This morning I am so thankful for God's Grace and Mercy, but I sometimes wonder if we remember what His mercy is like. There are so many messages and teachings out there that talk about just one facet of God's character or another. We have forgotten, I think, that the God of the Old Testament is also the God of the New Testament. The same God that has poured out His wrath in the Old Testament is still the same God we serve today. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Deuteronomy 7:9-10 "Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; (10) and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.
He is faithful to keep His covenant with us.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
He will establish (turn resolutely in a certain direction, strengthen, set fast) us and He will guard us from the evil one. Even though we are an unfaithful people.
2 Timothy 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
In Numbers 14:18-23 we see Moses having a conversation with God and asking Him to be merciful to His people. Moses didn't ask Him to extend grace. He asked God for mercy. God granted Moses' request and pardoned the children of Israel. God didn't extend grace. He still punished them. Their punishment was not going into the Promised Land. It was an act of mercy for their sins against God.
So what is mercy and what is grace? Mercy is deliverance from the judgment that is deserved for a crime. Grace is extending kindness to the unworthy.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God loved the world so much that He made a way to bestow His mercy upon all of us. His mercy was the sacrifice of His Son for the sins of the world. His mercy sent His Son to bear our punishment so that we can be saved by His grace, spared the punishment we deserve as sinners, and receive forgiveness for the sins we have committed.
Psalms 52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
The Psalmist says he trusts in the mercy of God forever. Trust means to be confident, sure, secure in the fact that a merciful God will spare us the punishment we deserve and forgive us the wrongs we commit against Him.
As parents, we put this into practice every day with our children. When our children misbehave, break a treasured family heirloom, lie, cheat, steal, or whatever sin or wrong they commit, we have the option as parents to punish them. We can punish out of anger. We can punish out of love. Or we totally overlook what they did and provide forgiveness in the form of grace for what they have done - particularly when we receive an apology that we know to be sincere. Sometimes the act of sin requires discipline, but because we wish to provide mercy to our children, we provide a lesser punishment than the act deserves. God deals with us in a similar manner.
Psalms 57:3 He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.
God has sent forth His mercy in the form of His Son. Jesus Christ was not only the mercy of God made manifest in the flesh, He is also the Truth. We know He is the Way, The Truth, and The Life. But knowing that we would have a continued need for mercy, and for truth, Jesus said He would send a Helper after Him.
John 16:7-15 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. (8) And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (9) of sin, because they do not believe in Me; (10) of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; (11) of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (12) "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. (13) However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (14) He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. (15) All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
It is easy to forget in today's world of everything is under grace, that His mercy does not stop. And it is not the same thing as grace. In fact,
Psalms 77:7-9 Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? (8) Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? (9) Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah
Some will say that I am still bringing scripture from the Old Testament, even if it is a Psalm, and we are only under grace now; therefore, mercy is not applicable under the New Covenant. I would beg to differ. If God is the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever, then it only stands to logical reason that all attributes of His character remain the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever...Right?
1 Timothy 1:15-16 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. (16) However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
See, through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus we have obtained the mercy of God, The Father. We have obtained that mercy so that Jesus might show all patience as the pattern to those who are going to believe on Him. A pattern is something that happens the same way every time. If Jesus set a pattern and He is our example, then the pattern He set is what we are to emulate as the City on a Hill.
Daniel 9:9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.
How do we rebel against God today? We rebel against Him by having doubt. We rebel aganst Him by storing in our hearts things of our old nature. We rebel against Him by not loving one another and keeping His commandments. We rebel against Him by continuing to particpate in gossip. We rebel against Him by murmuring and complaining instead of living from a place of thanksgiving. But the beauty of God's mercy is that there is a fresh supply every morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23 Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. (23) They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
Because His mercy and compassion is new every morning, grace can freely flow to us when we ask for forgiveness.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
There is much more to this subject that I want to explore with you over the next few days. Join the discussion on Facebook and let's learn from each other.
Deuteronomy 7:9-10 "Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; (10) and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.
He is faithful to keep His covenant with us.
2 Thessalonians 3:3 But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
He will establish (turn resolutely in a certain direction, strengthen, set fast) us and He will guard us from the evil one. Even though we are an unfaithful people.
2 Timothy 2:13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
In Numbers 14:18-23 we see Moses having a conversation with God and asking Him to be merciful to His people. Moses didn't ask Him to extend grace. He asked God for mercy. God granted Moses' request and pardoned the children of Israel. God didn't extend grace. He still punished them. Their punishment was not going into the Promised Land. It was an act of mercy for their sins against God.
So what is mercy and what is grace? Mercy is deliverance from the judgment that is deserved for a crime. Grace is extending kindness to the unworthy.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God loved the world so much that He made a way to bestow His mercy upon all of us. His mercy was the sacrifice of His Son for the sins of the world. His mercy sent His Son to bear our punishment so that we can be saved by His grace, spared the punishment we deserve as sinners, and receive forgiveness for the sins we have committed.
Psalms 52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
The Psalmist says he trusts in the mercy of God forever. Trust means to be confident, sure, secure in the fact that a merciful God will spare us the punishment we deserve and forgive us the wrongs we commit against Him.
As parents, we put this into practice every day with our children. When our children misbehave, break a treasured family heirloom, lie, cheat, steal, or whatever sin or wrong they commit, we have the option as parents to punish them. We can punish out of anger. We can punish out of love. Or we totally overlook what they did and provide forgiveness in the form of grace for what they have done - particularly when we receive an apology that we know to be sincere. Sometimes the act of sin requires discipline, but because we wish to provide mercy to our children, we provide a lesser punishment than the act deserves. God deals with us in a similar manner.
Psalms 57:3 He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.
God has sent forth His mercy in the form of His Son. Jesus Christ was not only the mercy of God made manifest in the flesh, He is also the Truth. We know He is the Way, The Truth, and The Life. But knowing that we would have a continued need for mercy, and for truth, Jesus said He would send a Helper after Him.
John 16:7-15 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. (8) And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: (9) of sin, because they do not believe in Me; (10) of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; (11) of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (12) "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. (13) However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (14) He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. (15) All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
It is easy to forget in today's world of everything is under grace, that His mercy does not stop. And it is not the same thing as grace. In fact,
Psalms 77:7-9 Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? (8) Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? (9) Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah
Some will say that I am still bringing scripture from the Old Testament, even if it is a Psalm, and we are only under grace now; therefore, mercy is not applicable under the New Covenant. I would beg to differ. If God is the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever, then it only stands to logical reason that all attributes of His character remain the same Yesterday, Today, and Forever...Right?
1 Timothy 1:15-16 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. (16) However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
See, through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus we have obtained the mercy of God, The Father. We have obtained that mercy so that Jesus might show all patience as the pattern to those who are going to believe on Him. A pattern is something that happens the same way every time. If Jesus set a pattern and He is our example, then the pattern He set is what we are to emulate as the City on a Hill.
Daniel 9:9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.
How do we rebel against God today? We rebel against Him by having doubt. We rebel aganst Him by storing in our hearts things of our old nature. We rebel against Him by not loving one another and keeping His commandments. We rebel against Him by continuing to particpate in gossip. We rebel against Him by murmuring and complaining instead of living from a place of thanksgiving. But the beauty of God's mercy is that there is a fresh supply every morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23 Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. (23) They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
Because His mercy and compassion is new every morning, grace can freely flow to us when we ask for forgiveness.
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
There is much more to this subject that I want to explore with you over the next few days. Join the discussion on Facebook and let's learn from each other.
