”Graciousness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
Commentators describe the phrase, “met together” as a term depicting those who should be friends, but whom circumstances have separated. That is an accurate description of our relationship with God…. He is our Father, Creator, and King… we should be family, but our sin has divided us. Our communion with God has been disrupted and we no longer live in the relationship for which we were created.
However, because of His great love for us, God has remedied this condition. “Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other”… that occurred on the Cross where Jesus horrifically suffered and died to pay my debt. God’s glorious grace, and the shame of my wickedness encountered each other, and God’s righteousness has been satisfied. His grace has given me the kiss of peace, and our relationship has been restored.
What possible response, other than gratitude can I have to this miracle? Is there any room for boasting? Would it not be insanity to claim that I have done anything that merits such a gift? Yet we “church goers” entertain such madness on a regular basis. We think our quiet times, offerings, or kindness somehow makes us more deserving of salvation than our neighbors.
Ironically, few attitudes are more repulsive to God than believing we can earn His grace. It nauseates Him… and understandably so. If you sacrificed a loved one to save me, and I offered you money or trinkets in return, it would do nothing but offend you. Multiply that by infinity and you will begin to understand God’s opinion of you “working” for your salvation.
We hear “Amazing Grace” so often that the phrase loses its power to astonish us. It is utterly unimaginable that God would do what He did. That He would sacrifice His Son to redeem us even while we were pushing Him away…. And it is inexcusable for us to believe we have anything to offer as reimbursement.
When counting your blessings, place first the fact that His love and your sin came face to face, and His grace bestowed on you Christ’s righteousness, and the kiss of eternal peace with your heavenly Father… In comparison, everything else is just details.
“We are justified, not by giving anything to God, but by receiving from God, what Christ hath done for us.” – William Gurnall
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