For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
Awa ma ri di (A very very mysterious God); Ata ile aiye ro bi agogo (The one who holds the world like a pendulum); A se yio wu ni o,(He does as He pleases); Aanu ati ife ti ko lopin (He’s full of Mercy and Love that never ends); Agbara to bori gbogbo agbara (The power that’s above all powers); Agboro dan alailara (the advocate of the defenseless); Eleeda orun ati aiye (Creator of the earth and the heaven); A dani wa ye (The one creates us and places us on the planet earth); Enita ki ki ki ta o le ki tan(You can never exhaust all his attributes); Ogo ni fun oruko mimo re ni oruko nla Jesu. Amin (I glorify your Holy name in Jesus name. Amen).
The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee; The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 60:14)
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, …….. But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:18, 22-24)
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1)
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. (1 Peter 2:6)
“What is Zion? What is Mount Zion? What is the biblical meaning of Zion?”
Psalm 87:2-3 says, “The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are said of you, O city of God.” Occurring over 150 times in the Bible, the word “Zion” essentially means “fortification.” In the Bible, Zion is both the city of David and the city of God. As the Bible progresses, the word “Zion” transitions from referring primarily to a physical city to having a more spiritual meaning.
The first mention of the word “Zion” in the Bible is 2 Samuel 5:7:
“Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion, the City of David.” “Zion,” therefore, was originally the name of the ancient Jebusite fortress in the city of Jerusalem. “Zion” came to stand not only for the fortress but also for city in which the fortress stood.
After David captured “the stronghold of Zion,” Zion was then called “the City of David” (1 Kings 8:1; 1 Chronicles 11:5; 2 Chronicles 5:2).
When Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, “Zion” expanded in meaning to include the temple and the area surrounding it (Psalms 2:6; 48:2, 11-12; 132:13). “Zion” was eventually used as a name for the city of Jerusalem, the land of Judah, and the people of Israel as a whole (Isaiah 40:9; Jeremiah 31:12; Zechariah 9:13).
The most important use of the word “Zion” is in a theological sense. “Zion” is used figuratively of Israel as the people of God (Isaiah 60:14). The spiritual meaning of “Zion” is continued in the New Testament, where it is given the Christian meaning of God’s spiritual kingdom, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 14:1). Peter refers to Christ as the Cornerstone of Zion: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6).
Coming to Mount Zion
by Ray Stedman
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, …….. But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.(Hebrews 12:18, 22-24)
The writer is here speaking of that which motivates us in the Christian life. We are not to be driven by fear.Not by the Law with its demands upon us, Do this, or else. Not by self-effort, not by the gritted teeth and the clenched fist and a determination that we are going to serve God.If we serve because we are afraid, as the Law frightened Israel in the terrible scene on Mt. Sinai, we will lose something from God.
It is not fear that is our motive; it is fullness, it is what God has given us.
You have come not to this Mount Sinai, but to Mount Zion, the place of grace; and to the new Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come under a new government. And to angels. Angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who are to be the heirs of salvation, i.e., Christians. And to the church of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven.
This is those who are born in Christ, sharing his life with our names written in heaven. And to God, the judge of all,whether they are Christians or not. And to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.
These are the Old Testament saints, men and women of God who lived in the days when the promise was given before the cross, who looked forward by faith and who are waiting now for us. And to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. A mediator is not someone up in heaven somewhere, in some distant reach of space; he is an indwelling Christ. He is available to us. He is right here to be our strength, our righteousness, our wisdom, whatever we need.
When Abel’s blood was shed it cried out for vengeance, as the book of Genesis tells us, but Jesus’ blood did not speak of vengeance — it speaks of access, of vindication, of the fact there is no problem between us and God that is not settled by his blood. There is no longer any question of guilt. We can come completely accepted in the Beloved.
Thus, with all this on our side there is no need to fail, is there? That is the point he is making. Certainly it gets rough, certainly it gets discouraging, surely there are times when the pressures are intense, but have you reckoned on your resources? Have you forgotten them?
Have we entered Mt. Zion, where joy and freedom from fear is our spiritual heritage? Is our worship and our works motivated by God’s grace, and His love which casts out fear ?
Gracious Father, we are so grateful that by grace you have led us to Mount Zion. Now help us to stand strong, and to be yours in every circumstance of life.
For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of all the land. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after the manner of Egypt. For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and mine anger in their destruction. And the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and as his rod was upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt.
