X's and O's, conclusion

This one doesn't have to be a kiss . . . (grin) There are several places in the letters from Paul where he says "Greet one another with a holy kiss."

                     Greet one another with a holy kiss. (Romans 16:16, NIV)

Here's another from Peter:

 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ. (I Peter 5:14, NASB)

Now, today's equivalent would be a warm, hearty handshake or perhaps a hug. And perhaps Peter's instructions explain the motivation for this. This was a sign of true affection and of blessing to one another. These greetings would be the result of God-inspired love for one another - and Peter says that we will be more at peace with each other. 

In the KJV, it is translated "charity," and to bring it forward to our era, it means brotherly love - loving enough to see the needs of others, and to give to take care of those needs. Whether a person just needs a look-in-the-eye-warm-handshake, or whether they may need us to help financially in their crisis, it's all the same. Even though today's norms would tell us we don't need to go around kissing others, the requirement that we love one another is never out of style!

The final two kisses in the Bible that we will study are related to each other. Let's look first in Psalm 85:

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. (Psalm 85:10, KJV)

These four concepts: mercy, truth, righteousness, and peace, are all attributes of our holy God. These are His characteristics. Just think how difficult it is for our puny human brains to get mercy and truth together? 

Truth is the opposite of error. The opposite of hypocrisy. Absolute holiness. We know that our God is holy. 

Righteousness and peace are difficult to reconcile, too -- sinful humans find it extraordinarily frustrating to achieve righteousness, but we cannot have true peace without it.

But this verse says that these apparent opposites have "met" together.

Only our Savior, Jesus Christ, can make it happen.

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. (John 1:7)

Christ Jesus was able to "weld" God's holiness and righteousness together with His overwhelming love. That is how our Father is both righteous and merciful at the same time! He sees our sin, but instead of rejecting us, He is merciful.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:1)

Both "sides" of God's characteristics were brought into harmony through the salvation that Christ brought to us on the cross. 
And that forgiveness is what we see in our final kiss from the Bible.

So he set out and came to his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)

The kiss of forgiveness. The kiss of God's compassion for us.

In Luke's gospel we have this final example: a beautiful picture of the love of God. The prodigal son expected to hear rebukes and reprisals. He thought he would hear an "I told you so," at the very least. 

Instead, he was greet with joy and welcomed with open arms.

And God stands ready to accept our repentance right now. Even though we might feel like we are very far away, when we turn away from our sins and turn toward Him, He is willing and waiting to run toward us and restore us to Himself.

Valentine's Day means many things to many people. This week we have studied kisses in the Bible, and we have seen what kisses can be. At one end of the pendulum swing, it can be an affectionate sign of love. At the other, a hypocritical sign of betrayal. But an honorable kiss to God, an attempt to bring honor and glory to Him, can bring blessings and benefits. We will receive a kiss in return, when we are blessed with His compassion, mercy, and salvation from sin. We'll have a life with Him to enjoy eternally.

Much love to all! Glory to our God and Father!