“Our Jonathan”

   

   

    "And David said, Is there any left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?" (II Samuel 9:1).

    There was a descendant of Saul left, Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, King David's beloved friend.  Lame from his childhood after an accident, Mephibosheth considered himself cursed of God by his misfortune.  When David told him that he desired to bestow favor upon him, Mephibosheth responded, "What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?" (II Samuel 9:8).  The king nevertheless made a place at his table for the man, whose blessedness resulted not from his own merit, but rather because he was the son of Jonathan.

    "He hath made us accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).

    We are Mephibosheth, that is, God graces born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ with an eternal place at His table through the person, work, and merits of our Savior.  Salvation in Christ enrobes us in the righteousness of Christ - "Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us… righteousness" (I Corinthians 1:30).  Spiritually lame from our birth, sin constitutes us as dead dogs no less, and even more, than Mephibosheth's handicap.  "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God" (Isaiah 59:2).  Left to ourselves, our Lord could not favor us without compromising His holiness and integrity.  "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity" (Habakkuk 1:13).  Through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus, however, and subsequent relationship with Him when we believe, God accepts us in His beloved to the degree that He accounts us as "joint heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17).  His blessedness becomes our blessedness as the freest gift of grace whereby dead dogs who might only hope for crumbs to fall from the table become cherished sons and daughters who sit and feast with our Lord Himself.

    The Lord Jesus is our Jonathan.  Relationship with Him by grace through faith justifies us so completely that His Father becomes our Father, and His merit is accounted as our merit.  Indeed, we might say that at the cross of Calvary, God gave to His Son everything we deserve so that at the Throne of grace, He might give to us everything Christ deserves.  Thus, as Mephibosheth showcased the kindness of David, so will we forever serve as the holy display whereby the glory of our Jonathan shines forth in a grace beyond measure, degree, and description…

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."

(Ephesians 2:4-7)

Weekly Memory Verse

    Godliness with contentment is great gain.

(I Timothy 6:6)