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY, THAT HIS BURDEN SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY FROM OFF THY SHOULDER, AND HIS YOKE FROM OFF THY NECK, AND THE YOKE SHALL BE DESTROYED BECAUSE OF THE ANOINTING. (Isaiah 10:23-27)
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
The goodness and love of God are the attributes that He has which act as the anchor or ‘litmus test’ for His other attributes; goodness and love are the features that authenticate every other attribute of God. God is good; God’s mercy is good; God’s grace is good; God’s holiness is good; God’s righteousness is good; God’s immutability is good; God’s justice is good; God’s sovereignty and self-existence are good; God’s eternality is good; God’s omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience and Immanence are good; God’s transcendence is good – AND THEY ALL ARE AS A RESULT OF HIS LOVE: BECAUSE GOD IS LOVE
“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (I John 4:16).
So in Good Times: Or Bad Times:
All that God is and does is good. ” Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes “ (Psalm 119:68).
God’s goodness and love last forever. ” O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever “ (Psalm 107:1).
God is good to everyone. ” The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works “ (Psalm 145:9).
Everything God made was good. ” And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day “ (Genesis 1:31).
God has goodness stored up for us. ” Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! “ (Psalm 31:19).
Everything from God is good. ” For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving “ (1 Timothy 4:4).
All things that are good are from God. ” Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning “ (James 1:17).
God alone is Good “And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:16-17).
” For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly “ (Psalm 84:11).
When We Remember These We Realise That:
We are blessed through God’s goodness. ” O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him “ (Psalm 34:8).
Goodness can come from all circumstances. ” And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose “ (Romans 8:28).
His goodness leads to repentance. ” According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue “ (2 Peter 1:3).
” Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? “ (Romans 2:4, NKJV)
God’s goodness is our shelter ” O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him “ (Psalm 34:8).
God is good in His entirety, there is nothing about God that is not good even His wrath is good. There is nothing God purposes for His children which is not good. God gives to His children only that which is good. And He withholds nothing good from us. God is good, and He is at work in our lives for good. Nothing which God creates; nothing which God accomplishes is not good, God is love and that’s why the greatest power that man can possess is love –real love as described by Apostle Paul –
“Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned” (in I Tim. 1:5).
The goal of our command is love; that comes from a PURE HEART, GOOD CONSCIENCE AND SINCERE FAITH.
Heavenly Father, we pray that You will please multiply your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ unto us and fill us with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that we may be able to seek that stillness of soul that will empower us to wait on You; so that we may have the confidence to say –
” O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him “ (Psalm 34:8);
Definition:
Permanent, unending. Eternal, endless, everlasting, perpetual imply lasting or going on without ceasing. That which is eternal is, by its nature, without beginning or end: God, the eternal Father. That which is endless never stops but goes on continuously as if in a circle: an endless succession of years. That which is everlasting will endure through all future time: a promise of everlasting life. Perpetual implies continuous renewal as far into the future as one can foresee. Timeless, immortal, deathless, undying, imperishable and indestructible.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8)
Yes, from the time of the first existence of day and from this day forth I am He; and there is no one who can deliver out of My hand. I will work, and who can hinder or reverse it? (Isaiah 43:13 AMP)
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:1-4)
While God alone is eternal in an infinite sense, God can bestow an eternal nature to a creature who has a beginning such as angels and souls of mankind. Eternality is a dimension of God’s established order that calls people to seek God’s pleasure here, making it their highest priority to further his interests and kingdom in every way.
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2 Peter 3:8-10)
If a thousand years be but as a day to the life of God, then as a year is to the life of man, so are three hundred and sixty five thousand years to the life of God: and as seventy years are to the life of man. So are twenty five millions four hundred and fifty thousand years to the life of God. Yet there still is no proportion between time and eternity, we must dart our thoughts beyond al those, for years and days measure only the duration of created things:
1 day (life of man) = 1000 years (Life of God) 1 year (life of man) = 365,000years (Life of God) 70 years (life of man)=25,450,000 + X (X is from 0 to infinity) (Life of God)
WHY USE 70 TO DESTROY 25,450,000 + X
But thou, O Lord, shall endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations. (Psalm 102:12)
Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he. (Isaiah 41:4)
We pray this day O Lord that You will multiply Your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to us; and fill us with the knowledge of You will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; so that we may be empowered to know in our inner-man and comprehend with our minds, the fact that it is just pure folly to use 70 we have been temporarily given to destroy the 25,450,000 that is permanent.
Omnipresent, (‘ubiquitous’) refer to the quality of being everywhere. Omnipresence is a term that means God is capable of being, and is everywhere at the same time. It means his divine presence encompasses the whole of the universe. There is no location where he does not occupy. Omnipresence indicates that although God is separate from the universe, He inhabits the entirety of it. He is everywhere at once.
As with His infinity He fills the whole of creation which makes it possible for Him to be present everywhere at once –
“Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:23,24).
