must ask God for more of his favor, not less.
