I love the song that we sing together as a church, “His Mercy is More.” If someone spends any amount of time talking about God without referencing mercy, question what god they are talking about. God has mercy. God shows mercy. God is mercy.

I heard this simple definition of mercy, years ago, and I’ve never forgotten it: “mercy is the act of not getting what your crime or offense deserves.” Several weeks ago, I encouraged you to read Exodus 34:6-7 and see how many attributes of God you could identify in these two verses. Did you do it? How many did you get? There are at least four mentioned by name. Did you notice the first one? Merciful. God is merciful. God, the only true and rightful judge and punisher of sin, extends mercy to sinners. This is good news for us!

Ephesians 2:4 informs us that God is not only merciful, but that He is “rich in mercy.” Some might ask, “If God is good to punish sin and sinners, yet not only merciful but rich in mercy, how does someone find God’s mercy?” Ephesians 2:8 tells us that we experience God’s mercy when, through faith in Jesus Christ, He saves us by His grace. This must be understood: humanity, in its gross violation of God’s commands and being under the sentence of death, is not capable of finding God’s mercy. So how do we receive it?

Ephesians 2:9 and Titus 3:5 tell us that it’s not the good works which we do, that bring about the mercy of God to us. God is quoted twice as saying, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,” (Exodus 33:19, Romans 9:15). This is what Jesus meant about new birth when He told Nicodemus, in John 3:8, ”The wind blows where it wishes…So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” God is mercy and His mercy is shown to those whom He chose before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4) to show His mercy to.

Go Deeper:

Read Romans 9:14-24, keeping God’s mercy in mind.
Pray. Ask the Holy Spirit for help understanding this biblical truth.

Grace & Peace,
John
(You can reach Pastor John at jwhite@thevillagemi.com)