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. (Psalm 90:1-2)
Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. (Job 11:7-9)
What a relief this is – to know that The One who watches over us can be anywhere our adversaries are at any point in time –
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. (Psalm 139:7-10)
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3).
His presence everywhere means He is there even when man sins and no one is present and there is nowhere we can hide to sin that He is not present. The Psalmist observed –
“If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there” (Psalm 139:8).
Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:23-24)
O Lord our God, You are our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; we know that there is no event for which you are absent because You are the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; You dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones; WE HAND THE ENTIRETY OF OUR BEING INTO YOUR MIGHTY HANDS and pray that by Your grace will put Your mantle of humility upon us.
This is the pure loving nature of God separate from evil. This is our goal, to pursue this great attribute of God –
“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (I Peter 1:16–25).
For “this then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5).
“Wherefore we labour that . . we may be accepted of Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:9)
“We Labour” – against the instigations; then followed by the accusations of the enemy of our soul; we labour in this 21st century, where the enemy daily perfects his devices to make us walk in the opposite direction to the holiness and righteousness of God; but our loving Father, instead of unleashing His wrath, the manifestation of His holy, moral character against sin upon us at a time when we fall short (unlike man’s unholy anger, it is neither impersonal nor acts on impulse); gives us the opportunity to consider our ways and confidently take hold of His word and confess that:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2).
Then we can face our accuser and exclaim:
“Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me” (Micah 7:8).
Oswald Chambers captures this better –
“Wherefore we labour . . . .” It is arduous work to keep the master ambition in front. It means holding one’s self to the high ideal year in and year out, not being ambitious to win souls or to establish churches or to have revivals, but being ambitious only to be “accepted of Him.” It is not lack of spiritual experience that leads to failure, but lack of labouring to keep the ideal right. Once a week at least take stock before God and see whether you are keeping your life up to the standard He wishes. Paul is like a musician who does not heed the approval of the audience if he can catch the look of approval from his Master. Any ambition which is in the tiniest degree away from this central one of being “approved unto God” may end in our being castaways. Learn to discern where the ambition leads, and you will see why it is so necessary to live facing the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says –
“Lest my body should make me take another line, I am constantly watching so that I may bring it into subjection and keep it under.” (1 Cor. 9:27.)
I have to learn to relate everything to the master ambition, and to maintain it without any cessation. My worth to God in public is what I am in private. Is my master ambition to please Him and be acceptable to Him, or is it something less, no matter how noble? ”
We pray Holy Spirit, that You will continually knock on the door of our heart and prod our conscience to remind us of the need to daily compare what we are in private to what we are in public.
The mercy and justice of God have never contradicted each other; just as the mercy of God encompasses pity, clemency, forgiveness, kindness, sympathy, understanding, leniency, benevolence; same also goes for His justice – for those who walk on its (Justice of God) path:
I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice. Bestowing wealth on those who love me and making their treasuries full. (Prov. 8:20-21)
In fact, our perfect Creator balances the two qualities with precision. Here again His transcendence and accompanying attributes make it possible for Him to do this easily: Justice is God’s fair and impartial treatment of all people. The justice of God is a necessary connect of His holiness or moral excellence. Since God is infinitely and eternally perfect, He must be impartial in His judgments and always treat His creatures with equity:
The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. (Psalm 97:1-2)
Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. (Psalm 89:14)
God is just and He always acts in a way consistent with the requirements of His character as revealed in His law. He rules His creation with integrity, He keeps His word, He renders to all His creatures their due. God is just and fair, completely wise and steady in His dealings, without any shadow of untrust-worthiness. If God is truly good (and He is), then He cannot tolerate or overlook evil.
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? (Genesis 18:25)
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. …………. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. (Romans 9:14-15, 33)
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. (Exodus 34:6-7)
God’s provision to keep us walking in the ‘Paths of Justice’
He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints: Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path. (Proverbs 2:8, 9)
God loves His children so much so that He provides this ‘safe corridor’ where it becomes impossible for the enemy to strike them – a way for sinners to escape His wrath: He sacrificed His spotless, sinless Son. Christ was the only One Who was qualified to be a sacrifice for sin, and because He never sinned, His pure blood can wash away our sins:
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.(Revelation 1:5)
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20 – 21)
This ‘propitiation’ is what allows us to stand justified before God on the Day of Judgment; it is the work Jesus did on the cross to appease and satisfy God’s wrath so He would be able to pardon sinners who trust in Christ. It is God’s way of making amends for our sins. This He does by a process in which the guilt or innocence is transferred from one person (Jesus) to another (man). The guilt or the bad actions of one person is attributed or imputed to another. So that when it comes to punishment, the person who is the substitute bears the brunt, and that the person substituted goes away free. This way God made reparations for our sins by transferring them to Christ’s account as He hung on the cross at Calvary. The absolute sinless life of Jesus Christ makes this transaction possible as His innocence is transferred to those who believe and follow Him:
That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:7)
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, (Hebrews 10:19)
However, we must take the necessary steps to appropriate that blood to our souls:
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4)
Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2:12)
And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: (1 Peter 1:17)
Heavenly Father we pray that you will multiply Your glorious riches in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to us; and fill us with the knowledge of You will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; so that we may be empowered to resist and desist from condoning or partake in wickedness; continually steady us O Lord on the path of justice.
