The Meaning of God's Favor: Unpacking God's Unmerited Love

What is God's favor?

In Scripture, God’s favor is His unmerited love and approval, often demonstrated through acts of blessing and covenantal faithfulness.

This concept is illustrated in Genesis 6:8, where Noah ‘found favor in the eyes of the Lord’ despite a world corrupted by sin, underscoring God’s choice to preserve life through covenantal commitment. Similarly, at Jesus’ baptism, the voice from heaven declares, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17), highlighting divine favor as both affirmational and redemptive. These examples reveal God’s favor as an active, grace-driven disposition toward those He has chosen.

Such favor is not contingent on human merit but reflects God’s sovereign grace. These scriptural instances prepare readers to understand how this same favor is extended to humanity broadly through Christ’s redemptive work, a theme explored in the following section.

God's Favor in the Garden and the Curse

Genesis 3:15 reveals God’s favor as a redemptive promise embedded within the consequences of human sin.

In the wake of the fall, God’s curse on the serpent includes a declaration that the ‘seed of the woman’ will crush the head of the adversary, a prophecy that signals His intention to restore creation through covenantal grace. This promise is striking because it emerges not in spite of judgment but as part of it, demonstrating that God’s favor is active even in the midst of human disobedience. The language of ‘seed’ implies a lineage through which salvation will unfold, anchoring hope in a future beyond the immediate consequences of the fall. By instituting this covenantal commitment, God initiates a redemptive narrative that transcends human failure.

The significance of the ‘seed of the woman’ lies in its function as the first biblical foreshadowing of Christ’s victory over sin and death. Unlike later depictions of divine favor that emphasize human response - such as Noah’s righteousness or Jesus’ baptism - Genesis 3:15 underscores God’s unilateral initiative, as the promise is given without prerequisite conditions from humanity. This ‘seed’ becomes the theological linchpin for understanding God’s grace as both proactive and enduring, setting the trajectory for the entire canon.

This covenantal favor, first glimpsed in the garden, finds fuller expression in later scriptural narratives. The next section will explore how this theme is elaborated through key figures and events in Scripture’s unfolding story of redemption.

Favor and Election in the Old Testament

In the Old Testament, God's favor intersects with election through covenantal relationships that reflect His redemptive purposes rather than arbitrary selection.

This is evident in His choice of Abraham and Israel: "Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country... I will make you a great nation... and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you'" (Genesis 12:1-3). Here, divine favor is tied to a covenantal mission, not mere preference. Similarly, Israel's election as "a people for His own possession" (Deuteronomy 7:6) is grounded in God's commitment to fulfill promises made to Abraham, demonstrating that favor operates within a framework of faithfulness to His saving plan.

Yet this selectivity does not negate fairness. As Deuteronomy 7:7-8 clarifies, "It was not because you were more in number than any other people... but because the Lord loved you."" The favor shown to Abraham and Israel anticipates Christ, whose cross extends God's grace universally while preserving the theological truth that divine election is purposeful, not capricious. This covenantal foundation will be further developed in New Testament discussions of grace through faith.

Favor in the New Covenant

The New Covenant redefines divine favor as an unmerited gift mediated through Jesus Christ, transcending the conditional blessings of the Old Covenant.

In the Gospels, Jesus is explicitly identified as the embodiment of God's favor: the angel calls Mary the 'favored one' (Luke 1:30), and after his presentation at the temple, it is declared that 'the child will grow and become strong - filled with wisdom, and the favor of God will be on him' (Luke 2:40). This marks a shift from favor contingent on human obedience to a grace rooted in Christ's identity and work. The New Testament frames this favor as universally accessible through faith in Jesus, not earned by law-keeping (Rom. 3:21-26), while the Holy Spirit becomes its active agent, indwelling believers to manifest God's presence and power (John 14:16-17). This redefinition reorients divine favor from a relational covenantal bond to a transformative, Spirit-empowered reality.

Jesus' life and death crystallize God's favor as redemptive: His baptismal declaration ('This is my beloved Son...') affirms His unique role as the channel of grace (Matt. 3:17), and His crucifixion demonstrates that 'God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us' (Rom. 5:8). Through Him, God's favor becomes a reconciling force rather than a conditional privilege.

The Holy Spirit's outpouring at Pentecost (Acts 2:33) institutionalizes this new paradigm, enabling believers to 'walk in the light of the Lord' (Acts 2:42) and embody God's favor through sanctification. This Spirit-empowered grace extends the promise of Genesis 3:15 to all nations, as Paul writes that 'in Christ Jesus... there is neither Jew nor Gentile... for you are all one in Christ Jesus' (Gal. 3:28). The next section will explore how this redemptive favor shapes Christian ethics and eschatological hope.

Why God's Favor Matters Today

Understanding God's favor as a redemptive force through Christ reshapes how believers engage with their identity, purpose, and relationship with the world today.

This favor cultivates assurance, as believers recognize that God's approval is secured through Christ's work, as seen in Romans 5:8: 'God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,' rather than through human merit. Yet it demands humility, as the same grace that saves also calls for dependence on God's strength rather than spiritual self-sufficiency. Furthermore, it fuels mission, compelling followers to mirror this grace by extending mercy to others, reflecting the universality of God's redemptive plan, as Galatians 3:28 affirms: 'There is neither Jew nor Gentile... for you are all one in Christ Jesus.'

A common misuse of this truth is equating divine favor with entitlement to material or relational blessings, which distorts the cross-centered nature of grace. Rather than a license for complacency, God's favor challenges believers to live with gratitude and ethical integrity, recognizing that it is both a gift and a call to faithful stewardship.

Going Deeper

For readers seeking to explore God's favor further, examining related themes like election, grace, and covenant provides critical context for understanding divine action in Scripture.

Key resources include John Piper's *The Future Glory of the Church* (grace), N.T. Wright's *The New Testament and the People of God* (covenant), and Michael Horton's *Theology* (election), which address debates on sovereignty, human response, and redemptive history as seen in Genesis 12:1-3 and Galatians 3:28.