The Benefits of Being His Child – Favour
Gen 6:8
‘But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD
LORD written like this tells us this is Jehovah – our covenant God.
Gen 18:3
Abraham - ‘If I have found favour in your eyes my lord’
Ruth 2:13 ‘May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord’
Hannah speaking to Eli the priest... ‘Let your maidservant find favour in your
sight’ 1 Sam 1:18
The Hebrew word for favour – chen = favour, grace, acceptance
From the word chanan ... defined as – a ‘superior’ bending down, to stoop in
kindness towards an ‘inferior’
‘In Your eyes’ = in your sight; in your opinion; in your presence
The eyes are the ‘window to the soul’ – a glimpse of the inner person
Favour in someone’s eyes = not superficial but from the heart
Favour in Your eyes, Lord = a glimpse of the inner Person of the Lord
God’s favour given to those I mentioned meant that –
Noah and his family were saved from the judgment of the Flood
Abraham’s family- Lot, his wife & daughters were saved from destruction
Ruth, a ‘despised’ Moabite was given honour and ongoing provision – of a
husband, a child and an inheritance
Barren Hannah had a son Samuel – who grew in favour with both the LORD
and men
As His ‘born again’ children we too are given His favour, because we are
1) Saved from Judgement & Destruction
Eph 2:8 ‘For by grace / favour / acceptance - you have been saved through
faith; and that not of yourself; it is the gift of God....’
2) Ongoing Provision
Eph2:7 ‘the incomparable riches of His grace / favour
Eph 4:7 ‘to each one of us grace / favour / acceptance - was given according
to the measure of Christ’s gift.
‘EACH ONE’ means ALL His children are given favour!
3) Honour
Def: Honour is something given by reason of rank and state of office; is the
result of deference and reverence.
But ALSO - a VALUING by which a PRICE IS FIXED.
‘... you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver and gold... but
with the precious blood of Christ’ 1 Pet 1:18-19
4) Inheritance
‘... giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light.’ Col 1:12
5) Acceptance
Finding favour in men’s eyes gives us confidence in life.
But finding favour in the Lord’s eyes should give us confidence to...
‘.... come boldly to the throne of grace / the throne of favour / the throne of
acceptance! Heb 4:16
These are the huge benefits of being His child
We have the same favour as those given to the heroes of faith....
Salvation from Judgment, Destruction, Honour, Provision, Inheritance, and
Acceptance with God and man
God’s favour cannot be earned – it is given to us as a gift!
The Most Superior Being has stooped in kindness towards us inferior beings.
The Lord has no favour – ITES.
He is not like an earthly father – who can be biased!
He has brought us to birth by the Holy Spirit and He loves & favours us all.
And we can be Channels of Favour to others.
Because He tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that ‘My grace / My favour / My acceptance is sufficient for you for ...
.... My strength / My power / My ability is made perfect in weakness’
The Benefits of Being His Child - Friendship
We are told in Exodus 33:11 that ‘The LORD spoke to Moses face to Face - as
a man would speak to his friend’
In 2 Chron. 20:7 we read of King Jehoshaphat praying in a time of crisis –
- and beseeching the LORD for help because 3 enemy nations had combined
together
- and were coming to attack Israel.
The king reminded the LORD of the covenant He had made with Abraham and
with them
- they were ‘the descendants of Abraham, Your friend forever’
Moses & Abraham were both considered to be a ‘friend of God’
In the N.T. Jesus chose 12 Disciples to be with Him on a daily basis – to be
His followers
ALL of them were, by the standards of the day, unimportant people fishermen, and a couple of hated tax collectors
ALL of them were Jesus’ friends
At the Last Supper Jesus told His disciples ‘No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master
is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father
I have made known to you.’ John 15:15
But there were others like Lazarus and his sisters Mary & Martha, who were
also called ‘friends’ of Jesus.
‘You are my friends if you do what I command’ John 15:14
As His disciples today, we too are considered as His friends.
The N.T. word for friend is mainly philos = be friendly; associate; neighbour
philo = to be fond of; personal attachment
Friendship on a natural level enables us to be open and share and receive
from one another
- but it applies on both the natural and the supernatural level
Proverbs 22:11 tells us that ‘He who loves purity of heart, and has grace on
his lips, the king will be his friend.’
Our King offers us His forgiveness to purify our heart and has provided the
grace we need for our speech
He did this because of His desire to have our friendship.
Friendship is important for encouragement to spur one another on to do well
But true friendship also gives us the opportunity to safely ask a friend for
loving correction – when we need it
However we can’t assume this kind of friendship and decide to ‘put our oar in’
- when we see - what we think – is our friend making a mistake.
