394. Pardon and Mercy
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity; and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
One will never find another God who is like our God: He pardons and passes by the sins of His people; He does not keep His anger forever; He delights in mercy. This is a Good News promise for all people. Those who believe God by believing in Jesus have received the forgiveness of sin. They know God. The Lord is slow to anger, and when He does finally get righteously angry over sin He does not hold on to it for a long time. Mercy trumps judgment. Mercy is the overriding characteristic of the Lord God. He loves to show mercy, because God is Love. Mercy makes the Lord feel good; it delights Him.
We need to appreciate God’s goodness and mercy, grace and forgiveness. We don’t deserve it; we have deserved damnation and judgment. When we have entirely received the mercy of God we are more apt to show mercy to those who have trespassed against us. Our lives run on mercy. If it weren’t for the mercy of God and the gracious forgiveness through Christ we would be dead, dead forever, forever separated from God and all good. This very thought should cause us to be constantly thankful and full of joy. Mercy means we get what Jesus deserved, not what we deserve.
Once we receive mercy by faith, we joyfully show mercy to others. We instantly and gladly forgive them because God in Christ Jesus forgave us a much greater debt. The only problem we might have with such a wonderful promise and such great good news is that mercy is so good, rich and full that we have a hard time believing it. In fact, we cannot believe it in our own flesh and mind and strength. If the Spirit does not give us saving faith to receive undeserved grace we would be left in our sins to suffer the eternal punishment. But the Spirit does work through the Gospel preached and heard to work faith in such awesome mercy. It is a worthwhile exercise to reflect and ponder on the mercy of God. Let yourself be amazed.
No one has a God like we have.