“God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary…. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.’” [Luke 1:26-32]
“You have found favor with God.” The word favor is charis in the Greek. It is usually translated as grace. Mary found grace in the sight of the LORD, just as so many before her had … people like Noah and Abraham, Moses and David. Grace. God’s good favor.
Grace is an attribute of God. In God grace and mercy are one, but as they reach us, they are seen as two. Mercy is God’s goodness confronting human misery and guilt (He doesn’t give us what we deserve, judgment). Grace is His goodness directed toward human debt and demerit (He gives us what we don’t deserve, salvation, redemption, love).
John 1:20 tells us that “…grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
The wonder of Mary finding favor/grace with God is that she is going to give birth to the very means by which grace is going to come to all mankind, including her.
Grace didn’t suddenly come into existence when Jesus Christ was born on earth. Grace, God’s good favor, has existed for all time in the heart of God. It is as boundless, as eternal, as He is. Everyone who has ever come to God has come though His Divine Favor/Grace, whether in the Old Testament or in the New. That included Mary. That includes us! What a wonder!
