The true meaning of grace

As a child, the one thing I was most afraid of was going to hell. Even after being saved, it took a while for me to grasp that my salvation was eternally secure. That is probably why the story of Mephibosheth resonates with me so much.

Summoned by the king

I wonder how Mephibosheth felt the first time he dined with King David. Did it all feel surreal? Was he overwhelmed with gratitude? To that day, he had lived in fear, hiding in the barren land of Lo-debar for most of his life. He would have grown up hearing the many stories of the animosity between his grandfather, King Saul, and King David. He was so sure that his grandfather’s enemies would kill him the day they found him. And when the palace summoned him, he would have been certain that the time had come.

Mephibosheth’s fear was almost tangible when he bowed down before David even though he was crippled in both feet (2 Samuel 9:6). But what the king leaves him utterly amazed. David reassures him of life. He promises to give him his inheritance. What is more, the great king gives Mephibosheth a seat at his table. Mephibosheth was to dine with King David for the rest of his life (Vv. 7).

Knowing how crippled we were with sin, unable to save ourselves. He took all our guilt and shame

But why would anyone treat the grandson of the enemy like a son? What he did not know was the covenant his father, Jonathan, had made with King David. “If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the Lord, that I may not die; and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever, when the Lord cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth” (1 Samuel 20:14-15).

David remembered and kept this covenant even after many years. He extended the love that he had shared with his best friend to his son as well. And so Mephibosheth, crippled as he was, had a place at the king’s table just like one of his sons all the days of his life (2 Samuel 9:10).

Grace that is greater

The story of Mephibosheth also reminds us that we have been given so much more. Our God chose not to treat us according to our sins and lavished His grace upon us instead. How could He possibly love us so much that He was willing to give up His only Son to take all the punishment that should have been mine?! 

And yet, He did, knowing how crippled we were with sin, unable to save ourselves. He took all our guilt and shame, and He forgave us once and for all. The depths of God’s mercy and the heights of His love for me was displayed on the cross of Calvary. 

If this in itself was not enough, He gives us even more. God stooped down to make us great (Psalm 18:35), to make us a part of the royal family, the sons and daughters of the King of kings. And because we are His sons and daughters, our Father has promised us an inheritance in glory. 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…” (1 Peter 1:3-4). If we pause to think of all that we have been blessed with in Christ, we will be overwhelmed with gratitude to our Father.

A gospel appeal

If you, dear reader, have not tasted God, I plead with you to give your life to the Lord Jesus today. God is calling you to come nigh and be His child—however unworthy you may feel you are. Even the most worthless in the eyes of the world has a home in the kingdom of God. Psalm 84:3 reads, “Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.”

What should excite us most about heaven is not the crowns or the mansions, but the Person of Jesus Christ

On that final day, all of God’s children will have a place around the Father’s table—whether we were theologians or barely literate, heroes of the faith or like the thief on the cross. For it is not by righteous deeds or mere head knowledge of the Word of God that one is saved. Anyone who simply believes in Jesus Christ’s finished work on the cross will be saved from condemnation forever. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). 

It amazes me to think that we, who were once enemies with God, will be presented with great joy before the Father, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, “accepted in the Beloved” Son (Ephesians 1:6). What should excite us most about heaven is not the crowns or the mansions, but the Person of Jesus Christ. At His feet, we will bow down in worship and lift our songs of gratitude for all of eternity. What a glorious day that will be! “… What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).