People have to want and ask for that kind of deeper friendship
– otherwise lots of trouble can follow.
But where we have a true friend the scripture applies that says ‘Faithful are the wounds of a friend’ Proverbs 27:6
There is no truer friend than Jesus!
His correction is only and always positive.
If He ‘wounds’ us with His correction - it’s only so He can heal us & lead us on.
Proverbs 27:10 says - ‘Do not forsake your own friend’
forsake = to loosen, relinquish
Friendship must be kept and nurtured.
This applies to natural friendships – but also our friendship with the Lord
‘As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend’
Proverbs 27:17
sharpens = be alert, be keen
If we are unsure if we are ‘on track’ or ‘off the wall’ about something
- it helps to share it with a good friend, who knows us well
- then see what their reaction is.
Fly OR Clang
The most often used translation of the word ‘friend’ in the O.T. is....
rea = associate, companion, brother, husband, lover, friend.
> ra’ah = to tend; to pasture – shepherd; to guard, care for, nourish, feed,
delight in
Proverbs 17:17 ‘A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity’
adversity = straits, distress, trouble
This is often seen in the O.T. i.e. Jacob & Esau, Joseph’s brothers, David’s
brothers at the battle of the Philistines
The phrase – ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ – comes to mind.
Where a friend will give us grace and support us
- despite our failings and weaknesses
A brother will often judge us under the law - making comparisons and crying
‘It’s not fair!’
Proverbs 18:24 ‘A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a
friend who sticks closer than a brother’
’friends’ is the Hebrew word reya = companion, fellow, another person
But the word ’friend’ here - is a different Hebrew word
ahab = to have affection for; to desire; long for; to be inclined towards;
intimate; lover.
This Friend in Prov. 18:24 is accepted as referring to Jesus or the Holy Spirit
He is the One who has affection for us / loves us - sticks closer than a brother.’
In Proverbs we find many references to wisdom and to its attributes
Most people agree these references are about the source of all wisdom –
the Holy Spirit
Proverbs 8:17 says of ‘Wisdom’ - ‘I love those who love me, and those who
seek me diligently will find me.’
The word for love here is the same Hebrew word as for ‘friend’ - ahab
If we interchange the words ‘love’ and ‘friend’ we can see what’s being said...
‘I love those who love Me’
‘I love those who are My friends’
‘I am the Friend of those who love Me’
‘I am the Friend of those who are friends with Me’
For those who haven’t nurtured their friendship with the Lord, He says in
Hosea 14:4 - ‘I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely’
i.e. ‘I will ahab them freely’ – ‘I will freely be their Friend’.
Proverbs 3:11 & Hebrews 12:5-6 both tell us that the Lord disciplines those He
loves’ / those He ahabs
Remember - Discipline = Tutoring as in Education, Training & Correction.
Therefore, ‘The Lord tutors – educates, trains & disciplines – His ‘friends’
The friendship we have been given also includes our COVENANT BENEFITS
- some of these are mirrored in the story of David & Jonathan
1 Samuel 18:1 ‘Now when he had finished speaking with Saul, the soul of
Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved / ‘ahab’ed him as
his own soul’
This shows us that ahab is a STRONG word - it means so much more than
just a companion – one who accompanies us on the journey of life.
Many believe Jonathan was at least 11years older than David and maybe
even 24 years older.
So what was it that knit their souls together?
It was after David had ‘finished speaking’ to Jonathan’s father - King Saul.
During that conversation Jonathan had heard what was in David’s heart
- his love for and faith in the LORD God of Israel
Jonathan loved what he heard - and he knew that their hearts, their souls were
in tune.
- so the king’s son made a covenant with David 1 Samuel 18:3
It was a covenant made by the greater with the lesser – both in rank & age.
Our covenant with the King of kings was made by the Greater with the lesser
READ 1 Samuel 18:4
Just as Jonathan bestowed covenant gifts on his friend David we have been
given the same covenant gifts by our Friend – and more.
1) A Robe.... of righteousness
Isaiah 61:10
2) Armour Eph 6:11
3) A Sword which is symbolic of the Word of God
Eph 6:17
4) A bow which is symbolic of strength & power
Eph 6:10
5) A belt.... of truth
Eph 6:14
It was no co-incidence that David was successful in all he did because - he had been chosen and anointed by the LORD God
But he was also in covenant with someone older and wiser - who could guide
and instruct him.
David was loved / befriended by the king’s son - JUST AS WE ARE!