Mercy from the Greek word “eleos” means: “kindness / compassion”. “eleos” is the outward manifestation of pity; on the part of him who receives it, it assumes need , and on the part of him who shows it, it assumes resources that are adequate to the need . It encompasses pity, clemency, forgiveness, kindness, sympathy, understanding, leniency, benevolence etc.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us. (Eph. 2:4)
Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake. (Psalm 6:4)
Mercy is:
Kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them
When that which is deserved (wrath) is withheld to the benefit of the object of goodwill
Mercy comes in the form of:
Men towards men: to exercise the virtue of mercy, show one’s self merciful.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Matthew 5:7)
The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. (Proverbs 11:25)
God towards men: in general providence; the mercy and clemency of God in providing and offering to men salvation by Christ.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us. (Ephesians 2:4)
And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:23-24)
Christ, whereby at his return to judgment he will bless true Christians with eternal life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)
While grace is an embodiment of God’s transcendence, omnipotence and love that reaches into eternity beyond our limits and boundaries: Mercy on the other hand, has to do with the dispensing of these virtues of God, transcendence, love (and others) in our daily existence; it is fresh everyday – ‘updated by default’. If grace and mercy were to feature (permit me to use the analogy) in the ‘profit & loss Account’ of man’s life; grace will be in the ‘fixed assets’ section while mercy will be in the ‘current asset’ section. This ‘current asset’ mercy is our only hope of surviving with the greatest ‘current liability’ we have, that being inherent sin.
It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
Mercy is God’s daily provision for man to deal with the Romans 7 cross he carries every day:
MAN’S DAILY SITUATION:
The Law therefore is holy, and [each] commandment is holy and just and good. Did that which is good then prove fatal [bringing death] to me? Certainly not! It was sin, working death in me by using this good thing [as a weapon], in order that through the commandment sin might be shown up clearly to be sin, that the extreme malignity and immeasurable sinfulness of sin might plainly appear. We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am a creature of the flesh [carnal, unspiritual], having been sold into slavery under [the control of] sin. For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled, bewildered]. I do not practice or accomplish what I wish, but I do the very thing that I loathe [which my moral instinct condemns]. Now if I do [habitually] what is contrary to my desire, [that means that] I acknowledge and agree that the Law is good (morally excellent) and that I take sides with it. However, it is no longer I who do the deed, but the sin [principle] which is at home in me and has possession of me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.] For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing. Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [fixed and operating in my soul]. So I find it to be a law (rule of action of my being) that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me and I am subject to its insistent demands. For I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self [with my new nature]. But I discern in my bodily members [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh] a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of my mind (my reason) and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh]. O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death? (Romans 7:12-24)
GOD’S EVER-NEW PROVISION OF MERCY:
O thank God! [He will!] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind and heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
THEREFORE [THERE IS] NOW NO CONDEMNATION (no adjudging guilty of wrong) FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, WHO LIVE [AND] WALK NOT AFTER THE DICTATES OF THE FLESH, BUT AFTER THE DICTATES OF THE SPIRIT FOR THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE [WHICH IS] IN CHRIST JESUS [THE LAW OF OUR NEW BEING] HAS FREED ME FROM THE LAW OF SIN AND DEATH.
For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice], (Romans 7:25-8:3)
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. (Titus 3:5)
How do we obtain this mercy?
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
O Lord,set deep in our inner man that even as grace will get us to heaven; it is mercy that will get us through the earth; teach us to know that as the end result of grace is eternal life; it is Your Mercy that will guarantee us quality and successful life here and now. Uphold us O Lord that we may be able to sow mercy that we may also reap mercy.
The book of Romans is the most basic, comprehensive statement of true Christianity. This page explores the relevance of Romans to our world today. As it deals with the morally deficient individual (as illustrated in Cityboy Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile-Geraint Anderson which describes life within the square mile of the city of London, the bankers haven), so does it deal with the morally astute person; who wants to please God by their own works. Travel with us on this interesting highway.
